How many rejections should I get before I consider changing my query letter? I've gotten 12 rejections so far. I know that's not many in the grand scheme of things, but should I look at changing it? Thanks so much.
How many rejections?
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I think it depends on what kind of responses you're getting.
If you're getting forms and very few requests for partials, I would look at your query.
If you're getting partial rejects, then it's obviously your first three chapters.
If you're getting full rejects, those usually come with a note of some kind, and you can tweak the manuscript accordingly.
If you're getting forms and very few requests for partials, I would look at your query.
If you're getting partial rejects, then it's obviously your first three chapters.
If you're getting full rejects, those usually come with a note of some kind, and you can tweak the manuscript accordingly.
It's just been rejections of my query. Some of them have been personal rejections, others have been form. I haven't heard from any of the agents who have asked for sample pages. It's just the agents who saw the query with nothing else.
I read somewhere, once upon a time, that if your query is not netting a 10-15% "hit" rate on requests, you need to either change it or start targeting agents better. 
For what it's worth....
For what it's worth....
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Here is my question to all: How do we know it is the query that is "bad" and not the story itself via the summary?
I think it's the same thing, in a sense. Everything in a query must be written in a way that attracts. Outside of misspellings, poor grammar, etc., I think most are rejected based on the summary of the story. But this summary is part of the query letter.
Good question. I tend to think this is the case for the novel I'm currently querying... I think I've gotten 10% positive response (ie send us partial or full), but I get a lot of scribbled notes (from queries and partial) that say something to the effect of "this sounds really interesting and is well written but it's not for me." It's an unusual topic, somewhat outside of genre lines, so I expected as much.
Also there's a place somewhere on the boards where you can post your query for critique, which is a good idea... link, someone?
Most of the personalised ones said it was a good idea, just not a good fit for them. I did a search on agent query and researched all the ones I wanted to send it to, but maybe I didn't dig deep enough and have been sending it to the wrong places.
If you go into Share Your Work, there is a board there just for query letters. They helped me with mine.
If the agents have repped books like yours, you know you're sending it to the right places.
I agree with posting it on SYW. And look at your opening hook - is it as good and tight as it can possibly be?
It's a YA paranormal thriller. Maybe I should look for those exact words, because I have sent to agents who say they are representing paranormal books and have repped paranormal, but it doesn't necessarily say paranormal thriller.
BTW Southern Girl, if that is your daughter on your avatar? ADORABLE. I want to pinch her cheeks!
Thank you, and that's my daughter. Her name is Tessa, and she's four. She's a writer in the making, too, loves to make up stories.
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I tailored my query letter to meet the individual agents/publishers requirements, so each one was a little bit different.
Once I'd put together the basic letter, I pretty much left it the way it was. I didn't want to start second guessing myself. I sent out around thirty queries and received three positive responses (10%).
Once I'd put together the basic letter, I pretty much left it the way it was. I didn't want to start second guessing myself. I sent out around thirty queries and received three positive responses (10%).
I would start tweaking after the first few form rejects but that's just me.
(I did the process backwards, I actually sold a book to Daw then got the agent.)
(I did the process backwards, I actually sold a book to Daw then got the agent.)
Forgive me if this is a dumb question, but you are querying agents who say they represent YA, correct?
Actually, my search on Agent Query was for anyone who repped YA. I think went through the lists doing research on each and narrowing it down from there. It's not a dumb question at all.
Rachel's a good one. Just a reminder, too, that she is with Folio Literary Agency now. There might be some old contact information on Google if you decide to query her.
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Yeah, she's on my list. She requires a synopsis, and I want to post it in SYW before I send it off.
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I don't think it's a matter of "how many" but how effective. If the rejections you get are mostly "no thanks" or "not interested" or "seen that before" then you should consider making the query more enticing. It doesn't matter how many times similar types of plot have been presented -- it's all in the presentation. However, if you're getting "this is interesting, but we're not taking new client right now" or "great idea but just not a good fit" then there is no reason to think that your query sucks.
I just went back and looked. Three were form, three said basically "Thanks but no thanks" (actually one said exactly that), and the rest were that it was a good idea, but just not a good fit. I've had 13 rejections now.
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