Query Your Brains Out?

Scrawler · Jan 16, 2008

I read an old Miss Snark posting that mentioned 750 agents represent chick-lit and my first (unrealistic) thought was - I'm hitting them ALL!! TODAY!!!! NOW!!!!

I'm curious-- how many queries do you put out there? When your WIP feels complete....
Do you have a period of mass querying, hitting every applicable agent until you exhaust the supply?
Do you pace yourself and query a couple of agents a week or a few month?

David I · Jan 16, 2008

I'd advise half-a-dozen at a time. That way you can adjust your query in light of the responses you get.

I also don't believe in a one-size-fits-all query; it should be tailored to the agent. Some don't want anything but the query; some want 5-10 pages; some want the first 50 of the first three chapters; some want synopses and some don't. And you should take your time personalizing the query letter itself.

Just my opinion. But I think mass queries, especially mass e-mail queries, are just a form of spam, and a lot of agents can tell...

Scrawler · Jan 16, 2008

Yes I agree -and do- research the agent, tailor the query, personalize the content, etc-- rather than send a spammish "form query."
I find each query can take up to an hour or more for me to prepare.

I'm tempted to spend my day (week, month) focused solely on relentless querying but I think your idea of doing a batch, waiting, tweaking, and doing another batch makes more sense.

juneafternoon · Jan 17, 2008

Miss Snarks also said you should query one hundred agents. I agree with the above, though, send them out in small numbers.

The only thing I don't agree with is taking a lot of time personalizing, etc, because you need your writing time. Make sure the query letter isn't cold or clinical, personalize something, but don't make each of them a Mona Lisa.

Good luck!

loiterer · Jan 17, 2008

It is good to only query a few agents at a time. You don't want to have sent out a hundred queries at once, only to discover some error or room for improvement, because that will be 100 agents who you won't be able to send your new improved query to. If you only send out a few queries at a time, changes to your query (or your novel itself) won't have such drastic consequences.

Prawn · Jan 17, 2008

Let me disagree about personalizing queries. I realize I may be in the minority, but I think that you should only bother tailoring your query in the cases of really top agents. Figure out your dream agents, the ones who rep authors that you love. For those agents, you should spend the time and tailor the letter. For the other agents I would not bother trying to establish a personal connection. If you really admire them, let your letter show it. If you don't really admire them, then just make it clear and professional. Anything else will sound insincere, IMHO.

Let me also say that I never got any feedback that helped me improve my query letter. It's not the agent's job to help you write the best letter. I could imagine an agent saying "The market for mysteries is down right now" so instead of marketing your work as a mystery you change it to a thriller. This has not been my experience.

Shadow_Ferret · Jan 17, 2008

I query one agent at a time.

I'm not in any hurry to find out I'm a complete failure.

juneafternoon · Jan 17, 2008

^^ You're not a complete failure, Ferret. It's the negative thinking that gets in the way.

About querying small bunches at a time: Should you start with your top agent and work the way down? Because if you're gonna be changing the query around, you should probably wait for the top agents, since you want it to be the best letter possible. Right?

Birol · Jan 17, 2008

Query in small batches.

RG570 · Jan 17, 2008

I do two at a time so I don't waste the few agents available on a single bad query letter.

There's no way that there are even fifty SF/F agents who don't do the snooty "no email" thing (can't get US postage easily so that's all I can do).

If there were 750 agents who take the tripe I write, I'd be hitting like 50 a week. But as it is I have to spend hours just to add one more to my list. bleh.

mscelina · Jan 17, 2008

I am a compulsive-obsessive query tracker. If I send out more than 10 at a time, I can't spend all those hours tinkering and cursing and adding useless information on each of the agents who reject me.

I would like to point out, however, that my OCD tracking of query makes it very easy to find the agents who requested partials and fulls when the next project rolls around. It has also made it much easier to tailor my queries to the agents who might be the most interested in them.

Scrawler · Jan 17, 2008

I think small batches is better. I sent out three before I noticed I'd spelled it synposis.

:e2bummed:

ascribe · Jan 17, 2008

I have between three and six out at any one time. There's a limit to the amount of rejection I can take in one go. :e2cry:

funidream · Jan 17, 2008

The only "feedback" you ever get on a query is in the form of requests for more material. The more queries you send out, the more requests for partials etc. The drawback with sending out 1-5 queries is that it takes you a lot longer to figure out if your letter is working.

I started by sending out 20 letters to an initial mix of dream and meh agents. I got a very good response (30%) right off the bat, and so I continued to send out an average of twenty a week (email, when possible) and ended up querying over 300 agents over the course of the 8 months it took me to finally sign with an agent.

I would keep track of who was selling what on Publisher's Marketplace and which agent was moving where or going solo on MediaBistro and AgentQuery to keep my list up to date.

Of course, I thoroughly proofed everything I sent out, email or snail. And I did personalize every query, adjusting my approach based on specific info I might have on any particular agent. I never queried more than one agent at any agency. In order to keep it all straight, I set up a spiffy excel spreadsheet to track progress.

It is a time-consuming effort - a lot of hard work and $ for supplies and paper, but I decided that in my case (unpublished, uncredentialed with absolutely no contacts in the industry) I needed to improve my odds by querying as many agents as I could. In the end, I got three offers, and the agent I went with got me a two-book deal, so this method worked for me.

Straka · Jan 17, 2008

I was amazed how long it took me to do query letters. Getting the letter perfect. Then researching each agent to try to figure out some personal connection with them and cram that into a sentence. Ugh.

juneafternoon · Jan 17, 2008

funidream said:
The only "feedback" you ever get on a query is in the form of requests for more material. The more queries you send out, the more requests for partials etc. The drawback with sending out 1-5 queries is that it takes you a lot longer to figure out if your letter is working.

I started by sending out 20 letters to an initial mix of dream and meh agents. I got a very good response (30%) right off the bat, and so I continued to send out an average of twenty a week (email, when possible) and ended up querying over 300 agents over the course of the 8 months it took me to finally sign with an agent.

I would keep track of who was selling what on Publisher's Marketplace and which agent was moving where or going solo on MediaBistro and AgentQuery to keep my list up to date.

Of course, I thoroughly proofed everything I sent out, email or snail. And I did personalize every query, adjusting my approach based on specific info I might have on any particular agent. I never queried more than one agent at any agency. In order to keep it all straight, I set up a spiffy excel spreadsheet to track progress.

It is a time-consuming effort - a lot of hard work and $ for supplies and paper, but I decided that in my case (unpublished, uncredentialed with absolutely no contacts in the industry) I needed to improve my odds by querying as many agents as I could. In the end, I got three offers, and the agent I went with got me a two-book deal, so this method worked for me.

THREE HUNDRED?

*breathes*

DAMNNNNNNNNNNNN!!

Well, that's exciting that you got so many offers! Good job!

Few questions though: Did you land a dream agent? Did any of them not respond?

I'm a curious person.

funidream · Jan 18, 2008

juneafternoon said:
Did you land a dream agent?

My dream agent criteria was pretty simple. I wanted an experienced agent (AAR) who loved my story, and was willing to take a chance on an uncredentialled, unpublished writer.

Over the course of several phone conversations, the agent I ended up going with not only praised my writing ability, but she totally spoke about my characters like they were real people - she really knew the book and had definite ideas on how she saw it fitting into the marketplace. While making no promises of success, she also delineated a plan for submission and building my writing career that made a lot of sense to me. She has years and years in the biz, as a chief editor and then as an agent, and so far, she has been a great guiding force throughout this whole publication process. I don't regret for an instant my choice.

juneafternoon said:
Did any of them not respond?

I just took a look at my old spread sheet and about 100 did not respond at all, although for some email submissions, that is a stated rejection. I quit keeping track of responses after I signed with my agent, but I know I was still receiving requests for partials and rejections on outstanding queries for a long time. I remember getting a rejection on the day I got word of my book deal (which was kind of fun!) :tongue

I would estimate that all tolled maybe 50 did not respond at all.

reenkam · Jan 18, 2008

Book 1 - 13 queries.
Book 2 - 18 queries.
Book 3 - 9 queries.
Book 4 - (isn't actually done but maybe...) 10 queries.

I guess I'm kind of strange in that I don't want to mass query just to get an agent. There are agents that I would LOVE to rep me, and those are the agents I query. I think my actual list has something like 10-15 people (I write 2 genres, so it depends). I guess I could have a better chance of getting an agent if I queried 100 of them.....but I feel funny about it. I don't know why. So I stick to my small list, send all the queries at once (or over 2-3 days) and then move on.

juneafternoon · Jan 18, 2008

funidream said:
My dream agent criteria was pretty simple. I wanted an experienced agent (AAR) who loved my story, and was willing to take a chance on an uncredentialled, unpublished writer.

Over the course of several phone conversations, the agent I ended up going with not only praised my writing ability, but she totally spoke about my characters like they were real people - she really knew the book and had definite ideas on how she saw it fitting into the marketplace. While making no promises of success, she also delineated a plan for submission and building my writing career that made a lot of sense to me. She has years and years in the biz, as a chief editor and then as an agent, and so far, she has been a great guiding force throughout this whole publication process. I don't regret for an instant my choice.

I just took a look at my old spread sheet and about 100 did not respond at all, although for some email submissions, that is a stated rejection. I quit keeping track of responses after I signed with my agent, but I know I was still receiving requests for partials and rejections on outstanding queries for a long time. I remember getting a rejection on the day I got word of my book deal (which was kind of fun!)

I would estimate that all tolled maybe 50 did not respond at all.

That's awesome. Congrats to you!

jclarkdawe · Jan 19, 2008

I think bulk querying has its place, but should be used when you've decided that the manuscript has hit the wall. In that case, what have you got to lose? At least that's my view with STALLED DREAMS. If you want to look at its query history, you can read An experiment with a query.

For an update on results, it's now up to 93 queries having been sent. I've had six requests for partials, with three of those agents declining after reading the partial.

One of the agents has requested a full after reading the partial. I have been unable to find any books that are published where this agent represented the author. I think she's legitimate, just not very good. Then again, the book is legitimate, just not very good. Like attracts like.

Best of luck,

Jim Clark-Dawe

funidream · Jan 19, 2008

mollyluna said:
So, like June, I have a question. How many were snail mail and how many were equeries?

I began by sending more e than snail, but right away I could see I was getting a much better response to the snail effort (I think due to the sample pages I always included, per Miss Snark) so I switched it up. Unless email was a stated preference, I sent snail.

Just as it is easier to send an equery, I think it is easier to reject one, or simply trash it, as well. And since it is a lot easier to send an equery, I think that those agents who accept them get way more of them, making the time that they have to devote to reading my query, small.

My agent does not accept equeries, because she says she has a hard enough time keeping up with the average 300 snail queries per week that she receives. When I was in her office I saw them - a big carton filled to the brim with unopened mail.

The competition for attention is fierce.

funidream · Jan 19, 2008

mollyluna said:
Is your second novel also going to be historical romance?

Actually, my MIDWIFE book is not a historical romance. It's more of an adventure story, a story of survival with a female MC. There is a love story in there, but it isn't the main focus, and thus does not quite fit into the historical romance mold.

And this was the main reason I would get rejected - most of the agents who read the full loved the writing, loved the story and the characters but didn't see how the book fit into the marketplace. They didn't know how to sell it.

WIP book #2 is not a sequel to MIDWIFE, but again, I do have a female MC and the story has a survival theme at its heart. The story is set at the onset of the American Revolution. My agent sold #2 based on a crummy synopsis I wrote.

funidream · Jan 19, 2008

mollyluna said:
I'm familiar with AgentQuery, but MediaBistro is new to me. I'm looking at their website and wondering--how do you use them?

If you become an Avantguild member ($40 per year) you have access to the "how to pitch" section - where they have in-depth interviews with agencies on what they are looking for, how they work, who to query for what etc. Also, you get "the Revolving Door" which is an e-newsletter thing announcing who's moving where, who got promoted etc.

"how to pitch" and "revolving door" also include information on editors from various publishing houses and magazines.

Publishers Marketplace is also another good source of information on agent sales - $20 per month.

Out of all of them, I liked agentquery.com the best, and it is free.

Sage · Jan 19, 2008

mollyluna said:
How do you pick which sample pages? Do you pick a sample chapter or sample pages? From the beginning or somewhere in the middle?

I must admit I am learning from you and I appreciate your detailed responses. It's quite helpful.

Always from the beginning.

funidream · Jan 19, 2008

mollyluna said:
How do you pick which sample pages?

First 5 pages, or first 3 chapters, or first 50 pages depending on the agents requirements.

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