We all know that agents who specialize in fantasy will not want historical fiction, that nonfiction agents who love cook books will probably not be gaga over your coming-of-age tale that takes place in Tibet, and those looking for thrillers will not be head over heels for poetry, no matter how thrilling it may be.
And we also know that, if they just plain don't like the story, agents won't spring for that either.
But what formula items disqualify a query? Like, small mistakes... There's the big ones such as "Mr. Agent" and "To whom it may concern," or "Dear Literary Agency"... But there's small ones, too. For example, I just realized that on two queries I, somewhat ironically, missed the word "word." I said, "you may be interested in my 86,000 novel ______."
Now, while this is one small sentence out of a great many, and story has not even been touched upon yet, I have to wonder if that immediately sends the agent's mouse cursor towards the "delete" button for an e-query, or if it causes their fingers to curl, balling up my snail mail query and ejecting it firmly into the nearest trash can.
Would this qualify? If not, what would?
And we also know that, if they just plain don't like the story, agents won't spring for that either.
But what formula items disqualify a query? Like, small mistakes... There's the big ones such as "Mr. Agent" and "To whom it may concern," or "Dear Literary Agency"... But there's small ones, too. For example, I just realized that on two queries I, somewhat ironically, missed the word "word." I said, "you may be interested in my 86,000 novel ______."
Now, while this is one small sentence out of a great many, and story has not even been touched upon yet, I have to wonder if that immediately sends the agent's mouse cursor towards the "delete" button for an e-query, or if it causes their fingers to curl, balling up my snail mail query and ejecting it firmly into the nearest trash can.
Would this qualify? If not, what would?
