Querying two different books simultaneously

seen92 said:

I have a good dilemma.

I have two finished manuscripts, but both are polar opposites. One is a commercial fiction with a romantic arc while the other is a James Ellroy-esque historical fiction. Kind of gritty, kind of raw.

I'm researching each agent's taste prior to submission, but the obvious question is: how can I submit two opposite genre's to:

A: the same agent

B: two separate agents (not going to happen)

I don't want to write one cover letter for two books, that's just bad etiquette. So do I sit on one while I plug the other? And if I am fortunate to get signed, do I see if they'd rep the second manuscript?

Input please. Thanks in advance.

s92

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You can draft two different queries, and query different agents. Or, you can choose the one you think is stronger, or the genre you think you will more likely write in, and query that one.

If an agent is interested, they will ask what else you have and you can show them the second manuscript then. But if they are very, very different, the agent may not feel comfortable representing both projects.

if you focus on agents at larger agencies, it's possible another agent at the agency can handle the second project (maybe even see if any of the agents on the list for one project works with an agent on the list for the other, and then focus on that agency - but one at a time, not both at the same time.).

It's possible to have separate agents for different genres, but it's usually better if you can find an agent or agency that represents both.

If it were me, I'd focus on the stronger project, and if equally strong, then the genre I am more likely to write more in.

good luck.

~suki

Well, you'll have a big list of agents, right? Start at the top and query in batches of, say, eight for the first book, and query in batches of eight for the other book, but starting at the bottom of the list. If you get rejections, after a month or two, you could query the other book to that person. If I wanted to query two books at once, that's how I'd do it.

My understanding is to query one book at a time. It'll be easier to sell your second if you sell your first and you won't get yourself into trouble with multiple agents.
As suki said, focus on your strongest and/or the one with the best market.
Good luck!