Stating why you're submitting to this specific agent

I'd be very surprised if any agent rejects queries for lack of personalization. If the premise, hook, and voice are there (plus great sample pages), they'll request more.

I think personalization matters most if they're on the fence, especially if your work is potentially problematic (high word count, unusual genre combo, etc.). In those cases, demonstrating a familiarity with what the agent reps/wants/likes could help push them into requesting material.

Maybe your book sounds fascinating, but also offbeat and hard to sell. If the query + pages are strong, you'd probably get a request anyway, but in that case even a vague schmoozy personalization could be worth it. E.g., "I read your blog post on your passion for psychic monkey pirates, and it spoke to me. The flesh-eating clowns in my novel CLOWNAGEDDON are trying to find themselves in a crazy mixed-up world, just like those monkeys."

If you really have to stretch to personalize the query, don't bother. It's probably not adding anything, and in the worst case it could actually be detrimental if the flattery or allusion to similar works falls flat. And you especially don't want to come off like the guy who researched an agent, found out she had a sister, then started his query with a rhetorical question about how the agent would feel if (sister's name) was murdered. Yeahhhhh.

lauralam said:

This is something I find I struggle with. In addition to their website, I check each agent on PM, QueryTracker, check the authors that they rep (if I can find them), read any interviews I can find. So far, I think I'm doing pretty well with this. If I find a novel they represent that's similar in setting or theme, I mention it and say it prompted me to contact them for representation (Example: "so-and-so's TITLE also has parents that feel they can control their child's fate . . . "). Or, if in various interviews they say that they like steampunk and circuses and that's what mine is, I'll mention that.

But then what about agents that don't currently represent anything quite like yours, but you still feel that they'd be a good fit for you? They have made lots of great deals, they do represent your genre, and you like how they come across in interviews. That's hard to quantify in one sentence in a way that doesn't sound really lame.

Lastly, some agents say if feels like ass-kissing and a waste of the precious words in your query to do this, but then others state it's important to prove you've done your homework on them so you're not sending off a bog-standard query letter to every agent in the business.

How do you personalise queries, or do you not bother?

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I read their bio, watch interviews and find more intimate things to identify with. One agent said sci-fi 'isn't just for nerds anymore' I was so thrilled by this I mentioned it. One such occasion landed me a partial. I don't know if this helps, but I am a fan of personalization.

Agents get really tired of the blanket query, sent out, en masse, with only statisitical hopes and without, seemingly, any thought given to the specific interests of the person. I started putting in specific references to similarly-themed books in my queries, ones that the agents had represented. It seemed to get results (one got me my agent), but it might have simply been an improved query, too, which I constantly tweaked. Some agents, it's true, have expressed distate for such obvious coddling, so best to tone down or eliminate the superlatives. If an agent hasn't represented a similar book but seems to be a good match (she likes, say, quirky fiction), mention that. But really, the best approach is to write a query that knocks off socks. In other words, don't start with that standard opening (the one you see in so many examples of "good" queries), "I'm writing to you because I am seeking represention for my novel, blah blah...."

I've never messed with personalization in a query.

If an agent isn't intrigued by my story, but will ask for a full or partial based on why I queried her, then that's not likely to end well.

Likewise, if an agent is intrigued by my story, but tosses my query in the trash for lack of personalization, then that's not an agent I would want to collaborate with. (Personally, I doubt there are any agents out there who would do this -- it's like tossing out diamonds because they're a bit dirty -- but I suppose you never know.)

Bottom line, I believe agents are looking for marketable stories, and they'll respond to any query that looks promising, regardless of personalization.

But then what about agents that don't currently represent anything quite like yours, but you still feel that they'd be a good fit for you?

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In this case, I think I would be tempted to personalize, despite my above statements. But this would be a one-in-a-hundred case, I'm guessing, so it certainly wouldn't hurt to try.

Yeah, I'm wishy-washy. What are you going to do about it?

I think it depends on what type of "personalization" you're talking about. If you've met the agent at a conference for example and struck up a conversation, or were told the agent wanted to hear back from you I would definitely mention that. If the agent asked for something specific in an interview or blog or somewhere, and you happen to have that specific thing I would mention that. If you have something that would fit very well in an agent's list of authors, I might mention that.

If however you've only got something very general like saying you've read some books the agent represented and really, really loved them, that's something I would not mention.

Experiences vary but interestingly and surprisingly, for me, not one agent I queried with personalization requested. The ones that requested, and offered, were from my non-personalized query. I also feel that personalization can slip into the disingenuous unless you really are a sincere fan of their client's work. Of course if you met at a conference etc that should be mentioned.

The trouble is, if you want to keep that query down to 200-250 words, personalization adds more fat and gets in the way of cutting to the chase. Some agents insist on it though, so in that case you have to get creative.

I only personalize queries if I have something personal to say. I don't make up anything. If I say I loved such-and-such book of an author they represent, I really mean it and I really read it. I like to remain excruciatingly honest because if I exaggerate, etc., then later get called on it, well...

Most of my queries are to the point, about my book, my story and why it might appeal to the masses I hope might read it.

Personalization is a very slippery slope. I've had query writers personalize their queries with references to tweets I've made...and long since forgotten. I've had people "personalize" their queries by telling me how much they love books I don't represent. I've had people personalize their queries by telling me how fabulous I am (my response to that is not what you think it might be.)

The earlier responses that focused on something genuine- met at a conference, interviews etc - are correct. Mention those IF you have room. Make sure you're specific: "I met you at a conference" is less useful than "I met you at Surrey and you ate my query for lunch" (although in my case of course I eat queries for lunch six days a week.)

Focus on the part of the query that tells what the book is about. That's what's important. I look for manuscripts that sound enticing, not the ones that sound like the querier has done research on me.

I've only personalized a few of my queries, one in particular where I read in their bio that they enjoyed certain foodstuffs and that they joked they could be bribed and I ended my query with a reference to bribery.

Yes, they asked to see more.

Strange, but the four queries I did personalise, for good reason, were the quickest to reject.


I suppose it's a compliment of sorts.




(Not!)

Just to throw a monkey wrench into this thread, of the five fulls and one partial I have out right now, all of them except one had some kind of personalization. Some were short, maybe a sentence or two; one of them was a whole paragraph. (But it was an entertaining paragraph.)

Mclesh said:

Just to throw a monkey wrench into this thread, of the five fulls and one partial I have out right now, all of them except one had some kind of personalization. Some were short, maybe a sentence or two; one of them was a whole paragraph. (But it was an entertaining paragraph.)

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Well my personalisations were quite nice (mostly about going for a drink, catching a movie, meeting each other's parents) and as I say, it did no good.

Still, each to his own.