Agents: How many queries do you actually get per day?

i want to say i asked one once and they said the interns got a hundred, or close to it.

but your question probably has layers--are you asking:

1. How many queries, total, do you get in a day?

2. How many RELEVANT queries do you get in a day? (assuming you did your homework, you didn't send your penguin erotica to an agent specializing in Christian fiction with strong supernatural elements, for example....not everyone does though)

3. How many SOLID queries do you get in a day? (as in "how many that are actually literate, no glaring errors, in a genre you rep, etc.?)

4. How many queries do you get in a day that go on to the REQUEST stage?


etc. etc. etc.......so, you may want to clarify if you are asking raw numbers, or with some sort of filter.

Quick

btw, if you are in the query process you may want to visit Query Letter Hell to make sure you aren't getting weeded out as one of the folks in questions 2 and especially 3 above)

... a better question might be,
"How many queries does your trash can/folder get per day?"

Agent: "99% of what's sent."

Sure you'll fare well even still. G'luck.

kolemcrae said:

I'm sure it depends on a million factors such as what genre they represent...

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... also the agent.
The really popular ones who've made huge deals
probably get an unimaginable amount.
Whereas your average Joe or Jane Agent
may get far less than one would expect.

kolemcrae said:

I'm sure it's a large number, just curious what it is... I'm sure it depends on a million factors such as what genre they represent...

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it is large, but as I said you may want to clarify (this is your thread) what you are really asking. Because I have heard over half go straight to delete for not even being genres the agent represents, for example. So do you want to know how many they see, or how many you're competing with....because if you are doing your homework, the 2 numbers are probably very different

kolemcrae said:

I'm sure it's a large number, just curious what it is... I'm sure it depends on a million factors such as what genre they represent...

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I remember reading one of Kristin Nelson's blog posts on year-end stats. Total queries received was something like 38,000. So, doing a bit of math ... about 140 per day.

Several YA/MG agents post this info either on their blogs or on twitter, although sometimes they're intermittent. For example, Suzie Townsend posts query roundups sometimes. The most recent that I've seen is http://confessionsofawanderingheart.blogspot.com/2013/05/query-roundup-524.html (197 queries in a week, 4 requests)

Sarah LaPolla's stats from January to mid-April: http://glasscasesblog.blogspot.com/2013/06/news-stats-and-hello-again.html (1,100+ queries, 17 requests, 0 authors signed)

Carlie Watters' 2012 stats: http://carlywatters.com/2013/01/07/query-stats-2012-and-my-2013-wishlist/ (6,000 queries, 180+ requests, 7 new authors signed)

I would be curious to know how many submissions are rejected because the rules for submissions were blatantly ignored. The low ratio of acceptances to queries is disconcerting, but I hope an author could increase his or her odds significantly simply by paying attention to the submission guidelines.

On a kind of related subject, I always wonder how the math works out.

Say 100 agents averaging 100 queries a week (might be low)
100 * 100 * 52 = 520,000 queries a year
Assume each author writes one novel a year, and queries thirty agents average .
520,000 / 30 = 17,300 project written every year (assuming all novels were actually written at the time of the query, I guess some queries are for picture books and non-fiction proposals.) Anyway, seems like maybe 10,000 novels written each year????

Does this sound even remotely correct? So, in query letter hell we're only seeing the tip of the iceberg. It's scary enough submitting with the help of the squirrels. Submitting without help sounds like a disaster for the average author.

tko said:

On a kind of related subject, I always wonder how the math works out.

Say 100 agents averaging 100 queries a week (might be low)
100 * 100 * 52 = 520,000 queries a year
Assume each author writes one novel a year, and queries thirty agents average .
520,000 / 30 = 17,300 project written every year (assuming all novels were actually written at the time of the query, I guess some queries are for picture books and non-fiction proposals.) Anyway, seems like maybe 10,000 novels written each year????

Does this sound even remotely correct? So, in query letter hell we're only seeing the tip of the iceberg. It's scary enough submitting with the help of the squirrels. Submitting without help sounds like a disaster for the average author.

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That actually sounds very, very low to me. That sounds significantly lower than books that end up printed, I'd wager, even just talking novels, trade, I'd guess many times that.

tko said:

On a kind of related subject, I always wonder how the math works out.

Say 100 agents averaging 100 queries a week (might be low)
100 * 100 * 52 = 520,000 queries a year
Assume each author writes one novel a year, and queries thirty agents average .
520,000 / 30 = 17,300 project written every year (assuming all novels were actually written at the time of the query, I guess some queries are for picture books and non-fiction proposals.) Anyway, seems like maybe 10,000 novels written each year???? You're not counting all those novels that aren't queried to agents: those that are self-published, e-published only, or sent directly to the publishers, writers who already have agents, those novels that are written and trunked, and probably some more I haven't thought of.

And even then, the number seems too small. Many agents get more than a 100 queries a week. And I'm sure there are more than a hundred agents, far more if you count those who are not very good or a downright scam.

Does this sound even remotely correct? So, in query letter hell we're only seeing the tip of the iceberg. It's scary enough submitting with the help of the squirrels. Submitting without help sounds like a disaster for the average author.

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What's even scarier is those who make it through QLH, I suspect are at the top of the iceberg, quality-wise. I *think* queries like slushpilehell are actually more common than the queries from QLH.

One of the agent blogs I read said the agent received 100-200 queries a week. Less than 50% were in genres she actually represented and followed her very clearly posted guidelines correctly. And that's not even getting in the quality of the queries and MS. Last year she signed one new author.

Little Ming said:

What's even scarier is those who make it through QLH, I suspect are at the top of the iceberg, quality-wise. I *think* queries like slushpilehell are actually more common than the queries from QLH.

One of the agent blogs I read said the agent received 100-200 queries a week. Less than 50% were in genres she actually represented and followed her very clearly posted guidelines correctly. And that's not even getting in the quality of the queries and MS. Last year she signed one new author.

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Would be interesting to know for sure, wouldn't it. I used to have an acquaintance in the music biz who once gave me a pile of demo tapes to listen through - he trusted my tastes enough and I was curious.
Most of the bands weren't horrible. They were just dull. Out of about twenty to twenty five tapes, I heard one single song that was kinda catchy, but by halfway through it was just too repetitive. Granted it was a small sample, but he said it was typical. Something really awful would at least be entertaining.

Having said that, I came across one agent that had a page on their site dedicated to query letters. They basically said that by reading this, you're ahead of the game already....

tko said:

On a kind of related subject, I always wonder how the math works out.

Say 100 agents averaging 100 queries a week (might be low)
100 * 100 * 52 = 520,000 queries a year
Assume each author writes one novel a year, and queries thirty agents average .
520,000 / 30 = 17,300 project written every year (assuming all novels were actually written at the time of the query, I guess some queries are for picture books and non-fiction proposals.) Anyway, seems like maybe 10,000 novels written each year????

Does this sound even remotely correct? So, in query letter hell we're only seeing the tip of the iceberg. It's scary enough submitting with the help of the squirrels. Submitting without help sounds like a disaster for the average author.

Click to expand...

There are almost 700 agents listed at Query Tracker - I assume some of these are probably less-than-legit, but I also assume that some legit agents aren't listed there.

So your numbers DO seem low. But there'd be some significant duplication in the queries to the agents - it's pretty rare to hear of people submitting an MS to just one agent.

I have no idea how the numbers would work out.

Here's the rub. The average agent has her (they are all women, aren't they?) day filled with meetings trying to get her 20 or so contracted authors' books, film treatments, and scripts placed. She spends the other hours trying to get said authors to get off the couch and finish the project that's due yesterday (or if she's lucky, tomorrow). She'll be lining up the talent for the writers' conference she's agreed to host.
She is in no way looking to take on another headache.

And yet... in the 400-500 queries she'll scan when she finally gets a minute, there just MIGHT be a gem. The next 50 Shades, the next Harry Potter. So, she keeps her listing current.

Don't hold your breath.

DennisB said:

Here's the rub. The average agent has her (they are all women, aren't they?) day filled with meetings trying to get her 20 or so contracted authors' books, film treatments, and scripts placed. She spends the other hours trying to get said authors to get off the couch and finish the project that's due yesterday (or if she's lucky, tomorrow). She'll be lining up the talent for the writers' conference she's agreed to host.
She is in no way looking to take on another headache.

And yet... in the 400-500 queries she'll scan when she finally gets a minute, there just MIGHT be a gem. The next 50 Shades, the next Harry Potter. So, she keeps her listing current.

Don't hold your breath.

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Most people don't rep all three of those but I'm really posting because I can't believe you not only referred to 50 Shades... as a 'gem,' but mentioned it in the same sentence as Harry Potter without a contrasting conjunction.

I just don't think the view is as grim as you made it sound.

DennisB said:

Here's the rub. The average agent has her (they are all women, aren't they?) (While yes, publishing does seem to be one of the few industries in which women outnumber men, some great agents are men.) day filled with meetings trying to get her 20 or so (Some agents have many, many more than 20. Some have fewer.) contracted authors' books, film treatments, and scripts placed. (Many agencies have a person or work with a person who specializes in film rights. I'm not aware of many literary agencies that actually place or represent scripts.) She spends the other hours trying to get said authors to get off the couch and finish the project that's due yesterday (or if she's lucky, tomorrow). (I have no idea about this. I've never heard an agent complain about such a thing.) She'll be lining up the talent for the writers' conference she's agreed to host. (I've heard of very few agents who actually host a conference. Some teach courses or attend conferences as speakers, but I don't think most are involved in lining up talent for these events.)
She is in no way looking to take on another headache.

And yet... in the 400-500 queries she'll scan when she finally gets a minute, there just MIGHT be a gem. The next 50 Shades, the next Harry Potter. So, she keeps her listing current. (Yes, many agents do read queries in their evenings or at the end of the day. They may have interns to help, as well. But all of the agents whose blogs or twitter feeds I follow are genuinely excited about finding talent in the query pile.)

Don't hold your breath. (Yeah, getting noticed in the query pile is sort of long odds, but it's certainly not impossible, especially if you work to write a good query, have a good manuscript, know your market, and research the agents you query. More than one of us here at AW has done it successfully.)

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Shaking my head at this one...

DennisB said:

Here's the rub. The average agent has her (they are all women, aren't they?) day filled with meetings trying to get her 20 or so contracted authors' books, film treatments, and scripts placed.

His or her day is full, but few rep all of those categories, and many have more than 20 clients.

She spends the other hours trying to get said authors to get off the couch and finish the project that's due yesterday (or if she's lucky, tomorrow).

I actually doubt most agents spend a lot of time cajolling their authors. Now, they do have contracts to read, fires to put out, deals to negotiate, many do some editorial work with clients, etc. They are full days.

She'll be lining up the talent for the writers' conference she's agreed to host.

Few agents host a lot of conferences, and it's not the "normal" part of their jobs when they do it.

She is in no way looking to take on another headache.

Now that is true, which is why they often google prospective clients so they can weed out the probable headaches.

And yet... in the 400-500 queries she'll scan when she finally gets a minute, there just MIGHT be a gem.

Numbers will vary, as will query reading time, and I'll agree they are looking for the extraordinary in the piles of meh and not-ready and fine but not great.

The next 50 Shades, the next Harry Potter.

Sure, profitable if you can sign those. But they are also looking for a host of other books.

So, she keeps her listing current.

Don't hold your breath.

Well, queriers should never hold their breath. Working toward being published takes patience, and oxygen.

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Many writers sign with agents all the time. Many on this forum. There is no magic. It does take an extraordinary book, effort and a fair bit of timing and luck to connect with the right agent for the right book.

~suki

DennisB said:

Here's the rub. The average agent has her (they are all women, aren't they?) day filled with meetings trying to get her 20 or so contracted authors' books, film treatments, and scripts placed. She spends the other hours trying to get said authors to get off the couch and finish the project that's due yesterday (or if she's lucky, tomorrow). She'll be lining up the talent for the writers' conference she's agreed to host.
She is in no way looking to take on another headache.

And yet... in the 400-500 queries she'll scan when she finally gets a minute, there just MIGHT be a gem. The next 50 Shades, the next Harry Potter. So, she keeps her listing current.

Don't hold your breath.

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I just signed with one yesterday. Respected agency, Lots of deals at Publishers' Marketplace. Pulled my query out of the slush.

I had three other fulls out. They were pulled out of the slush, too.

It happens. And while I'd love the be the next JK Rowling (and, what the hell, I wouldn't mind being the next 50-shades-woman, either), I doubt I am. Just a writer with a story to sell.

*waves to everyone*

Hello, writers! I'm an assistant at Foreword Literary, and I handle a query inbox, so I figured I'd answer a couple of your questions. Note that these aren't exact figures, but they're relatively close. And please also note my my opinions are just that-- personal opinions. I'm not a publishing professional, I'm just an assistant, so don't rely on anything I have to say.

1. How many queries do you get a day?
A lot! I'd guess around 20+ each day, which adds up to about 140 a week. My boss told me when I started that she receives around 600+ a month, and I trust her math more than mine!

2. How many GOOD queries do you get a week?
That really depends. The other day, I found two golden queries that were sent on the same day, and I was so excited/happy/ecstatic/SQUEEE! Needless to say, good queries get me excited, but they're unfortunately rather rare.

I'd say about 70% actually follow guidelines exactly, which means I'll only seriously consider 70% of queries we receive. (I think that ONCE I forwarded an improperly-formatted manuscript to my wonderful boss, Laurie. And I've been at this job for about 9 months now!) As for how many of those are "good" queries, it's hard to say. For one, it depends on the month (in November/December, the quality generally goes down from NaNoWriMo. Not that I have anything against you lovely, hard-working WriMos!) and the specific timing (for example, after a big conference, a lot of good submissions tend to come in. I think this is because most writers have to be pretty serious to pay the fee for such conferences.)

But, to give a more straightforward answer, I'd say that probably about 10% of queries are "good".

3. How many queries do you get a week that you request material from?

So this is the part where I have to break the bad news: Yes, 10% are good queries, but we're not looking for good. The majority of agents and assistants are looking for beyond exceptional queries that blow our minds. I'd say about 1% of queries fall into this category. That being said, sometimes I still can't request material from that 1% for various reasons-- for example, if their project is to close to something Laurie already reps.

So probably about 1 out of 150 queries receives a request.

Of course, this is just me and the agency I work for. Every agency is different, every agent is different, and I don't think there is one, singular answer to these questions. But I hope this at least gives you all an idea!

I hope this helped to answer some of your questions! Let me know if you have others. Or pop over to Pam's thread in this sub-forum and ask a professional your questions.

Only Stronger said:

I would be curious to know how many submissions are rejected because the rules for submissions were blatantly ignored. The low ratio of acceptances to queries is disconcerting, but I hope an author could increase his or her odds significantly simply by paying attention to the submission guidelines.

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Following submission guidelines does help a lot: but remember that the odds are different for every writer, every book. Some are never going to get an agent or a trade publishing contract because they're just not good enough; some are so brilliant that they'll have to almost fight to avoid it, so long as they send it out.

DennisB said:

Here's the rub. The average agent has her (they are all women, aren't they?)

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Oli Munsen, Johnny Geller, Bill Hamilton, Robert Caskie, Donald Maas and many other male literary agents might be interested to hear your views. But yes, there are a lot of female literary agents.

day filled with meetings trying to get her 20 or so contracted authors' books, film treatments, and scripts placed.

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I know of one literary agent who only has 23 author-clients but she works very deeply with them, and they all have lots of very lucrative foreign and subsidiary rights deals in place. Most agents focus on more author-clients, but usually make fewer and smaller deals for each one.

She spends the other hours trying to get said authors to get off the couch and finish the project that's due yesterday (or if she's lucky, tomorrow). She'll be lining up the talent for the writers' conference she's agreed to host.
She is in no way looking to take on another headache.

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This isn't really how agents work.

Here's a link to an interview with a literary agent in which she describes her working week.

And here's the legendary Slushkiller, in which a wonderful editor discusses what makes up the slushpile.

Only Stronger said:

I would be curious to know how many submissions are rejected because the rules for submissions were blatantly ignored. The low ratio of acceptances to queries is disconcerting, but I hope an author could increase his or her odds significantly simply by paying attention to the submission guidelines.

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My limited experience with a query inbox (limited! I must reiterate) suggests that an author can increase his or her odds significantly by a) following the submissions guidelines, b) writing coherent sentences, c) revealing that there is indeed a plot (or narrative thread/coherent thesis for nonfic), and d) sending something that is an actual book instead of a collection of random musings. If you do those things, you've beaten out the vast majority of what shows up in the inbox.

But then you have to beat out all the other people who beat out the majority.

Hi, I'm new here and apologize that I haven't done my profile yet.

I was asked by two agents at Grub Street's Marketplace and the Muse conference for my full MS. How flattering! That was early May, and I haven't heard back from either one. How deflating. I know they're busy, but you'd think I'd hear something from at least one of them. (These are not shlock agencies - Sterling Lord Literistic and Barer Literary.)

I think querying is a waste of time and I can't afford to keep going to conferences. So it looks like I'm going to self-publish. I'm 65 and just can't sit around waiting forever.

chickenma said:

Hi, I'm new here and apologize that I haven't done my profile yet.

I was asked by two agents at Grub Street's Marketplace and the Muse conference for my full MS. How flattering! That was early May, and I haven't heard back from either one. How deflating. I know they're busy, but you'd think I'd hear something from at least one of them. (These are not shlock agencies - Sterling Lord Literistic and Barer Literary.)

I think querying is a waste of time and I can't afford to keep going to conferences. So it looks like I'm going to self-publish. I'm 65 and just can't sit around waiting forever.

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Why do you think querying is a waste of time? That's how most people find agents.