How many query letters have you sent so far?

My rule of thumb: Send out five queries to your top desired agents and wait about a month or so to see if you get a response (several don't respond if they're not interested). Revisit your query. Send out five more.

Several years ago, I landed an agent with a top lit agency. I had three reading fulls, and this was after about twenty queries. BUT that is just my experience. Some only have to send out five and land an agent, others have to revise and revise and send out 100 before landing an agent.

I sent out 180+ queries before I got an offer of rep. Sometimes it takes a while to find the right agent, but persistence is key.

Don't give up.

I sent out about eighteen query letters, I think. About fourteen of those ended up with full requests; three of those led to rejections, but referrals to other agents at their agencies; two agents told me they'd be offering but I withdrew my ms from them, as having spoken with them a bit I didn't think I could work with them; I then got two offers, and withdrew the ms from the final agent who still had it.

I'm in England, where it's usual to send sample pages and a cover letter rather than a query letter. The opening to my book has been described as "cracking", and I suspect that's what got me so many full requests. But it doesn't really matter how many full requests you get, or how many queries you send out: all that matters is that you get an offer from an agent you like. There are no reliable statistics for that, as there are too many variables involved. Just do the best you can, be as professional as you can, and keep going.

I've send out 18 queries so far without any luck (as far as luck is involved). I send out batches of six at a time. Between batches, I go back and revise the query and synopsis (and sometimes bits of the manuscript proper). It takes a long time, but I feel I'm constantly moving forward even without any success, so that's fine.

Isa_Halley said:

wow, lucky you!

....

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After a year, though, I decided to leave that agent. Great agency, but not a great agent for me. We had differing visions. That happens.

Aggy B. said:

I sent out 180+ queries before I got an offer of rep. Sometimes it takes a while to find the right agent, but persistence is key.

Don't give up.

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You are seriously my hero of the day. That is incredible determination and belief in yourself and your story.

I queried MS 1 for a year-- over seventy rejections, ten full requests, lots of partials, two R&Rs. I ended up trunking it and learned a lot about writing and myself.
I queried MS 2 for six months-- twenty rejections, 1 R&R (that led to rejection), twelveish Full Requests, and landed my agent at a top agency. I retooled my query and first pages several times, and didn't hear back on my query from agent-darling for about a month, then it was only a week from full request to offer. The timeline is different for everyone!

I don't have exact numbers, but I've sent between 100-150 for each of my four manuscripts. For the one I'm currently querying, I've sent eight before I decided to pause to do some revisions.

There's no magic number, bullet, formula, etc. Just make your query and manuscript the best they can be (QLH can help), and be prepared to keep trying. And trying. And trying.

Just to be clear: I had requests. A few partials and about a 1 in 10 full request to queries sent ratio. (That split was smaller at the front end and grew larger as I got further down the list and queried agents who were less of a "good" fit.) I would not have sent out that many queries if I had only been getting rejections and no requests for the MS.

"The right fit" is an awful response to get. Unless you've queried a romance agent with bloody horror, a well written and interesting idea at the query stage should be enough to get a "send pages" at least

A lot of agents aren't replying to anything they don't like, though.

31 so far, less than half responded. I'm reaching for 100 by the end of 2017 (unless I get rep'd before then)

I have a question. I'm sending out more queries for my novel, but this time to agents. One agency submission guidelines includes the following:

"Always let us know if your manuscript/proposal is currently under consideration by other agents/publishers."

Does "under consideration" mean you've submitted queries on the same work to other agents and publishers, or does it mean that you've already heard back from some and have been prompted to send the first 3 or a full manu? Anyone have a go-to sentence they use to cover this in a query letter?

Agents assume you're querying widely (or they should) so no, you don't have to tell them you're querying others, and you don't need a go-to sentence. I don't subscribe to the theory that you have to tell anyone anything until you get an offer of rep. Some agencies want exclusives on fulls. That's not in your best interest, although writers grant them (I did, for one agency, on a time-limited basis.)

As far as I'm concerned, "under consideration" means that agencies have asked to see more of your work. So, they've asked for a partial or a full and haven't yet rejected the work.

ETA: If agencies ask for this information I would always tell them because it will probably mean your ms gets moved up the pile and it will be read more quickly. If nothing else, you'll get a faster rejection, but it might mean instead they'll ask for a full sooner, or send it higher up the chain of command more quickly.

So did the agent land you a deal? I'm asking because I've sent dozens with one full request and a couple of partials. I'm beginning to think my novel's premise is wrong, or not worthy of publishing.

Being in England, can you guide us as to what the cover letter should include. I've scoured the net, and though I've located some info (also from the UK query thread in SYW) but there isn't really a lot. For example I recently wrote to a UK Agency to ask about the cover letter. I thought I wouldn't get a reply, but this is what I got: (btw, this is a major agency. And I was blown away by the courtesy.)

Your cover letter should include a very brief - one line - summary of the themes of your book, a bit of background about you as an author, and whether the book is part of a planned series, as well as anything else you think is relevant. The synopsis will include more detail about the plot, so don't worry so much about including that in the cover letter, which is mainly for us to get more of a sense of you as a writer.

So Basically the cover letter should not cover the story. Is that correct?
Also can you expound on the synopsis.

That seems a little strange to me. Maybe that one agency prefers cover letters like that, but it doesn't seem representative of UK agents in general.

This quote from a Juliet Mushens interview I just now happened to reread sums up what UK agents generally seem to want.

When you send me your book, make sure that the cover letter focuses on the book. Tell me a bit about it, the genre, the word count, give me a blurb, and then a couple of lines about yourself. A lot of cover letters or queries leave me none the wiser as to what the book is actually about, which isn't very helpful. Often they focus on the marketing plan, or its potential as a blockbuster film, or the author's blog ... Whereas the best letters pique my interest and make me eager to turn the page to read the sample chapters. Similarly, if you have written several books, then make sure that you focus on the one you are submitting in your letter. Some writers tell me about their whole body of work - four thrillers, two YA novels, a picture book, a cookery project – and I end up wondering which one is their true passion and focus.

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http://www.torbooks.co.uk/blog/2014/05/27/juliet-mushens-on-how-to-approach-an-agent-dos-and-donts

I think a lot of confusion comes from the terms 'cover letter' and 'query'. I see them as different terms for the same thing. But some people seem to refer to them as two different things?

I've just spotted something I missed first time round.

Toastymallow said:

I'm sending out more queries for my novel, but this time to agents.

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If you've already queried the book to publishers there's probably little point querying to agents now, because they won't be able to submit it to places it's already been. Sorry.

Raphee said:

Being in England, can you guide us as to what the cover letter should include. I've scoured the net, and though I've located some info (also from the UK query thread in SYW) but there isn't really a lot. For example I recently wrote to a UK Agency to ask about the cover letter. I thought I wouldn't get a reply, but this is what I got: (btw, this is a major agency. And I was blown away by the courtesy.)

Your cover letter should include a very brief - one line - summary of the themes of your book, a bit of background about you as an author, and whether the book is part of a planned series, as well as anything else you think is relevant. The synopsis will include more detail about the plot, so don't worry so much about including that in the cover letter, which is mainly for us to get more of a sense of you as a writer.

So Basically the cover letter should not cover the story. Is that correct?
Also can you expound on the synopsis.

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I think the cover letter should include information about the story of your book. It's true the synopsis should have the plot covered; the cover letter has to make the agent eager to read more, and tell them a bit about you.

Nicola Morgan has written a great book called "Dear Agent", which gives all sorts of advice on how to submit. I found it really useful. (She is a friend of mine, and I am biased in her favour, but it's still a great book.)

Old Hack said:

I've just spotted something I missed first time round.



If you've already queried the book to publishers there's probably little point querying to agents now, because they won't be able to submit it to places it's already been. Sorry.

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Oh, my bad for being unclear. I'm sending to agents because most of the houses I'm looking at will only accept queries from agents.

Exactly what I think. I didn't get the reply from an agent, but I think from an assistant. Especially the part about one sentence on themes seems different from what I've read before about UK queries.

Due to the reply I got, it seems I have to work on the synopsis more than the cover letter.

Old Hack said:

I think the cover letter should include information about the story of your book. It's true the synopsis should have the plot covered; the cover letter has to make the agent eager to read more, and tell them a bit about you.

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So do I ignore that reply from the agency and expand on the story instead of themes? btw, I'd love to read your query, if you don't mind sharing.

what agents want seems to differ.

I've seen one agent lament that cover letters overlap with synopses adn that to them, the cover letter is a place for the author to talk about themselves and why they've written the book.

then other agents seem to expect an elevator pitch and don't give a rat's arse about the author in relation to the cover letter. So, it varies.

But also UK agents seem to read pages second, and synopses third. Cover letters first. So I guess just play it safe and have some hook or distilled plot in the cover letter.