- Joined
- Jul 26, 2016
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- 54
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- 7
I'm currently querying. While examining my spreadsheet, I realized that although my request rate is currently 18%, if I had sent out queries in groups of 10, I would have much different rates per grouping.
For example, for this particular project, I have sent out 91 queries and currently am at 17 requests and 23 rejections. In my first round of 10 queries, I received 4 requests and 1 rejection (the others haven't responded, but it's been less than 8 weeks so I haven't written them off yet). In the round of 10 queries right after it (with the same letter), I received 7 rejections and 1 request. With some groupings, I have received mostly rejections.
I began with agents whose manuscript wishlists called for specific elements that fit my story and personalized my query accordingly. After that, I queried agents who represent my genre but may not be looking for something specifically like my story. That being said, if I had started by querying agents who are just looking for YA fantasy, without personalizing my letters or searching their MSWL lists, my statistics might be far different and I might have mistakenly assumed that my query was the problem.
For example, for this particular project, I have sent out 91 queries and currently am at 17 requests and 23 rejections. In my first round of 10 queries, I received 4 requests and 1 rejection (the others haven't responded, but it's been less than 8 weeks so I haven't written them off yet). In the round of 10 queries right after it (with the same letter), I received 7 rejections and 1 request. With some groupings, I have received mostly rejections.
I began with agents whose manuscript wishlists called for specific elements that fit my story and personalized my query accordingly. After that, I queried agents who represent my genre but may not be looking for something specifically like my story. That being said, if I had started by querying agents who are just looking for YA fantasy, without personalizing my letters or searching their MSWL lists, my statistics might be far different and I might have mistakenly assumed that my query was the problem.