Do I query with the agent in mind or their assistant that reads the query?

MythMonger

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There are some agents that specifically claim they read query submissions themselves. With others, it's apparent they're using assistants to filter the queries first.

With the last few queries I've sent out, I've tailored them specifically for the agent. I did online research to try and see what they might respond to. But the form rejections have come directly from assistants.

I'm about to query an agent that has made it obvious (through interviews) that he uses an assistant to read query submissions first. I also know through my research who this assistant is (she's given interviews of her own).

I'm thinking it might be better if I tailor my query to the assistant rather than the agent. While I'm not sure what changes I would make, I have to believe that trying to appeal to the fifty- something male agent would be different than trying to appeal to his twenty-something female assistant.

Any thoughts or insight on this would be appreciated.
 

lizmonster

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I'm thinking it might be better if I tailor my query to the assistant rather than the agent. While I'm not sure what changes I would make, I have to believe that trying to appeal to the fifty- something male agent would be different than trying to appeal to his twenty-something female assistant.

Do you know anything else about either of these people apart from their ages and identified sex? Because that doesn't really give you anything to go on when it comes to customization. (Of course, I'm skeptical of that level of personalization in queries anyway.)
 

Aggy B.

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You write the query for the agent. Their assistant will know what they are looking for, even if their own tastes might be different.

(I, too, am not really sold on the personalized query method, but if that's what you think will work for you, then you do what you need to do. But you always formulate everything for the person who would be offering rep. An assistant knows what their boss is looking for. And even if they didn't, trying to hook the assistant will do no good if they pass the letter along and it's clearly not written with the agent in mind. [It's rare for an assistant to make requests without clearing them with the agent first, but usually they pass along a whittled down stack of queries with recommendations on which seem especially promising.])
 

MythMonger

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Do you know anything else about either of these people apart from their ages and identified sex? Because that doesn't really give you anything to go on when it comes to customization. (Of course, I'm skeptical of that level of personalization in queries anyway.)

There's quite a bit online about the agent, and possibly some things I can glean online about the assistant.

You write the query for the agent. Their assistant will know what they are looking for, even if their own tastes might be different.

(I, too, am not really sold on the personalized query method, but if that's what you think will work for you, then you do what you need to do. But you always formulate everything for the person who would be offering rep. An assistant knows what their boss is looking for. And even if they didn't, trying to hook the assistant will do no good if they pass the letter along and it's clearly not written with the agent in mind. [It's rare for an assistant to make requests without clearing them with the agent first, but usually they pass along a whittled down stack of queries with recommendations on which seem especially promising.])

Thank you both for sharing your expertise. I appreciate the fact you each spend time helping newbies like myself. :)

I haven't had any luck with my original query, one which I created for a generic agent. So with the last submission I spent a few weeks crafting a query specifically for that one agent. In my online research I found something the agent has mentioned several times as being of interest to her. Since her interest is a major part of my manuscript I made it a point of emphasis in my new query. I got a rejection from the assistant, and so it seemed like a wasted effort on my part. What I gather from Aggy B.'s comment is that if the agent wanted something with what I was emphasizing, it would have been passed along to the agent (assuming everything else was fine).

So my dilemma is with the next agent on the list. Through my online research, I've discovered that he uses an assistant, and that assistant has a lot of leeway with picking what pages get requested. A recent story the agent recounted online was that after a new writer was signed and he was going to pitch it to a publisher, he asked to see the original query. When he saw it, he made the comment that the query was absolutely terrible and when he asked the assistant about that, she said she just had a hunch and requested pages.

I realize that every agent and assistant will have a different relationship, and that maybe it's impossible to personalize a query. Given the sheer volume of queries these assistants and/or agents apparently scan, I can't help but think that some of these rejections are made at a gut level.

It seems to help me to think of the audience of the query, but maybe all I'm doing is making myself feel more comfortable before I hit "send." :Shrug:
 
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lizmonster

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It seems to help me to think of the audience of the query, but maybe all I'm doing is making myself feel more comfortable before I hit "send." :Shrug:

I don't think there's anything wrong with thinking of the audience, but I do suspect - outside of the agent's accepted genres - there's nothing you can learn about them that will make them request off a query that doesn't otherwise grab them. And too much personalization can come across a little stalkerish. You're looking for a business partner; your query should discuss business.

What I gather from Aggy B.'s comment is that if the agent wanted something with what I was emphasizing, it would have been passed along to the agent (assuming everything else was fine).


Two things about this:

1) Agents reject "fine" queries all the time. It's not always about disliking the book. They may have something close to it already, they may feel the specific market has been saturated, the story as stated may just not grab them for whatever reason, etc. etc. etc. Past a certain point, it's subjective. Matching an #mswl doesn't guarantee you anything at all.

2) Have you run your query(ies) through Query Letter Hell? If you're not getting a good request rate, it's worth getting other eyes on the letter to see if they notice something you're missing.
 

MythMonger

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I don't think there's anything wrong with thinking of the audience, but I do suspect - outside of the agent's accepted genres - there's nothing you can learn about them that will make them request off a query that doesn't otherwise grab them. And too much personalization can come across a little stalkerish. You're looking for a business partner; your query should discuss business.



Two things about this:

1) Agents reject "fine" queries all the time. It's not always about disliking the book. They may have something close to it already, they may feel the specific market has been saturated, the story as stated may just not grab them for whatever reason, etc. etc. etc. Past a certain point, it's subjective. Matching an #mswl doesn't guarantee you anything at all.

That's a lot of good things to keep in mind. Thank you.

2) Have you run your query(ies) through Query Letter Hell? If you're not getting a good request rate, it's worth getting other eyes on the letter to see if they notice something you're missing.

First thing I did! :)
 

Aggy B.

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So, let me take a minute to stress that there are just a number of things that go into a request or lack there of.

I've currently been working on a short that has been rejected with absolutely no feedback by one editor, but a different editor is interested in (given I can make a few revisions to better fit his publication) and told me he found himself thinking about it even when he was busy with other projects. Now, it would be easy to think that editor #1 hates the story or that it's terrible. But that's not likely the case. (Especially since someone else is very interested.) However, there is a middle ground where something is just fine, but doesn't - for any number of reasons - grab a particular editor or agent. (Not quite their style, already have something similar, not quite what they meant when they said they were looking for X, already have a stack of X and need something different, etc.) Those pieces - whether shorts or novels - are most likely to get a form rejection. There's not enough there that's "wrong" for an agent or editor to feel comfortable saying "Perhaps you should fix this," but it's still not quite what they're looking for.

With agents, I got a rejection from one agent that praised a particular aspect of my MS and an R&R that negged that same aspect, back-to-back. What works for some folks, doesn't for others. Agents are the test audience (so to speak) and someone will love what someone else doesn't.

Gird your loins and stick with it. (The next step is even worse.)
 

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I'd go with a query that addresses the points agents generally want to see addressed. Assuming you have access specifically to this agent's wish list, and you have some information about the kinds of queries that have caught their eye in the past (sometimes you can find a successful query letter or two for a particular agent on querytracker), it's a safe bet they choose and train assistants they trust to hand them the queries that fit the agent's criteria.

The only time I ran afoul of this was once when I met an agent at a workshop, and she asked me to send her a query even though she didn't usually take on secondary world fantasy. I got a form rejection letter from an assistant telling me this agent didn't take on secondary world fantasy (I did mention that I'd met the agent and she'd personally asked me to send the query and sample pages in) :cry:

I still wouldn't write a query for an assistant, though. How could I when I don't know the person or their tastes apart from what the agent has stated on their site or on social media etc.? Even if you do know what the assistant is looking for, and it's different from what the agent says their looking for, the agent will likely pass on something that doesn't meet their criteria after the assistant hands it over.
 
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MythMonger

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So, let me take a minute to stress that there are just a number of things that go into a request or lack there of.

Thanks for sharing your experiences. It helps to put things in perspective.


Gird your loins and stick with it. (The next step is even worse.)

Will do. I at once desire and dread the next step. :)

The only time I ran afoul of this was once when I met an agent at a workshop, and she asked me to send her a query even though she didn't usually take on secondary world fantasy. I got a form rejection letter from an assistant telling me this agent didn't take on secondary world fantasy (I did mention that I'd met the agent and she'd personally asked me to send the query and sample pages in) :cry:

Oh, no! That must have been so frustrating! It's not like you can exactly reply to a form rejection without running the risk of looking crazy, either.

Thanks for your advice. I still have a lot to think about with this query process...
 

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I know I'm late to this particular question, but it highlights something that new writers often misunderstand.

There are some agents that specifically claim they read query submissions themselves. With others, it's apparent they're using assistants to filter the queries first.

Most agencies use assistants and interns to filter the queries they receive.

Those assistants and interns are really carefully briefed before they're let loose on the slush pile.

They're told what the agent/agency wants, and what it does not or cannot represent: for example, if an agent doesn't represent any non-fiction, poetry, children's books or horror, queries which are received which fall into those categories can safely be rejected by an intern without the agent ever seeing them.

They're asked to reject anything which is way outside their agency guidelines: for example, if a writer has sent in a complete manuscript with no query, no synopsis, no nothing, then again, they can reject that without pause.

When they're a bit more experienced they're asked to filter out the queries which are illegible, nonsensical, or illiterate; queries which are more concerned with expounding upon conspiracy theories than querying a book.

Everything that an agent might have some interest in, which is submitted appropriately, and which is written with a reasonable level of literacy will be seen by the agents concerned. They will and they do take great care to treat submissions with respect.
 

MythMonger

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Thank you for the detailed response, Old Hack. I appreciate the insights.