Started querying, and now I have a really bad feeling about my chances

About a month ago, I was feeling sky high. All my beta readers really liked my novel. They're trusted readers, very qualified for giving feedback. This is the best thing I've ever written. I really believe that, and I usually don't.

It's my third novel. My first novel never reached the querying stage. It was just bad. My second novel got 10 full requests out of about 50 queries, but after ten very nice personal rejections, I decided to trunk it. The novel had too many structural problems to fix.

So I decided to change genres to sci-fi (think Black Mirror, not space opera). And now, crickets. I'm up to 18 queries. 4 form rejections. Nothing else. I've rewritten the query three times now.

I know it's only been a month since I started. But I use Querytracker's data explorer, and most of the agents I submitted to will usually request materials within a couple of days or give no response at all. This was also my experience with my last novel. Most of my requests came within a week of sending the query. So out of the 18 queries I sent recently, I think I still have a chance with 3 of them. 0-15 is a pretty bad indicator.

Is sci-fi a tough sell? I didn't think it was since I see so much of it around in books, TV, and film. But it seems like everything is YA, literary, or fantasy. Anyone have anything out there to give me hope? Maybe it's just the time of year or perhaps agents have a "maybe" file and they're still looking for the time to review my pages. I don't know.

I know I will try to get feedback on my query, and if this is only a problem with my query, then I'm okay. But I fear it's a problem with my concept and genre. I'm worried that the best thing I've ever written won't even get read.

RaggyCat said:

I'll leave others to answer on Sci-Fi and Querytracker, but don't lose hope at this stage - 10 fulls out of 50 is really good going, and that tells you you're a good writer who's doing a lot right. I appreciate those stats are on the last project rather than this one, but they do speak loudly.

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Thank you for saying that. I think my last novel was similar to a hot book at that time by coincidence, but my book was not nearly as good.

I do hope you're right about August. Although, I've also heard that because summer is slow, Agents catch up to their slush. I'm probably just overthinking it now.

mccardey said:

Hello, welcome to Querying

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Ha, no kidding. Although, my only other attempt at querying went really well. I probably had 4 requests in the first month. I think that probably colored my current disappointment. What's happening now to me is probably more normal.

lizmonster said:

Querying sucks.

At this point I'd advise you to stop sending and have your query letter looked at. As others have said, once you get to 50 posts, you can post it in Query Letter Hell for advice. For now, crit other queries - it's a terrific way to learn, and it'll help you get to know the community here. (It'll also help you get to 50 posts. )

It'll probably be worth having your first pages looked at as well, but start with the letter.

The SF market is a lot smaller than the fantasy market, but it exists.

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Thanks, and I will post there once I reach 50. I already wrote a critique of a query earlier.

Drachen Jager said:

August is just a slow month.

If you have a QT membership, try looking at the timeline for each agent. Some agents answer queries pretty strictly in the order received so you can tell you're out with those ones when they answer other people after you. You can also get a look at how long their recent replies have taken. An average built up over several years won't be as accurate as their current response times because it varies so much during the year.

There's at least one major book fair in August many of the agents attend which puts them a week behind, and of course if they have families they probably take some time off over the summer as well.

I wouldn't fret too much for now. Leave the queries open and hope for the best.

Oh, and Adult SF is a pretty tough sell right now from what I gather. It's far from a dead genre, but slower than many others at the moment.

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Yeah, I mentioned QT in my post, so I've already been passed by several agents I queried.

I was afraid of adult SF being small right now. I guess there's really nothing I can do about that except keep trying when I get my query better.

polishmuse said:

Ditto the have your letter looked at, but also realize that it's normal to doubt yourself at this (every?) step in the process. Just when you feel good, you get the wind knocked out of you-- but get back up again and keep going. I got my agent on my 100th query for this book. I had lots of requests AND rejections in there. Don't question yourself too hard until you get to 50 rejects, I think. The business is so subjective.

Best of luck, and chin up. You wrote three books, you obviously have something great, so take a breath. You can do it.

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Wow, 100th query? That's awesome. Thanks for sharing that. May I ask what your stats were? Like number of requests, how long it took to get those requests after the query, and how long the querying process took?

Shoeless said:

As an SFF writer, I can confirm that August can be a bit slower for queries. WorldCon is one of the biggest culprits, as a lot of the SFF agents will attend that event, catch up with clients, and also network with editors to pitch books for submission in September. It's not unusual for them to get caught up in all the "biz" side of things and let the queries lapse. There are also fewer SFF publishers to submit to, although there are over 100 potential agents to query, depending on whether your're writing Adult or YA SFF, so it can be tough sometimes. There are a few SFF writers around here in various stages of querying, submitting with agents to acquiring editors, or waiting on publication after a sale, so you'll find a lot of different thoughts on how painful and slow going it can be at EVERY stage of the process.

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Thank you for that perspective! I wouldn't have considered WorldCon as a culprit. Nor did I know how many potential agents there were. I do think I might have been querying the wrong agents. My pitch sounds pretty sci fi, but I've been querying agents who like upmarket speculative fiction.

polishmuse said:

YMMV, but I've been in the game for a while. basic stats (roughly)
book 1: sent 40 q, had 10 requests, shelved
book 2: sent 40 q, had 15 requests, multiple offers, accepted offer (book never sold, left agent)
book 3: sent 100 q, had 30 requests of partials and fulls, some serious chats, one offer, accepted

Best of luck!

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Great stats!