I hope I'm not covering old ground, but thought it might be helpful to share my querying experience.
Last fall, I started by querying a dozen publishers who, according to "AuthorPublish," accept queries from authors (i.e. don't only accept from agents).
I received three responses. Two were offers to publish, but they were hybrid or vanity publsihers (their business model involves requiring authors to make a financial contribution up front). One was a promising rejection in that it said my book had been read by two persons and was "intriquing."
I turned to agents, using querytracker.com (which I highly recommend). Amazingly, they have a list of some 1600 agents. I submitted over 100 queries. After three and a half months, I have received 25 rejections and no reponse from others.
Scrutinizing the data available for each agent I found that in the course of a year an agent typically receives 100 queries and goes to the next step (e.g. looking at all or more of the book) in, at most, three cases, often less. There is no telling how often a submitter is actually accepted as a client but it stands to reason it is something less than 3/100.
This should not hold anyone back. If you are tempted to quit you need to read about all the authors, including some big names, that have endured a long period of rejection as a first author.
But, obviously, you should manage expections in accordance with reality. (Keep in mind when being rejected, the target has not even read your book. You are being rejected based solely on a pitch letter. That realization is what caused me to turn to beta readers.
The other thing I found was that for those agents who haven't responded you need to wait at least six months before concluding you have been passed over.
Last fall, I started by querying a dozen publishers who, according to "AuthorPublish," accept queries from authors (i.e. don't only accept from agents).
I received three responses. Two were offers to publish, but they were hybrid or vanity publsihers (their business model involves requiring authors to make a financial contribution up front). One was a promising rejection in that it said my book had been read by two persons and was "intriquing."
I turned to agents, using querytracker.com (which I highly recommend). Amazingly, they have a list of some 1600 agents. I submitted over 100 queries. After three and a half months, I have received 25 rejections and no reponse from others.
Scrutinizing the data available for each agent I found that in the course of a year an agent typically receives 100 queries and goes to the next step (e.g. looking at all or more of the book) in, at most, three cases, often less. There is no telling how often a submitter is actually accepted as a client but it stands to reason it is something less than 3/100.
This should not hold anyone back. If you are tempted to quit you need to read about all the authors, including some big names, that have endured a long period of rejection as a first author.
But, obviously, you should manage expections in accordance with reality. (Keep in mind when being rejected, the target has not even read your book. You are being rejected based solely on a pitch letter. That realization is what caused me to turn to beta readers.
The other thing I found was that for those agents who haven't responded you need to wait at least six months before concluding you have been passed over.
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