At what point should I worry

Girlsgottawrite

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I posted my query on here and got a lot of great feedback. Most people said the final product was good, and I'm very confident in my manuscript, but so far I've gotten exactly 4 form rejections (and have a few no-reply-means-no agents who tend to be quick responders that haven't responded) and zero requests. So I'm starting to get worried there's something wrong with either my query or maybe the subject matter, setting/time period. I know every agent has different tastes, but I got a decent number of requests on my last book and this one is soooo much better, so I'm just baffled.
Anyway, at what point do I start to worry that something's not working here?
Thanks!
Courtney
 
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Meemossis

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I know I'm a little late to the table but have you ever seen videos by Alexa Donne on youtube? In one of her videos, she reads out her successful query letter that got quite a few positive replies from agents. It was the first query letter I'd ever seen, and it's one that I'm currently taking notes from when I finally get around to doing mine. Just thought I would throw it out there. It might give you a different perspective on things.

Also, she mentions the query tracker, I don't know if you use this already, but on that site, it shows the agents wish lists. If you do a little digging on there, you might find agents who are looking for exactly what you're selling.
 

lizmonster

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I think you're allowed to worry as soon as you'd like.

How long have you been querying? How many of your Rs involved pages vs. just the query?

It never hurts to review your query materials. You could go back to your query letter thread and mention it hasn't been working; folks might have some suggestions. If you've had rejections on pages, you might consider putting your first pages up for crit as well.

It's a long haul, and can be so discouraging. Hang in there.
 

SAWeiner

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How many queries have you sent out? Also, how long have you waited to hear back? Have you allowed for the response time the agents have said they needed? Somewhere, I read that if, after waiting a reasonable time, one gets 0 favorable responses from 10 queries, then one should review and re-examine what one is sending out. Please note though that this response is from someone who has had no luck getting his own foot in the door.
 
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Girlsgottawrite

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I've sent out to 10, heard back from four. I have a few who are no replies that I don't know what to do with and a few more who will probably take a while. I know I probably should have done fewer to start but my excitement got the better of me. Anyway, I'll take another look at my query to see if I think it can be made better and wait out another week to see where I am. I'll post a couple sample pages too, see what everyone thinks, though really I do feel those are strong.
Thanks for the help!
 

jadeheavens

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Jumping in a little late here, but I've read not to give up until you've sent 100 queries or more...Most articles I've read have also recommended sending in batches of around 10 like you've done and then adjusting if no favorable responses. So I think you're on the right track and shouldn't worry too much if you've only gone through ten agents so far (I googled "good query letter response" and I think a 5-15% request rate is considered decent, though one source said 75% lmao). And I remember seeing your query and opening pages in SYW get plenty of suggestions for editing, so my fingers are crossed that you'll get more positive responses in your next batch of queries!