Agent query workshops - Are they worth it?

I've used it a couple of time before but for me it pretty much depends on who's the agent and what's the cost.

The first time was part of a writing festival when I was started taking my writing seriously and the 1-to-1 was with an agent which was one of my top choices. Her feedback and encouragement were very useful and helped me improved my writing. The second time was as I was getting ready to start submitting my novel 1) my novel fitted with her wishlist 2) she was a recognised agent, she ended up saying that she liked it and requested the full manuscript. I have a friend who met her agent at a 1-to-1 like this too so there are benefits.

I've looked at the price at writers' conferences for this type of thing (pre-Coronavirus when there still were in-person conferences) and the charge could be pretty hefty. You can meanwhile post your query on this forum for useful feedback for free. All this being said, participating could still work out for you as it did for Elle.

Girlsgottawrite said:

Hi all,
I'm not getting the traction I had hoped for on this manuscript

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I'm going to nitpick this, please forgive me.

When you say you're not getting traction with your manuscript, do you mean you're not getting responses for your query? Or do you mean that you're getting page requests and not getting a positive response once they've read your manuscript?

While I don't have any experience with workshops, it's my understanding that even a perfectly written query won't necessarily get responses. Things like genre or wordcount or an agent that doesn't have any space for a new client are things that are outside your immediate control. If workshops also address things like that, I could see where it would be helpful.

Girlsgottawrite said:

Hi all,
So I got an ad for a writers workshop where agents will critique your query and first 10 pages (for a price, of course). I have always avoided this sort of stuff because it's so easy to get taken advantage of, but I'm not getting the traction I had hoped for on this manuscript, and I'm wondering if the feedback would be helpful. Has anyone used one of these courses/services? If so, was it worth it? Or do any of you know of other services that might be more helpful?
Thanks!

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Rightly or wrongly, my first thought is that good agents are already inundated with queries and wouldn't have time or resources to set aside for more. Which is not to say paid editorial feedback is a bad thing - just that I'd be more inclined to pay an editor.