Querying With No Published Works

Mattpwriter

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I've read in plenty of articles that in a good query letter, the last paragraph will show the agent who you are and what your experience is, so that said experience can show the agent you mean business.

However, how can I show off my ability if I have no prior published works the agent can assess?
 

lizmonster

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Most queriers don't have any prior work. Debut authors are a hot commodity.

I suspect there are genres - literary, maybe? Not my genre, so don't take my word - where some short story creds might be helpful. But in general, agents don't expect you to have experience before you seek rep.
 
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Woollybear

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Some writers work toward the short story publications for this reason. Personally, I never really have, but I've met plenty of writers who try to bolster their bio with a few short publications.

But some agents respond well to other kinds of bios. Something intriguing, or humorous. Eric Smith has a page of queries that grabbed him and while he is just one agent, the link may give you ideas. Other agents say that brevity throughout the query letter is good, and so a short sentence about you might be best.

(Tangentially related, one of the query letters Smith highlights at that link has literally a single sentence pitch. In that case the bio sold the query, however.)

I think there is no one-size-fits-all, but I'd suggest looking at the variation people use in their bios to help you through the conundrum. I bet you've been doing this already.

Here's a nice blog about author bios (you inspired me to look) and there are various suggestions for the bio section.
 
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Cephus

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It really doesn't matter most of the time. Everyone starts somewhere and if nobody could get published without having already published works, there would be no one being published today.
 

Dennis E. Taylor

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The most important part of your query is the query itself. If it inspires the agent to read the attached sample (or request one, depending), then it's a good query letter. Other than that, avoid spelling their name wrong.
 

mschenk2016

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I never wrote many short stories because I felt like it was just taking away time from the book I wanted to write!
 
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kinokonoronin

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I never wrote many short stories because I felt like it was just taking away time from the book I wanted to write!
I felt the same way at one point. Not sure what other people's reasoning is, but I write shorts because it's fun, my skills grow faster when I'm writing them, and they're a great test bed for new ideas. I don't have any credits from them, and it's not the reason I write them, though I do submit sometimes.

Apologies for the digression. 😄
 
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Chris P

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To the OP, as lizmonster says plenty of authors have no pub credits, and their books get picked up just fine. Credits help, but likely won't make much of a difference unless you have a good query letter already for what looks like a good book.

For the more recent posts, as someone who's had more success at short stories than with novels (and just to be clear: my success has consisted of half a dozen short stories in non-paying or token-paying markets, and two novels, neither of which sold more than 20 copies) I agree with Kinokonoronin that if we write short stories we should write them to write short stories. They're a perfectly legitimate way to tell stories, with their own craft in execution. I chafe a little bit whenever someone writes off (puns intended) short stories as a way to "practice" for novels--the false implication being that novels are the only true form of writing. Neither of you have said this, but I hear it sometimes. Novels too are a legitimate way to tell stories, and require a related but different set of skills to produce. Some skills are transferrable, but some are unique to each medium.

If you practice writing by writing short stories, you will primarily get better at writing short stories. If you practice writing by writing novels, you will primarily get better at writing novels. It's kinda zen that way.
 
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tangelo

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To the OP, as lizmonster says plenty of authors have no pub credits, and their books get picked up just fine. Credits help, but likely won't make much of a difference unless you have a good query letter already for what looks like a good book.

For the more recent posts, as someone who's had more success at short stories than with novels (and just to be clear: my success has consisted of half a dozen short stories in non-paying or token-paying markets, and two novels, neither of which sold more than 20 copies) I agree with Kinokonoronin that if we write short stories we should write them to write short stories. They're a perfectly legitimate way to tell stories, with their own craft in execution. I chafe a little bit whenever someone writes off (puns intended) short stories as a way to "practice" for novels--the false implication being that novels are the only true form of writing. Neither of you have said this, but I hear it sometimes. Novels too are a legitimate way to tell stories, and require a related but different set of skills to produce. Some skills are transferrable, but some are unique to each medium.

If you practice writing by writing short stories, you will primarily get better at writing short stories. If you practice writing by writing novels, you will primarily get better at writing novels. It's kinda zen that way.
I really liked this response. I'm currently writing short stories in preparation for writing a novel, but after this response I will reflect on my rationale. Not making so much sense all of sudden. Thanks.
 

Lakey

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I chafe a little bit whenever someone writes off (puns intended) short stories as a way to "practice" for novels--the false implication being that novels are the only true form of writing. Neither of you have said this, but I hear it sometimes. Novels too are a legitimate way to tell stories, and require a related but different set of skills to produce. Some skills are transferrable, but some are unique to each medium.

If you practice writing by writing short stories, you will primarily get better at writing short stories. If you practice writing by writing novels, you will primarily get better at writing novels. It's kinda zen that way.
With the caveat that I’ve had less success than Chris (a couple of published short stories and a novel in progress), and only a few years’ experience learning to write fiction, I will add: There are two skills I’m developing by writing short stories that apply directly to my novel-writing: Ruthless editing and efficient characterization. Both boil down to the same principle: make every word count. The best thing I ever did for myself as a writer was to whittle a 6000-word story down to 5000 words to satisfy a contest limit. (I was one of three finalists in the contest, which really drove home the value of what I learned doing that edit!)

But otherwise I agree that they are different types of writing, demanding different skills.

:e2coffee:
 

Chris P

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With the caveat that I’ve had less success than Chris (a couple of published short stories and a novel in progress), and only a few years’ experience learning to write fiction, I will add: There are two skills I’m developing by writing short stories that apply directly to my novel-writing: Ruthless editing and efficient characterization. Both boil down to the same principle: make every word count. The best thing I ever did for myself as a writer was to whittle a 6000-word story down to 5000 words to satisfy a contest limit. (I was one of three finalists in the contest, which really drove home the value of what I learned doing that edit!)

But otherwise I agree that they are different types of writing, demanding different skills.

:e2coffee:

Lakey, your stuff's better than mine. I mean that sincerely.

All: Please don't get me wrong; as Lakey says many skills are transferrable. Writing shorts is not worthless in learning to write a novel, it just pays to be clear about that skills will improve, and which will need direct attention in learning novel craft.

For example, because I am more skilled at writing short stories, my novels tend to be a collection of scenes starring the same characters that follow along the same plot. What is missing from my novels is a better refined novel structure, voice, progression of the stakes, themes and subplots, and other elements I want to have for the quality of novel I want to write. The buildup is uneven, the pace inconsistent, and momentum difficult to build. No amount of short story writing is going to make me better at doing that, no matter how expertly I might be able to build an individual scene. I need to practice writing novels to do that.
 
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kinokonoronin

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Ruthless editing
For me, it's mainly this! My first novel project was 250k words with about 50k's worth of content. I never want to repeat that again. 😆

It's also a great way to dip your toes into unfamiliar genres and complex themes in a way that's bounded and scoped. I've learned a lot about myself as a writer by doing this. Before writing short stories, I wrote exclusively in two niches. Writing a whole novel in unfamiliar territory can be daunting!

As for credits, I won't be worried about not having any when my current novel project is completed. I'd focus on the quality of the query letter and the manuscript, which are most likely to receive all the attention.
 

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The primary way a short story credit list may help is if, through the publication of short stories, you've made editor contacts (some magazines are run by acquisition editors) who are then interested in your longer work.

Aside from that, it's nice to have but not much of a help at the querying stage.
 
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