What does a successful
agent query look like?
What do successful
agent queries look like?
Not exact matches
Writers do understand and appreciate the effort that goes into
looking for good writers to represent, this is how you make your living after all, and writers wish they had time to respond personally to all requests, unfortunately, this is no longer a business reality given that writers need to spend their time writing, not answering
agent queries.
Before you
query African American Literary
Agents, make sure you have the most up - to - date information by
looking in our Directory of Literary
Agents ™.
Whether you're self - publishing,
looking to
query a literary
agent with your current manuscript, or still haven't decided, Midnight Publishing is your go - to Phoenix - based company for all things editing and writing.
Before you
query literary
agents you believe are looking for diversity, make sure you reference the most up - to - date information in our Directory of Literary Age
agents you believe are
looking for diversity, make sure you reference the most up - to - date information in our Directory of Literary
AgentsAgents ™.
Agents must first be
queried by you, and publishers will 99.9 percent of the time not
look at an unrepresented manuscript (if you don't have an
agent who's sent it to them, they will never read it.)
Plus, you'll be able to use a lot of the information that I «pull out of you» to help you get a literary
agent and publisher — it's the exact information they're
looking for, designed to help you identify (and communicate) more value in your
query.
He knows what
query letters are supposed to
look like, so I trusted his point of view and got five different offers for representation from top literary
agents.
So when I wasn't at all
looking for traditional any more, when I was thrilled to death with life as an indie, I find myself in the middle of the best of both worlds, with possibly the world's most perfect
agent for me, falling right into my lap without ever writing a single
query letter.
You will be able to see what a partciular
agent is
looking for, his or her specific interests or tastes, as well as exactly what to submit (
query, synopsis, sample chapters) and how to submit.
One of the tricks to a good
query letter is to write each one specifically to the needs of a particular
agent, after you've done in - depth research to see what she's
looking for.
If your
query letter isn't formatted correctly or runs on for three pages,
agents won't bother
looking at your book manuscript.
It
looks like (during the time that I was a book
agent), I read approximately 60,000
queries (give or take a few thousand).
Use the List of Literary
Agents in our directory to submit your query letter to the best literary agents looking for religious books and get a top publishing agent, publisher, and book
Agents in our directory to submit your
query letter to the best literary
agents looking for religious books and get a top publishing agent, publisher, and book
agents looking for religious books and get a top publishing
agent, publisher, and book deal.
At the time, I was thinking mostly about traditional publishing, so my perspective was someone
looking to pitch to
agents, including
queries and «elevator pitches» (a story pitch short enough to give during an elevator ride at a writers» conference).
Jody Hedlund, whose recent blog post, in part, inspired mine, stopped by to remind me that she advised those still
looking for a literary
agent to
query the new
agents.
If you've ever
looked up the
agent who represented your favorite author, chances are you found that said
agent «does not accept unsolicited
queries.»
Looking for guidance in readying your manuscript for submission to
agents or preparing stellar
query materials?
Agents read
queries looking for The Book: something special that publishers will snap up, making them a nifty commission, plus a share of the royalties.
Note: Keep in mind that these same concepts can be applied to the development of your marketing plan as well as your
query letters, if you're
looking to get picked up by an
agent!
Once I
looked at it that way — as an experiment and an opportunity to learn — my interest in
querying literary
agents dissolved.
We recently received a
query that said simply: «I think I have what you're
looking for after reading your interests through a google search of new literary
agents.»
Then, when the time comes for you to
query literary
agents or submit your writing to literary journals, you'll have a substantial author platform built for
agents and editors to
look at and admire.
Pitch Clients
looking to place their work with
agents and publishers have received
query letters, book proposals, juvenile submission packets, and individual pieces like bios and synopses.
Agents are
looking for the negative when reading
query letters.
So, the fastest way for a literary
agent to go through a pile of
query letters is to actually
look for the negative.
However if you are a new author
looking to approach an
agent, Twitter is a very useful tool to enable you to get to know an
agent or editors likes and dislikes, but it is NOT the place to
query an
agent.
The hordes of
agents and editors who used to scour slushpiles and sift through
query letters were all trained to know what the marketing departments were
looking for, to the point that if your manuscript didn't fit a market niche or pigeon hole it had little or no chance of attracting attention.
First - time writers are often advised to
query agents who are just setting up shop, since these
agents are usually actively
looking to build their client lists.
If your
query letter to
agents isn't working, hire a professional editor to
look it over.
Another great website with information about literary
agents, what they're
looking for, and tips about
querying is
Query Tracker.
Once the final meeting is over, I recommend author's try to
look at their
query letter and synopsis from the point of view of an editor or
agent who doesn't know anything about the piece.
· A critical
look at
query letters for
agents — pick up some tips on how you approach them — and why you might need an
agent
No one
queries an
agent unless they are
looking for representation.
When researching
agents, you should be
looking for their submission guidelines so that you can make every
query letter count.
Again, you book
query made the editor /
agent look, but it's the summary that will have her wanting more.
Then check QueryTracker.net for further information on the
agents you've chosen and get valuable comments from other queriers.Then start Googling:
look for interviews and profiles of
agents to fine tune your
queries.
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Of course there are a few things typical to most every day in the life of a literary
agent, such as reading
query letters, meeting / calls / lunches / drinks with editors and publishers as well as clients, pitching manuscripts to publishers, meeting with film / TV companies to adapt books for the screen, attending conferences / workshops,
looking for new talent, etc..
I didn't have to write a
query letter,
look for an
agent or get a hundred rejection letters.
Unfortunately I see
query letters that shoot themselves in the foot, from authors who reveal themselves to be clueless about what an
agent's
looking for and the business realities of publishing.
Many
agents field
queries using their phones, so how will your letter
looks on a small screen?
Don't try to get a publishing
agent until you
look at this successful
query letter example, for authors of all book genres.
Be sure to put that information in your
query letter when you're
looking for an
agent to represent your novel.
Realistically, you're
looking at a few months of
querying agents, revising your
query letter, and
querying some more.