Tips on Querying

Posted by Jen on Thursday, August 14th, 2008 @ 2:26 pm

I’ve learned a lot this year about querying. Before 2008, I had never written a query letter and while I knew what it was, I’ve learned a lot more going through the process myself. Because of this, I want to share some tips and advice for all of you out there going through this too.

1. Be patient.

This is one of the most important things I’ve learned. The publishing industry is slooooooow. Sometimes a query will get an immediate response, but most of the time, patience is necessary. It can take weeks or even months to receive a response. And once you do get requests for materials, plan to wait some more. Agents are busy, and it takes a lot of time to read queries, partials and fulls.

2. Research, research, research.

Knowing an agent’s sales, genre interests and query preferences are essential to me. I like to know who I’m querying and exactly what they want. This way I know I’m not wasting their time or my time, and I can personalize the query letter accordingly.

3. Query Widely.

Some say this means querying 25 agents. Some say this means querying 100 agents. The point is to not limit yourself to one “dream” agent. You never know who might fall in love with your work.

4. Don’t take it personally.

When you get rejected, they aren’t rejecting you personally. Agents get a lot of queries and a lot of submissions. There are many reasons why your work right not be right for them. The genre, the industry, similar books on their list. It’s a business, and they have to make the right business decision when selecting books they want to represent.

5. Get input.

When you write your query, send it to others to critique. You won’t believe what spelling mistakes or clunky sentences can be improved with a pair of fresh eyes. It will improve your query letter which will improve your changes at getting representation.

6. Be professional.

Like I said before, this is a business. A very creative and personal business because you pour yourself into your work. But it’s a business in the end. You should treat it that way and be professional in your query and any further communications with agents. I hear about writers responding to rejections with enraged letters. I can’t believe people do this. They are ruining any chance they have of that agent considering any future work of theirs.

7. Don’t ramble.

Keep the query short and sweet. A rambling query causing an agent’s eyes to cross. Consider how many they read every day. So, stick to the high points and be brutal with cutting your query to as short as possible. I usually keep mine at three short paragraphs.

8. Keep track.

I keep a spreadsheet to track queries. I list all the agents I would like to query, when I’ve queried, their response and any additional notes. This is very helpful. I know exactly how many I have pending and how long they’ve had any materials.

9. Get support.

Having writer friends has been amazing for me. Even if you have a couple of pals to email when you have great news or rejections, it feels great to share with others who know exactly what you’re going through. Whether to celebrate or commiserate.

10. Don’t give up.

No matter how many rejections come in, just remember it only takes one “yes” to push you to the next level of reaching the publishing dream. Everyone gets rejected. It’s the way the industry works. Even after publication, you’ll still get rejected. The difference in published writers and unpublished writers is that the published ones never gave up.

Comments

By Dan on August 14th, 2008 at 2:35 pm

Welcome back to blogging, Jen! I know that I speak for everyone when I say you’ve been missed.

Excellent tips, one and all. Reading through, they struck me as being very common sense things, but like you said, after you’ve poured your heart, soul and time into a piece of writing, common sense is usually the first thing to go out the window.

Speaking of agents and querying, any word back on your last MS?

By JenWriter on August 14th, 2008 at 5:17 pm

No requests or rejections in the past couple of weeks. And I haven’t heard back on the partials and full I have out right now. I’m sending out another batch of queries this week though so keep your fingers crossed for me!

By Dan on August 14th, 2008 at 6:27 pm

Always. Good luck!

I look forward to the day I can have one of your books on my shelf (one of the books you’ve written…not, y’know, a random book that I steal from you).