The tender task of selecting literary agents to query
I have reached that point of great anticipation and justifiable angst. My most recent novel is ready to pitch to literary agents. The anticipation is obvious. This is my foray into becoming a published author. The chance to receive justification for my many months of fingertips on keyboard might be only a phone call or email away. The angst is obvious as well. Rejection is part of the process, and it is most disagreeable.
Before I began the process, I armed myself with a thick skin. That's not hard to do for someone who spent years in journalism. Putting your reporting and opinions out for others to read invites considerable negative reaction if a reader is so inclined. One of the earliest pieces of advice I got from an author was delivered by John Hart, the creator of Edgar Award winners Down River and The Last Child. He said an author must be ready to receive multiple rejections. He said he keeps copies of those rejection letters from the days before he cracked open the door to the publishing world with The King of Lies.
Okay, I am armed, but how do I select which agents to send that all-important query letter? I prefer to use agentquery.com. My current project is commercial fiction, and there is a dropdown area on the left side of the page. I select that area and press Search. The result is a long, long list of agents who handle that area of literature.
So the next task is to start with the first agent, send a query, and just continue down the list? Oh, that is a huge mistake. The most important task in winnowing the list down is to do your homework. First, each agent has a detail by his or her name on what they are accepting. I like the notation "This agent accepts queries." I don't like "This agent does not currently accept unsolicited queries" or "Does not accept email queries." I keep my list only to those agents who take emails because of the efficiency of the method. (I am making one exception for a "snail mail only" agent who represents an author I hold in high regard.)
Your research is only beginning. There is a link near the icon of an eye that says "Full profile." Click on that and read what that agent is seeking. It does no good to a query about commercial fiction to an agent who doesn't list that area, or one who highlights a preference for women's lit or YA novels. Also take time to scan down the profile and see what that agent has sold recently to publishers. It might be great to see a notation for commercial fiction, but the listing of sold projects might indicate a recent run of only non-fiction titles or a bevy of YA titles. Sure, you believe you might have just the project to propel that agent into selling a commercial fiction offering, but I wouldn't bank on it. Some agents will tell you they find that spark of interest in a query because they know someone at a publishing house who handles similar projects.
Your research can't stop there. Go to the website for that agent's agency. Click on the area that says something such as About Us or Our Agents. Take time to review the bio of the agent you selected. Also take time to scan the bios of other agents. Maybe there is someone else at the agency who sounds as if he or she is more in line with the type of project you are pitching. Also check to see whether the agency offers the chance for your query to be reviewed by other agents if your selected agent gives you a thumbs down. (I like those agencies.)
Be sure to double check for email addresses used for submissions. The agency website might designate another email address that agentquery.com does not. Go with the agency website's information every time. I encountered one agency that routed all queries to someone other than a listed agent. It's another level in the agency's screening process. Here's another tip as a warning about agentquery.com: Some information might be outdated. Agentquery had one agent working for Lippincott Massie McQuilkin. WRONG. The agency is now Massie & McQuilkin Literary Agents, a fact I discovered only by going to the agency website.
Next, be courteous enough to tailor your query letter to that particular agent. That involves more than making sure you address your letter with the proper spelling of that agent's name. Check for gender. There are some agents with what sound like male names who are quite female. Do not make the mistake of getting the gender wrong. I'll guarantee your query hits the waste basket. Tailoring your letter works best when adding information in that equally important "I am approaching you because ..." section of the query, which I put in my final paragraph. That shows an agent you have inquired in a deeper manner and not simply based your approach on a rubber stamp policy.
Also, make sure to include your name, home address, email address, and telephone number at the end of your query. Give that agent as much information as possible in case pixie dust falls on you and he or she wants to read your entire manuscript.
I don't send out more than three queries per day. I spend time looking through agentquery.com for other possibilities to approach. I like to have twenty queries or more out there by the time I finish. Maybe that might be thirty or more if I turn up enough promising leads.
Okay, the query letter and the required number of pages that agent wants to see (it can be as few as five or as many as fifty or more) are sent off. What's next? Some agencies send an email as soon as your prayerful offering hits their system. That's a good practice, but most don't. You simply watch your inbox and hope, hope, hope. You must arm yourself with that thick skin. There will be rejections. I've received a few already. It's part of the process.
What else to do? Write, write, write. There might be another project rattling around your brain, or maybe you have a project or two that are nearing completion and require dusting and cleaning. Get to it. AIC (Ass In Chair) is the daily mantra of our lifestyle.
Before I began the process, I armed myself with a thick skin. That's not hard to do for someone who spent years in journalism. Putting your reporting and opinions out for others to read invites considerable negative reaction if a reader is so inclined. One of the earliest pieces of advice I got from an author was delivered by John Hart, the creator of Edgar Award winners Down River and The Last Child. He said an author must be ready to receive multiple rejections. He said he keeps copies of those rejection letters from the days before he cracked open the door to the publishing world with The King of Lies.
Okay, I am armed, but how do I select which agents to send that all-important query letter? I prefer to use agentquery.com. My current project is commercial fiction, and there is a dropdown area on the left side of the page. I select that area and press Search. The result is a long, long list of agents who handle that area of literature.
So the next task is to start with the first agent, send a query, and just continue down the list? Oh, that is a huge mistake. The most important task in winnowing the list down is to do your homework. First, each agent has a detail by his or her name on what they are accepting. I like the notation "This agent accepts queries." I don't like "This agent does not currently accept unsolicited queries" or "Does not accept email queries." I keep my list only to those agents who take emails because of the efficiency of the method. (I am making one exception for a "snail mail only" agent who represents an author I hold in high regard.)
Your research is only beginning. There is a link near the icon of an eye that says "Full profile." Click on that and read what that agent is seeking. It does no good to a query about commercial fiction to an agent who doesn't list that area, or one who highlights a preference for women's lit or YA novels. Also take time to scan down the profile and see what that agent has sold recently to publishers. It might be great to see a notation for commercial fiction, but the listing of sold projects might indicate a recent run of only non-fiction titles or a bevy of YA titles. Sure, you believe you might have just the project to propel that agent into selling a commercial fiction offering, but I wouldn't bank on it. Some agents will tell you they find that spark of interest in a query because they know someone at a publishing house who handles similar projects.
Your research can't stop there. Go to the website for that agent's agency. Click on the area that says something such as About Us or Our Agents. Take time to review the bio of the agent you selected. Also take time to scan the bios of other agents. Maybe there is someone else at the agency who sounds as if he or she is more in line with the type of project you are pitching. Also check to see whether the agency offers the chance for your query to be reviewed by other agents if your selected agent gives you a thumbs down. (I like those agencies.)
Be sure to double check for email addresses used for submissions. The agency website might designate another email address that agentquery.com does not. Go with the agency website's information every time. I encountered one agency that routed all queries to someone other than a listed agent. It's another level in the agency's screening process. Here's another tip as a warning about agentquery.com: Some information might be outdated. Agentquery had one agent working for Lippincott Massie McQuilkin. WRONG. The agency is now Massie & McQuilkin Literary Agents, a fact I discovered only by going to the agency website.
Next, be courteous enough to tailor your query letter to that particular agent. That involves more than making sure you address your letter with the proper spelling of that agent's name. Check for gender. There are some agents with what sound like male names who are quite female. Do not make the mistake of getting the gender wrong. I'll guarantee your query hits the waste basket. Tailoring your letter works best when adding information in that equally important "I am approaching you because ..." section of the query, which I put in my final paragraph. That shows an agent you have inquired in a deeper manner and not simply based your approach on a rubber stamp policy.
Also, make sure to include your name, home address, email address, and telephone number at the end of your query. Give that agent as much information as possible in case pixie dust falls on you and he or she wants to read your entire manuscript.
I don't send out more than three queries per day. I spend time looking through agentquery.com for other possibilities to approach. I like to have twenty queries or more out there by the time I finish. Maybe that might be thirty or more if I turn up enough promising leads.
Okay, the query letter and the required number of pages that agent wants to see (it can be as few as five or as many as fifty or more) are sent off. What's next? Some agencies send an email as soon as your prayerful offering hits their system. That's a good practice, but most don't. You simply watch your inbox and hope, hope, hope. You must arm yourself with that thick skin. There will be rejections. I've received a few already. It's part of the process.
What else to do? Write, write, write. There might be another project rattling around your brain, or maybe you have a project or two that are nearing completion and require dusting and cleaning. Get to it. AIC (Ass In Chair) is the daily mantra of our lifestyle.
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