Blogger: Michelle Ule
Location: Happily home in glorious Santa Rosa, Calif.
Almost every step of a publishing career begins with a simple query—a quick pitch—describing a manuscript. It could be a simple, “what do you think of this story?” asked at a writer’s conference. Most of the time, it’s a short e-mail written to an agent describing a project and asking the agent to take a look. What happens to a query that’s sent to us? Here’s the inside scoop on queries that arrive in our agency’s in-box.
Books & Such Literary Agency received 2,937 queries in the first five months of 2009.
Nearly 3,000 people had an idea, wrote it down, poured their thoughts into a manuscript, and then sent us a polite request to read about their project.
Four agents and an editorial assistant read queries here at Books & Such—we all read queries, no one is exempt. It’s part of our daily routine. Janet has been reading queries since 1996; I started five or so years ago. I estimate I’ve read nearly 16,000 queries; who knows how many Janet has considered?
That sheer volume, coupled with English degrees for most of us and personal reading habits, means Janet, Wendy, Etta, Rachel and I have a fair idea of what people are writing and can assess the uniqueness of a concept pretty quickly.
We also make an interesting mix in our agency, coming from a variety of denominations, Janet worked for Campus Crusade for Christ, Etta’s married to a pastor, and I’ve taught Bible study for 29 years. We’ve seen lots of ideas and writers come and go—and easily recognize storylines, weird ideas, and theories we’ve encountered before.
I heard long ago that bank tellers learn to recognize counterfeit money by handling authentic bills. As soon as they touch a bill that doesn’t “feel” right, they take a closer look; it often turns out to be false.
Similarly, once you’ve read a lot of good writing and heard a lot of plots and nonfiction ideas, you can recognize a truly new story, or an old concept with a different twist. A new idea, a fabulous wordsmith or an intriguing concept grab our attention and, often as not, we’ll turn to each other and say, “I’ve found something I like. What do you think?” That’s one of the most satisfying moments in an agency, when we mine that gem hidden in the mountain of queries.
And then we’ll want to see more . . . just like anyone else.
Holy Moly…nearly 3,000 already? Wow.
I like the comparison of the fake money…I guess that’s pretty true, huh? After reading all those queries, you’d spot a gem or a phony.
Press on **smile**
Wow – that is a lot of queries. I have to say that it does discourage me a little to know that there are that many people out there writing. I am pretty sure that nobody has written a book about the subject matter that I am writing about but it does worry me that I will not be able to find an agent.
Thanks for this peek inside your agency! It’s amazing to me how many queries you all read. Wow.
At first I was surprised at the volume of queries you get, but think of how often someone says, “Oh, I’ve always wanted to be a writer.” If even a small percentage of them sent out a query letter, it would add up quickly. Lots of people like to draw or jog or sing, too, and draw great personal satisfaction from it, but to become a professional artist, athlete, or musician–that takes enormous dedication and a spark of ‘something special.’ The spark may be up to God, but we can control the dedication we bring to learning the process. That’s encouraging!
Writers are astounded when they hear the number of queries we handle on a regular basis. But never fear, if you’ve written something unique with a strong voice, there’s room for your work.
It is so easy to feel overwhelmed and awed by the number of people out there writing books (or, at least, queries)! When I feel discouraged about trying to stand out in the crowd, I recall this quote from CS Lewis:
“Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it.”
And then I just keep writing.
Wow, kudos to you all for reading query after query. It must be tough not to glaze over and let the good stuff fall through the cracks.
Happy reading 🙂
The volume of queries out there is staggering. And multiply that by the number of agents! There are a whole lot of words out there. I have a new appreciation for the time agents put into reading and contemplating each writer’s query. It’s fabulous that you work as a tight team and can share thoughts around the board.
Side note- I love your “What We’re Reading” widget. Makes finding that gem to read much easier.
Wow. What else is there to say? You guys rock.
A week ago, if I had read about the sheer number that you would have had to plow through to even reach a query submitted by me, resignation, fear and more defeat would have continued to empact my life. However, I am a newbie to this site, loving it by the way, and just finished Grace Fox’s book, “Moving from Fear to Freedom” and I know that regardless of the numbers, God gives the inspiration, the topic and holds the outcome in His hands, using your talents and abilities in a marvelous way. So, when my book is done, I will be respectfully joining the masses who want your representation and your wisdom! Happy reading everybody!!
As a blogger, it doesn’t surprise me to hear how many queries you get. We’re all wannabe writers, and it can be intimidating to know how many of us are chasing after the same prize.