Blogger: Wendy Lawton
You’ve seen a number of agent blogs and agent twitters talking about query tips and #queryfail. Agent websites are filled with instructions on how and how-not to query. Nearly every writers conference offers a session or two on queries and pitching.
It’s enough to make a writer go apoplectic.
If someone had unlimited time and decided to collect all the tips and all the rules from every tweet, blog and website, I’m guessing those tips could fill a book. Or two. And interestingly enough, I’ll bet every single rule will be contradicted a number of times.
So what’s a writer to do?
Here are my own common sense generic rules for queries:
- If you want to increase your chances of getting that all-important proposal request from your target agent, read the guidelines on his/her website and follow them. This falls into the “do no harm” category.
- If, on the other hand, you are sending to scores of agents and you don’t want to take the time to individualize the queries and the protocol to meet the agency guidelines, just realize that you may be hurting your chances on a percentage of these. It may be worth the trade-off to you.
- If you decide to use a query service, just be aware that all those queries are formatted the same and they strip you of any distinctiveness. We can spot them at first glance. Again, it can lower your odds.
- Let your query style match the voice of your book. It you write humor, let the query show this. If it is academic, the query needs to reflect that.
- Try not to be annoying. For instance, opening with a rhetorical question has become cringe-worthy to those of us who read queries.
- The things that are important, aside from telling us what the story or book is about, are whether you’ve been referred, what your platform looks like in terms of engagement, and if you’ve published successfully previously (especially if you have a strong readership or fabulous sales numbers).
Just do the best you can to craft a query that makes it difficult for the agent to say “no thanks.” And let your e-query be only one of many methods you’re pursuing to get an agent or a publishing contract. You also need to:
- Meet editors and agents in person at writer’s conferences
- Submit directly to those publishers still open to unagented queries
- Enter contests judged by agents and editors
- Continue to connect with published writers who may make introductions
Would I “disqualify” an otherwise excellent query because it did not follow our guidelines? Of course not. Agents are in the business of trying to find bright new talent. The guidelines are just our way of trying to get the info we think we need in order to ferret out the exciting stuff in the most efficient way.
My question for you: Is querying the easiest part of writing or the hardest?
Andrew Budek-Schmeisser
My writing’s graceful as a willow,
and far beyond the ordinary,
so I placed some cash beneath my pillow
to lure the Perfect Query Fairy.
In the morning, there it was,
on a new thumb drive (was I impressed!)
and I sent it without reading, ’cause
fairies can’t be second-guessed.
I fancied I heard an agent-gasp,
across the miles, as she read the thing,
and when the phone rang, I was asked,
“Just who wrote this…Stephen King?
The salutation was, ‘Dear Infidels’,
and then you closed with grace, ‘Or else!’ “
Morgan Tarpley Smith
Love it, Andrew. Especially the Stephen King line. 🙂
Carol Ashby
Wendy, if an indie writer of fiction wanted to switch to traditional publishing, what sales numbers would draw an agent’s interest? (I’m happy indie, but I’m sure there are others here who wonder.) Would that be different if they were making a genre switch or a fiction/non-fiction switch?
Morgan Tarpley Smith
Great question, Carol! I’m interested to know the answer too.
Shelli Littleton
Querying and writing have their equal difficulties. Writing and learning at home alone don’t place one out of that comfort zone, so to me, it’s a faux feeling of ease. But putting work forward is always difficult for me, regarding any stage of the writing process, like presenting pages to my crit group. Every stage of the writing process for me seems to revolve around learning and working to improve continually. And the effort is what makes receiving that thumbs up, or even a partial one, such a blessing.
Morgan Tarpley Smith
I agree!
You can do it, Shelli!!
Morgan Tarpley Smith
Querying makes me the so nervous! lol
I’m most nervous about making sure the query letter is effective and then later the part in the proposal about “how I can help market” my books. Would you offer some insight into what are the most enticing ways for us to market our books (or refer me to a blog post please)? Do you want to see numbers for social media followers?
My marketing efforts right now include continually connecting/building relationships with published authors & fellow writers & readers online, taking an active part in several Christian Fiction FB groups, starting a Facebook group in July to feature split time fiction (which is what I write) with 132 members so far including several published ST authors, writing regular blog posts for the group blog I’m a longtime member of (International Christian Fiction Writers), posting regularly on Twitter (550+ followers) and Instagram (850+ followers) as well as on my personal Facebook profile (2,800+ friends). I have a website and I plan to launch my Facebook author/writer page in a few weeks including a newsletter sign-up to start gathering an email subscriber list.
Am I going in the right direction with this?? I’ve been so unsure if this is enough to entice an agent or published and if I’m heading in the right direction. Thanks, Wendy!
Morgan Tarpley Smith
#facepalm
See I was so nervous just typing about it that I totally butchered that first sentence. Hehe…
Maco Stewart
“Meet editors and agents in person at writer’s conferences” is to my mind the best shortcut. If a person becomes more than an email address to an agent or editor, and if the impression is favorable, then that supplicant has an earned advantage over 90%+ of her or his peers. Add to that the acquisition of knowledge that is otherwise truly unavailable and the ability to ask questions of knowledgeable, helpful experts. I’ve only been to one big conference, BRMCWC, but I spent months rewriting my ms based on what I learned in those few short days.
Morgan Tarpley Smith
Definitely! I have made some very valuable connections at writer’s conferences as well as gleaned such helpful information that I could take into my novel writing.
Jeanne Takenaka
What a timely blog post, Wendy, with conference season being in full swing.
And this: “do the best you can to craft a query that makes it difficult for the agent to say “no thanks.” This is kind of the crux of it all, isn’t it?
Thanks for the great tips for creating a solid query!
Kristen Joy Wilks
I enjoy writing queries and even book proposals. It provides a nice detraction during moments of writer’s block. If the story isn’t going as easily as I’d hoped, I’ll open up my submission materials file and work on the query and proposal instead. Getting the short pitch, synopsis, and comparable titles down is a totally different kind of writing and helps clear my head. It also helps me to define exactly what the story is about, which can help with the creative process!