No one ever said querying was fun. When done carefully, it is a multi-stage process. I realize “how to query” articles can be had by the cargo. In this blog, I am focusing on the “why” of the querying process.
Study agents. Find agents who represent your genre. Go beyond the short blurb on the agency web page. If someone looks promising, check her web page, see if she goes to conferences, and see if she presents at conferences. Follow her on Twitter. Rarely will she follow back, but that’s fine. See what she tweets. I tend to choose agents that tweet about books, writers, editors, and books they sell.
When an agent meets your requirements, find out if she is open to submissions. It can be disappointing preparing your query only to discover the agent is closed. Read her closing/s carefully. Some agents close around Christmas or for summer vacation. Agents are people too.
Find out exactly what the agent wants in a query. There is no boilerplate query that will fit all agents. Some want a synopsis, while others don’t. Don’t wander far from the requirements. Make your query professional. Being a “wise Walter” or “grumpy Gloria” probably won’t help.
Why We Do All These Things
Understand what happens when a book is submitted. Agents get far more submissions than they can represent. Your manuscript is in the “slush pile.” Agencies are not being mean, but you are about to be “paper screened.” Bad or good, paper screening cuts the slush pile to a manageable size. Misspell her name, leave out “Query” in the subject of the e-mail, omit the genre and word count, and you made the agent’s job easy. “This writer can’t follow directions.”
Remember, when an agent represents you, that is the start of the work. If an editor picks up your book, your workload just quadrupled. You will receive lots of instructions, and if you can’t follow query instructions, you will make life hard for your agent.
If your query passes the paper screening test, the agent will now look at your wares. I imagine a cursory glance to check word count, genre, and a quick skim of the synopsis. Now comes the moment that makes or breaks every book: the opening.
Imagine the agent’s life. She may have a sick kid, her car may be in the shop, her husband may be a twit, or she may not have slept well. She has read fourteen queries today, and there are five more queries after yours, and she will be done for today. Then she can get back to several editors, send emails to authors, and think about supper.
Now she looks at your first line. (An earlier blog takes a look at First Lines.) It better grab her. It better flow on the tongue of her mind. She must want to know what happens in the second sentence. She wants to be carried into your story. She wants to escape—because she loves to read, she loves books.
What is she thinking? Why is she reading queries? Simple—she wants to find a book she can believe in. She wants a book she can sell! Agents only get paid by a percentage of book sales. The agency gets 15%, and she gets part of that.
If you are fatigued with the hoops you need to jump to get an agent, you may be thinking; I will self-publish. After 49 or so rejections for Members of the Cast, that what I did. An agent had requested a full, and she made kind and thoughtful suggestions. I revised like crazy, and alas, she passed. I don’t blame her. I think she likes my book. Her problem is, she doesn’t think she can sell it.
But, if you bypass an agent, reread the third paragraph up and substitute “reader” for “agent”: “Imagine the reader’s life. She…” Most eBooks have a “Look Inside” feature, just as many agents ask for the first three chapters. Amazon’s “Look Inside” lets prospective customers get a taste of your story. The first words must make the reader want to read the next sentence.
As writers, if we can’t sell our book to an agent, what makes us think we can sell it to a prospective customer? In other blogs, I have been quite honest about Members of the Cast. Sales are OK. Not great, but not terrible. But my blurb, the book’s premise, and the opening pages are not making the book soar to the best sellers list.
Next time, “Revising.”
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