So you’ve written a great book, gotten a massive list of literary agents, and written a killer query letter. Here’s what NOT to do:
Do NOT mass mail all 2,000 or so agents. Believe it or not, some people do. There are two primary reasons this is a bad idea, and even more secondary reasons.
Primary reason number one: This is called spamming. And no matter how well you’ve put together your query letter, it will inevitably come out looking like spam if you send the exact same letter to everyone. And spam gets dumped — fast. Each query you send should show that some thought has gone into it. An agent needs to know you’re not spamming them. Throw in a line about, “I see you represent so-and-so. I really like her style.” Something like that. It shows you’re serious.
Primary reason two is that sending out queries piece by piece allows you to learn from your experience. Most of the rejections you will get (and almost everyone gets them) will be form letters. These teach you nothing. But on occasion, you will get some more personalized rejections that may cause you to rethink your query. Maybe your book contained a love story and you called it a “romance.” You get a personalized rejection saying, “Sorry, but I don’t handle “genre romance” (code for Harlequin romances with Fabio on the cover).” If that is not an accurate description of your manuscript, then you need to find a better way of describing it. You can only do this if you send out queries a few at a time at most.
Other things to watch out for: Do not query more than one agent at a large agency at the same time. Yes, William Morris has about 15 literary agents. You are shooting yourself in the foot if you query them all at the same time. This, again, is spamming.
Some people believe the key to picking the right agent to query is to find out who represents a big-name author whose style you emulate. As logical as this sounds, consider this: If you write like James Patterson, wouldn’t James Patterson’s agent be the LAST person on earth who would want to represent you? She’s already GOT the original deal. Why does she need you? At best, you’re the competition!
On the other hand, researching agents to see what they represent — both genres and authors — is very wise indeed.
What exactly MAKES a great agent? Simple answer? A great Rolodex and the ability to get their calls taken and their opinions respected by acquiring editors. Period. Anything more than that is gravy. Anything less than that is totally unacceptable. Some people think MFAs and other examples of higher education in English Literature makes one an agent. No way. Agenting is about contacts and selling.
Big agents or small agents? Answer: Both. An agent who fits the description in the paragraph above may work for ICM, or just be someone who worked at a few major publishing houses for many years, made a lot of great contacts, and has just hung out their own one-person shingle a month ago. For that reason, I would not suggest submitting only to big agents. You want to learn about pedigrees and track records.
Genres? Another thing to look for when researching who to send to is to find out if they limit their business in any way. Some agents only take non-fiction. Some limit themselves to a specific genre, like children’s books. Others take on a little of everything. Find out before you waste their time and yours.
E-mail or snail-mail? More and more agents are moving to e-mail queries. It’s faster for all involved. If they don’t want you, they make a key stroke and bang out your form rejection letter in the amount of time it takes to blow their nose. But some still like the snail mail route. Try to find out before you get frustrated. The info is out there, for the most part. A lot of agents now have their own websites listing how they wish to be queried.
How long should you wait for a response? With an e-mail query, 4 to 6 weeks is a nice wait. If you haven’t heard by then, re-send, this time saying “2nd request” in the subject header. If another 4 to 6 weeks go by, send one last time, this time putting in the subject header “3rd request: Do you accept e-queries?” If another 4 to 6 weeks go by without anything, write them off and move along.
Snail mail queries? Would you believe that the industry standard is a 3-month wait? Yup. AND with a snail mail query, you are expected to enclose an SASE (Self Addressed Stamped Envelope). And there is a chance you may STILL never hear anything. But don’t dispair. Until every legit agent in the business has turned you down, you’re still in the game.
As I said yesterday, it’s a numbers game. If you know someone who got picked up by an agent on their very first query, how do you know that had they queried 1,000 other agents they wouldn’t have been rejected by all of them? Finding an agent is like finding a soul mate. You may only need to kiss one frog; you may need to kiss the whole darn pond. The result has no reflection upon the relationship or the quality of your work.
Worried about crooked agents? Well, first off, if you’ve done your research and found a few agents — a nice mixture of a few large, a few medium-sized, and a few small — if they’ve already passed the track record/industry connections test, they are most likely legit and not liable to rip you off. But the best and final way to be sure is to cross reference your list on a site called Predators and Editors.
Predators and Editors will tell you if anyone has been ripped off by a given agent. Like Wikipedia and Everyone Who’s Everyone, it is highly receptive to the true life experiences of other authors.
How do you know an agent is a crook? Easy. They ask you for money. If an agent asks you for a penny, run. Run like the wind. No “reading fees,” no up-front “copying costs.” No nuthin’.
What should you do after you’ve exhausted your first batch of queries? Do some more. That’s what the winners do. I hate to sound like a football coach, but quitters quit and winners never give up. I vowed I would never self-publish or go with any unagented minor league deal. If my manuscript wasn’t good enough to attract an agent, then it wasn’t good enough, period. But that’s just me.
More tomorrow. Feel free to hit me with additional questions or feedback.
Kerry