#AMQUERYING: Enter with Caution

If you hang out with writers, you’re familiar with the “Q” word: querying. If you’re an author, you likely dread it. Why? The art of seducing a literary agent is complicated. There’re no shortcuts on the path to traditional publication, for you cannot bypass an agent. They hold the keys to the kingdom of publishing houses, and your query unlocks the door. Although you’ve written and polished a 90,000-word manuscript, the end task of crafting a one-page sales pitch feels like sailing across a stormy ocean. Alone.

So, you compose your best query armed with less than 500 words. You choose your first agent and honor your bullet points [character + conflict = consequences] to nail your seduction. But this only represents Step One! Over the next few weeks/months, you’ll compose a unique and personalized query to fifty or more agents who represent your book’s genre before announcing the madness is complete. You either give up and move on to independently publish or hopefully, you sign with an agent. Then it becomes her (or his) job to shop your manuscript to a bevy of publishers.

I must admit to an ounce of naivete involving the querying process. Before joining publishing guru Kathy Ver Eecke’s group of authors in Pitch 2 Published, I imagined that querying was altogether different. Casually choose an agent. Write a letter, send it, and wait for a response. Then replace the agent’s name with another. And repeat.

No, no, and no. The quickest route to the deleted file is to write a generic query. To personalize queries, and honestly decide if an agent is the best fit for you and your novel, requires research and lots of it. Who do they represent? What gems do they desire in the next manuscript they read? Do they share their pet peeves? Thankfully, many agents have websites offering guidelines for those seeking their representation. So, you pore over these resources and tap into other gold mines such as www.publishersmarketplace.com and www.manuscriptwishlist.com. 

Here’s what I’ve learned about query letters:

• Write more than your classic elevator pitch: 350 words is perfect, while 500 words is too long. Include the basics: MC + Conflict = Stakes.

• Add a comparable title, so agents may imagine the novel’s placement on a bookstore’s shelf. Make sure it’s a book published within the past three years. For example, it’s irresponsible for me to comp Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle, circa 1962, for a myriad of reasons. 

• Include a personal connection if you have one. Do you follow their podcast? Have you been on a Reedsy video call with them? A personalized touch matters.

• Note your writing qualifications but refrain from claiming your career’s been in place since kindergarten. If it’s your debut, a few agents wish to know while others could care less.

• Add pizzazz somewhere!

People continue to ask, first, why I’m pursuing traditional publication, and second, why everything’s taking so long. My answer remains the same. I don’t wish to leave a single stone unturned. I want the full experience. Taking time to professionally complete a book – from its original outline to the moment it wears a book jacket – remains my top priority, whether it takes another year or more.

I don’t believe any creative soul leaves a project with regrets. In my heart of hearts, whether I publish traditionally or independently, I’ll always know that I’ve done my best. And that’s all any writer can do.