My first query response was a request for a full… and then lots and lots of radio silence, a handful of form rejections, and a partial request. It’s so all over the map I don’t know what to do besides continue to hold my breath 😵💫😵💫
I got help with my query via a group and also paid someone and I feel like the query is pretty solid- but also, mostly crickets- 23 queries so far- and a few polite (and one rude), "thanks, but not for me." Does it matter how good a query is if I don't have a big enough platform? I'm wondering if I'm wasting my time querying, which can sometimes feel like dropping something into a black hole.
Nudges! When it is a good idea vs bad idea to nudge an agent on a query? Always a bad idea? After 120 days? How about on a full? For example I have a full that has been out for (checks spreadsheet) 241 days. I nudged a few weeks ago and got no response. I am always of the "I don't want to bother people" side of things, but also i don't want them to forget that they have my query/ MS. Thoughts on nudging?
Cats first: have you shifted the diet to (expensive) hydrolyzed protein? Our cats nibble their fur down to the skin & changing the diet was the first thing the vet suggested. // Now queries: DEEP in the querying trenches--32 queries sent; 3 requests for full, 1 request for partial; 9 form rejections; the rest, as the song says, is silence. writer friends say that's not a bad result thus far, but gaaah it feels awful. How to determine if the query is working? I tinker with it for each agent, have juiced up some parts, etc etc. But truly it does feel like sitting in a dinghy in the Pacific, dropping fishhooks made of paperclips into the water.
I am writing an adult literary novel, 80,000 words. I have had some short fiction published but most of my clips are feature writing. About a million years ago (literally like 25ish years ago), I had three comic category romances published by Harlequin -- should I mention them? I had queried a couple of agents few years ago about a different novel (computer ate much of it, long story), and I got the sense that the romances were a turnoff, whereas to me, it showed I could complete a book? Thank you, and I'm looking forward to the class!
Thank you for opening this up! As an debut author without a significant following, how much of a balance should you strike in your query letter be between explaining your work, why it’s a timely/marketable and taking about who you are?
Thank you for sharing your insights with us, Courtney. My question is about comps to use in my query letter. I've heard/read to never use Wild by Cheryl Strayed. Because it's too successful. That makes sense. My memoir of my two-year sail across the Pacific Ocean, to New Zealand and home to Seattle, shares a lot of parallels with Wild. Except it's the Pacific Ocean instead of the Pacific Trail. Possibly less sex and drugs, too. When I pitched two agents at a writing conference, and didn't use Wild as a comp, both asked why I didn't once they heard about my story. My instinct is to NOT use Wild and let prospective agents draw that connection themselves. This will be more powerful than if I suggest it. What do you think?
Hi! Thank you for answering our questions! Like some of the others, I'm deep in the querying process for my MG ghost mystery. I have received form rejections and several "good" rejections (send me future ms, and solid--well done but it's just not for me) but no requests for pages. I'm not sure what to tweak and how to move forward. I've send some with a prologue (the good rejections) and some without (form rejections). How do I really know what's working and what to change?
When's the right time to move on from a project (and hopefully revive it later, once one has an agent)? 50 rejections? 500? I'm getting on with writing my next novel, but managing queries is time-consuming, so I'm wondering when to call it a day and focus on my new project. I write women's fiction/book club fiction, which agent feedback has indicated is an overcrowded market.
Hi Courtney and fellow Courtney fans! I'm hoping I'm not repeating a question here, but how do we submit query letters so they might be picked to be workshopped on the 17th? TIA :)
My first query response was a request for a full… and then lots and lots of radio silence, a handful of form rejections, and a partial request. It’s so all over the map I don’t know what to do besides continue to hold my breath 😵💫😵💫
Is there a "best time to query" (calendar-wise), or is that just a myth?
I got help with my query via a group and also paid someone and I feel like the query is pretty solid- but also, mostly crickets- 23 queries so far- and a few polite (and one rude), "thanks, but not for me." Does it matter how good a query is if I don't have a big enough platform? I'm wondering if I'm wasting my time querying, which can sometimes feel like dropping something into a black hole.
Nudges! When it is a good idea vs bad idea to nudge an agent on a query? Always a bad idea? After 120 days? How about on a full? For example I have a full that has been out for (checks spreadsheet) 241 days. I nudged a few weeks ago and got no response. I am always of the "I don't want to bother people" side of things, but also i don't want them to forget that they have my query/ MS. Thoughts on nudging?
Hi Courtney! How much of my plot needs to be in the plot paragraph of the letter? How much of the plot should we be giving away?
Cats first: have you shifted the diet to (expensive) hydrolyzed protein? Our cats nibble their fur down to the skin & changing the diet was the first thing the vet suggested. // Now queries: DEEP in the querying trenches--32 queries sent; 3 requests for full, 1 request for partial; 9 form rejections; the rest, as the song says, is silence. writer friends say that's not a bad result thus far, but gaaah it feels awful. How to determine if the query is working? I tinker with it for each agent, have juiced up some parts, etc etc. But truly it does feel like sitting in a dinghy in the Pacific, dropping fishhooks made of paperclips into the water.
I am writing an adult literary novel, 80,000 words. I have had some short fiction published but most of my clips are feature writing. About a million years ago (literally like 25ish years ago), I had three comic category romances published by Harlequin -- should I mention them? I had queried a couple of agents few years ago about a different novel (computer ate much of it, long story), and I got the sense that the romances were a turnoff, whereas to me, it showed I could complete a book? Thank you, and I'm looking forward to the class!
Thank you for opening this up! As an debut author without a significant following, how much of a balance should you strike in your query letter be between explaining your work, why it’s a timely/marketable and taking about who you are?
Thank you for sharing your insights with us, Courtney. My question is about comps to use in my query letter. I've heard/read to never use Wild by Cheryl Strayed. Because it's too successful. That makes sense. My memoir of my two-year sail across the Pacific Ocean, to New Zealand and home to Seattle, shares a lot of parallels with Wild. Except it's the Pacific Ocean instead of the Pacific Trail. Possibly less sex and drugs, too. When I pitched two agents at a writing conference, and didn't use Wild as a comp, both asked why I didn't once they heard about my story. My instinct is to NOT use Wild and let prospective agents draw that connection themselves. This will be more powerful than if I suggest it. What do you think?
Hi! Thank you for answering our questions! Like some of the others, I'm deep in the querying process for my MG ghost mystery. I have received form rejections and several "good" rejections (send me future ms, and solid--well done but it's just not for me) but no requests for pages. I'm not sure what to tweak and how to move forward. I've send some with a prologue (the good rejections) and some without (form rejections). How do I really know what's working and what to change?
In your experience what is the best way to address an agent in a query letter if they don’t list a preference: Dear Ms. Maum, Dear Courtney, etc.
When's the right time to move on from a project (and hopefully revive it later, once one has an agent)? 50 rejections? 500? I'm getting on with writing my next novel, but managing queries is time-consuming, so I'm wondering when to call it a day and focus on my new project. I write women's fiction/book club fiction, which agent feedback has indicated is an overcrowded market.
Hi Courtney and fellow Courtney fans! I'm hoping I'm not repeating a question here, but how do we submit query letters so they might be picked to be workshopped on the 17th? TIA :)
This post and whole thread have been so helpful!
Oh wow! I see...Thanks Courtney. This clears things up for me considerably.
Thank you for this generous office hour! I write essays - is the process the same for publishers and agents when I'm not pitching a book?