Hi all,
As #pitmad was this week I thought I would talk about querying agents and publishers.
Before I decided to go down the self publishing route, I queried my novel with over 70 agents and publishers.
All of them rejected Blood and Water.
Querying is nerve wracking enough as it is, but for me, the responses were the worst part. Most of the agents were courteous in their rejections, but seeing that 'no' did make my heart sink. In this blog post, I'm going to talk about the reality of querying.
Some agents never reply.
It doesn't matter how much work you put into your first chapters and cover letter, some agents just don't reply. I know that they have to through thousands of queries, but I'd still much prefer a 'no' to silence. Out of the 77 I queried, 31 never replied.
Don't expect feedback.
With so many queries to go through, they can't afford to spend time writing a long email about what could be improved upon. If you receive one of those emails, great. Read their feedback and see what you can action.
Some emails will just be the word 'no'.
Don't get offended. With so many queries to go through, the emails may just be short and sweet. Just be thankful that you heard back so you can query someone else.
It's a lot of research.
A lot of agents like your query letter to be personalised for them, which means that they'll keep an eye out for bits where you mention their favourite book or what they're looking for. Some agents just reject a query if it's not personal enough, whereas some don't like personal details at all. Include one or two, like their favourite book, but don't go overboard.
Rudeness.
Unfortunately, there will be the minority of people who are rude. I had two agents reply to me in a rude manner. One told me that my idea was great but my writing terrible. She told me that I should hand over the idea to someone with 'talent'. Another told me to stop writing forever as I wouldn't get anywhere. Be aware that these responses are rare, and just shake them off. Don't let their words get to you.
Some will make you jump through hoops to send an email.
I once came across an agency that required you to watch three six minute videos to get special 'codes' so you could query them. Emails without these codes would be rejected outright. I would advise against querying these kinds of agencies, it's too much for a simple email.
Their website bios might not match what they actually want.
I queried an agent that stated in her bio that she specifically wanted books about YA books about dragons. Great! I sent her an email and a week later got one back that said she isn't looking to represent YA. I double checked her bio and it definitely stated YA. See what they post on their social media to see if your book would be a match.
You may be waiting months for a reply.
Although some agents reply within a few weeks, some take months. My quickest rejection was two days, but the slowest was seven months. Query between 6-8 agents at a time, and once most have got back to you, send out another batch of queries.
That's it for this week. Hope you enjoyed it, it's just a few weeks now until Blood and Water comes out, so if you want to pre-order your copy please visit my books page.
See you next week!
