I'm probably not the best person to dispense advice on how to get published, seeing as I'm not even close, but I'm going to give it a try anyway.
Last year, I sent out 25 queries. I got 22 form rejections, one personalized rejection, 1 request for the first five pages (I know, it didn't make sense to me, either), and one request for a partial. Then I got a form rejection for the partial. That's a 4.34% success rate. So the batting average for 2009 was Not Good. I got the names of AgentQuery, and it said that all of them were seeking new clients.
This year, I sent out four query letters to agents I found here. So far, I've heard back from two agents, and both were requests for fulls. That's a 100% success rate. 2010 is on fire.
Here's the clincher. I didn't change my query letter, and I've made only minimal changes to my book. All I changed was the recipients of my query letter. I started sending to people who really want new clients. Judging by the numbers, that makes all the difference.
To wit: only query agents who really want to be queried!
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11 comments:
Nice job!
I've found that a lot of it has to do with sheer luck. I too had my share of rejections; I found my agent at a writing conferene--had I not decided to sit where I did at the luncheon, I'd still be agentless, I'm sure.
Chris: luck does seem to have a lot to do with it. Interesting about the luncheon, though--it's the kind of thing that makes you wonder about divine providence, huh?
Kansaslane: thanks!
I made it through the slush pile with my agent. I think it was all about the first sentence because I batted 0 until I found the magic sentence then batted 500. Swing at every pitch. Good luck is when preperation meets opportunity.
Greg Gutierrez
Zen and the Art of Surfing
Ink and Words, I like your blog and thanks for sharing about the agents. I do not want to make that mistake. Please share, which agent said they were interested, then not interested.
Good luck on your book.
Greg: thanks for the advice! I'm not a big hockey person, but I think Wayne Gretzy was right when he said that you miss 100% of the shots you don't take.
Tea Time: The agents in the link I posted (http://www.writersdigest.com/article/24-agents-who-want-your-work-2009) are all interested in taking on new clients. Agents you find elsewhere (unless they say they're looking for new clients) probably aren't looking to take on new authors, so unless you're Hemingway, they're not going to take you on as a client.
I'd prefer not to share responses from particular agents because they might have an entirely different reaction to your book. Basically, the best thing to do is to send out a ton of query letters to a ton of agents who want to be queried.
Good luck! And hopefully 2010 will be better for me also!!
Congratulations on a great 2010. But how do you know who are the agents that really do want to be queried?
ELIN: Agents that want to be queried say so on their websites. "Actively seeking new clients" is the phrase that you should look for. Also, new agents need clients to build their lists. Articles like the one I posted are good, too.
you should probably rework your query letter until it totally shines and then try again.
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