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When you hit “send” on your query, all too often it feels like you're sending it into a black hole. After all, you have no idea when the literary agent is going to review that query, what they will think of it, or how they will respond. And given that most literary agents are backlogged, it is likely that all you're going to hear for a while is crickets, which can lead to a spiral of confusion and self-doubt. You might find yourself wondering, “do agents read query letters at all?”

So, understanding how literary agents tactically go about reading query letters can help alleviate your concerns and anxiety during this tough phase of the publishing process.

They Begin with the Basic Details

Most literary agents will open up a query and then immediately scan for two pieces of information: the genre and the word count. That's why most query letters will put this information right at the top, so it's easy for agents to find. And that's why form sites like QueryManager will ask for this information.

Note that I didn't mention the title. That's because literary agents understand that titles might change over the course of the publishing process. In fact, the title might change even after you get a book deal with a publishing house. So, at this point, while the title could certainly pique their interest, it isn't the most important piece of information.

Genre and word count go hand in hand because each genre and age category have a specific length expectation attached to them. So, reviewing the word count right up front is going to help the literary agent gauge whether your manuscript is falling within the standard range or is too long or too short for traditional publishing standards. This is a way for them to gauge the viability of selling this manuscript to a publishing house, because if it is way outside the normal range, that may indicate that the agent will need to do some more editorial heavy lifting with that author or make sure that that differentiated word count is justified for this book. Of course, having a longer or shorter book length doesn't necessarily mean you can't get a literary agent, but it is something that you should be aware of.

When reading query letters, agents first check to see if the book is in a genre they are interested in representing right now. Before you send a query to an agent, you want to double check that they represent the genre that you are writing within. Otherwise, it's likely they are going to reject your query without looking further at it.

That said, at any given time, a literary agent might be looking to flex their list in one way or another. For instance, maybe they say they represent thrillers, but they just signed three other authors who are writing thrillers, so maybe now is not the optimal time where they're looking for thrillers. That's something you don't necessarily know before you query them, but that may be a factor that they're considering when they're looking at your genre.

Each Agent Has a System

So how do agents read query letters, practically? Every agent has their own system. Some agents are meticulous about reviewing each query chronologically in the order that it was submitted to them. Other agents like to hop around their inbox based on genre. If perhaps they really want to represent someone who's writing a romcom right now, maybe they'll look in their query inbox for authors who are writing romcoms and go through all of those before moving on to the next genre.

Others might have different systems entirely, and QueryManager allows literary agents to create custom tags based on certain parameters. So, if you are looking in QueryTracker and seeing that an agent is hopping around their query queue in a way that is erratic, it could be that they are either reading queries based on genre, like I said, or they're filtering by some other type of tag that you aren't aware of.

Another thing that QueryManager allows agents to do is flag submissions as "maybe" for them to go back and return to later. So, it could be the case that they haven't responded to your query yet because they are putting it in the "maybe" pile to look at in more depth later on.

Something else to keep in mind is that literary agents will be aware of if you have queried them before, either for this same project or for a different one. And if you're querying via QueryTracker, they may also be able to see if you have queried other agents at that same agency. Some authors try to be sneaky and get around some of the rules with how many agents they should query per agency and rules around re-querying agents, but just know that agents are going to be able to find this information relatively easily. So don't try to be sneaky. Just be polite, professional, and upfront.

They Are Open to Updates

Because it can take weeks or months to hear back from a literary agent about a query, there are certain cases in which you may want to update them, and most agents will be happy to hear these updates from you so long as they are warranted.

The biggest one is if you have an offer of representation. You should definitely inform any other agents who are still considering your query that you have received an offer and let them know if you would still like them to consider your query.

Another situation might be that you have sent out a query to an agent, but since then, you've made major revisions to the manuscript, and you would like to send an updated version. I recommend only doing this if the changes have been very substantial and presumably are to the same pages that you sent to the literary agent, which is typically the first chapter or first ten pages or so. I would not recommend sending a follow-up query if you are just correcting a few typos or grammatical mistakes here and there. Agents understand that these are drafts that are still very much in progress, and they don't mind a few typos, I promise.

The key with sending updates is to always stay polite and professional. Remember that there is a human person on the other end reviewing these queries. I know sometimes it feels like there's no one on the other end, but I promise you there is, and the majority are reasonable people who will be happy to hear from you.

Personalization Can Be Nice, But Isn’t Necessary

When possible, I do recommend including a personalization line where you mention why you have queried that agent specifically. Usually, you would call out another book on their list that you admire or something very specific from their manuscript wish list.

This shows that you have specifically chosen to query them out of the hundreds of agents out there rather than blast-mailing every agent you can find, and that can go a long way — it demonstrates that you've done your homework and you're not just blindly sending out your query to everyone who will read it. It shows that you're really genuinely seeking the right partnership with the right agent.

That said, it can be hard to personalize dozens of queries, so if you find yourself struggling to do so, it is okay to leave the personalization out. And some agents value personalization more than others. Some don't mind if there's no personalization.

Also, please know that it is not a requirement for you to have a direct personal connection or a referral to get a literary agent. Many authors find their agents through the standard querying process, and it's a myth that you will only get a literary agent if you find them through your professional network. Remember, at the end of the day, agents are looking for good books that they think they can sell to a publishing house — whether that comes through someone that they know via a referral or through a standard query.

Querying Is Like Speed Dating

The last bit of insight about how agents read queries is the comparison between querying and speed dating. Literary agent CeCe Lyra made a post in the newsletter for the podcast "The Shit No One Tells You About Writing," which I definitely recommend if you haven't checked it out already, comparing the querying process to dating, and I absolutely loved and agreed with her comparisons.

She said that both involve putting yourself out there, getting through rejection and heartbreak, looking for that one perfect match, wanting to make sure you don't come off as desperate, wanting to make sure you come off as confident but not arrogant, and the necessity of having a support system to help you through it.

I would go one step further with this comparison and say that querying is like speed dating because you only have a limited amount of space to introduce yourself to the literary agent and give them the right impression about you and your book.

Agents aren't going to be checking the word count of your query letter meticulously, but the standard length should be somewhere between 300 to 400 words. You don't want it to go on for too long, because then you run the risk of the agent skimming the letter and not seeing all the important information that you need them to.

Here are some pieces of language you can trim from your query letter:

Niceties like "I hope you're doing well"
What specific experiences or authors got you into writing to begin with
Confirming at the end that you have attached the materials that they requested; this is implied
Explaining your confidence in your story; this is also implied because you are querying them
Marketing plans that you want to pursue for the book, unless you have a specific connection, platform, or network that is very relevant to your book
Emphasizing that you would be honored to work with them or being overly complimentary

Hopefully, taking out some of that language will get you to that sweet spot with the query letter so you can speed date with agents effectively.

I hope this helped demystify the black hole that querying too often feels like and helped you understand how agents actually go about reviewing their queries. Thanks so much for reading, and happy querying!

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