Strategic Tips for Querying Agents
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The process of querying agents for literary representation can be a long and disheartening one. If you’ve already started querying literary agents, then you know that your queries are often met with rejection after rejection.
It can seem like a rigged game, with only the most popular, platformed debut authors securing representation, but I can tell you that is not the case. In this article, I want to offer some tips on how to navigate the agent querying process and discuss what you need to query lit agents so that you can approach it from an informed perspective.
My tips come from my experience working at a literary agency in New York City, watching and assisting agents acquire and sell books from bestselling authors and debut authors alike. Something I feel very strongly about is writers taking a strategic and thoughtful approach to querying.
Here is a tip right upfront: I recommend not sending your letter out to every agent you find online. Being deliberate with who you reach out to will vastly increase your chances of getting representation and ultimately getting your book published.
Note: This article is geared toward authors who have already committed to the querying process and may have even started querying. If you’re just starting out or unsure if you want to go the traditional publishing route, check out my other article on your different publishing options.
What do you need to query lit agents? How many agents should you query at a time? Who should you query at a literary agency? When is the best time to send queries? Let’s dive into these and more questions!
Send Queries in Small Batches
The first strategy for querying agents is to send queries in batches. I do not recommend sending one query at a time and waiting for an agent to respond before querying another because, as you probably know by now, agents take a long time to respond to queries. It’s just not efficient to query one at a time if you're waiting months and months to hear back.
Also know that agents are expecting you to reach out to multiple agents at the same time, so don't feel like you're breaking their trust or going behind their back by reaching out to other agents. It is very standard to reach out to numerous agents at the same time.
However, I do not recommend the other extreme strategy and reaching out to a hundred agents all at once either. The ideal batch of queries is somewhere between eight to twelve agents, then taking a break and waiting for responses before doing the next batch of eight to twelve query letters.
This is because you can use those batches as experiments, testing the waters to see what kind of responses you get. For example, if an agent comes back to you and gives you constructive feedback on the sample pages you attached to your query, then potentially you can take that advice and edit those first pages. Then, when you send out your next batch of queries, your draft will be stronger for the next agents.
Starting with a smaller batch allows you to see how your submission package is performing, giving you room to adjust between each batch so it can get stronger and more enticing.
You might end up in the worst case scenario, where you get all rejections from your first batch. No one requested to see the manuscript, and no one offered feedback. In that case, you can choose to revise your materials, checking the query letter and sample pages to assess if there's anything you can strengthen to appeal to future agents. Sometimes a refreshed query letter and opening pages can go a long way and make the difference between an agent rejecting you and an agent wanting to move forward.
Another way to see the benefits of sending out small batches is, if you send out fifty queries with the same query letter and manuscript, and receive only rejections, that’s fifty agents that you missed an opportunity to wow. However, if you send out only eight queries and get rejected, then you only missed out on eight opportunities, and now you can make tweaks as necessary and potentially entice the next agents.
I have seen writers find success through the small batch system, so I recommend taking that approach. This strategy will allow you to iterate on your query letter and sample pages as you go.
Query Newer Agents
As with any industry, you are going to find agents who are at the top of their game and have been doing this for decades, as well as agents who have just entered the industry and have only a few years under their belt. It might be tempting to reach out to the highest-profile agents with the most experience and who have represented bestselling authors. After all, of course you want the best for your book and your writing career.
However, keep in mind that those high-profile agents are likely taking on fewer clients, if they're even open to submissions at all, since they already have an established client list. If they are taking on new clients, then they likely aren't going to be super hands-on and may not be able to give a high level of time and attention, considering they have other clients on their plate as well.
So, a good tactic is to reach out to lower-level agents at the same agencies as those high-profile agents you're drawn to, because then you'll get the best of both worlds. Those lower-level agents have access to wisdom and guidance from higher-profile agents, yet because they're younger in their career and hungry to build their list, they're going to be more eager to work with you. Newer agents are going to have more availability for submissions and they are going to be able to give you more time and hands-on attention.
All that said, first and foremost, you need to choose an agent whose profile most closely aligns with the project you are working on. Usually, you can only query one agent per agency, so it's important that you try to choose the agent who's the right match. However, if you are going between the high-profile agent and the newer agent and they both seem like a great match, consider leaning toward the newer agent.
Use an Email Tracking Software
My next strategy for querying agents is admittedly a little bit sneaky. It is to use an email tracking software. The unfortunate truth is that somewhere along your querying journey, you are likely to get ghosted and never hear back from a number of agents. This isn't because they didn't care about your query or they didn't read or receive your query. It just means they were so overwhelmed with submissions that it was impossible for them to get back to every single author. Some agents even specify on their website that they don't necessarily give a response to every person who is querying them. I read a tweet the other day about an agent who had, that morning, opened up to submissions, and by the end of the day had received over a hundred submissions.
There is such a high volume of queries coming into each agent’s inbox that they cannot get back to each person individually, even if they did see your query. So this is when using an email software might come in handy.
There are many free email plugins out there. The one I’m most familiar with is Streak, however select whatever plugin works best for you and your email provider. An email tracking software tracks whether or not an agent has opened your email. For example, if you send your query letter through Gmail and have the plugin downloaded, when the recipient opens the email, you will get notified. Thus, it can give you an idea of if an agent has seen your submission or not.
I will say, just because you see that an agent has opened your email doesn’t mean that you should follow up with them, especially if they haven’t sent you a response. Doing so can look unprofessional, especially if they already mentioned that a no-response equals a rejection on their website. This software is just for giving you some peace of mind.
The software would also be helpful if an agent has requested your manuscript and you send it to them, but you haven't heard back in a long period of time. You can see if they opened your email yet, because sometimes agents can take a while to read manuscripts they've requested.
There is a caveat with this strategy. With many of the plugins, if the recipient opens your email through mobile or through an app, it won’t always be tracked. Because of this glitch, you can’t trust in your plugin one hundred percent. And remember that even if you do opt for a tracking software, when it comes to querying, patience is key.
Avoid Holiday Periods
My next strategy for querying agents relates to a question I get asked all the time, which is when the best time to query is. My main tip here is to avoid holiday periods, which is common sense.
To be specific, your query is going to go into what is unfortunately called “the slush pile.” This is a backlog of all the queries an agent gets in their inbox. Your goal is to make sure you decrease the chances of your query getting lost more than it already might, which means you want to avoid querying when everyone else is.
In the publishing industry, the slow season is the summer. That can potentially be a good time for querying, if an agent is online and has fewer client obligations, or it can be a bad time for querying, because agents often take holidays off in the summer. Editors at publishing houses are often not acquiring as aggressively during the summer, so many agents are off doing other things.
The unofficial reopening of the publishing industry is after Labor Day. However, I recommend querying agents later, during October or November, since many authors target Labor Day for querying. Plus, agents are often overwhelmed with the submissions they got over summer if they were out of office, so querying a little later can give your letter some room to breathe.
The publishing industry then slows down again from December to January, during the holiday season. I would instead recommend querying during February through May.
However, I will say that agents also offer their own query timelines. Some agents are only open for submissions during certain months of the year, so be sure to check out each agent’s individual profile and website to verify their open periods.
Keep a Querying Spreadsheet or Tracker
My last tip for querying agents from a strategic approach is a very essential one: it is to keep a spreadsheet or a tracker of some kind. It is incredibly important for you to keep a list of all of the agents you have reached out to, as well as the status of your submission.
Having a tracker will keep you updated on where you are at with each agent, whether it is pending response, a rejection, a full or partial request, a revise and resubmit, or an offer of representation. Glancing at your tracker can also help you to not re-query literary agents you already reached out to, as this is considered a faux pas.
Your tracker will also indicate which agents you might consider following up with, such as if they requested your full manuscript a month or two ago with no response. This is especially important if you do receive an offer of representation from another agent. If this happens, you can then update the other pending agents and tell them that you have received an offer, which can push your manuscript to the top of their priority lists.
I hope this article has shown you that querying agents is a marathon not a sprint! These strategic tips should ideally help you through the process, empower you to better understand the publishing industry, and ultimately feel more optimistic about your querying journey.
Thanks for reading, and happy querying!