If you’ve been a writer for a while, you’re probably familiar with the dreaded task: querying agents.
It’s something most of us without connections have to do, and quite often to little results. It’s frustrating, exhausting, and often demoralizing. Since this is something most writers pursuing a traditional career path have to deal with, I thought I’d give my thoughts on the process: what I like about it, what makes it so exhausting, and why we still continue to do it despite how demotivating it can be.
Why do you need an agent?
This might be your first thought. And while some writers get quite lucky and find their manuscripts homes without professional intervention, most of the time, you need an agent to submit your work to major presses. A majority of publishers do not accept unagented manuscripts, or they only do so for anthology calls or contests/prizes.
Not only are some doors simply closed to you without an agent to unlock them, but agents (the good ones) are the helpful intermediary between you and the people who want to purchase the rights to print and sell your work. Metaphor time!
Think of selling a house.
You can sell a house without the use of a realtor, but it’s much more difficult, many options are closed to you, and you are left to your own devices to understand the market and how everything works.
A realtor possesses knowledge about the current housing market and is trained to know potential buyers and which ones would be interested in your specific listing. They handle all the legal proceedings for you, and they only take a cut if your house sells. Plus, some buyers who prefer to go through a realtor won’t consider houses for sale by owner. Realtors are the connector between the seller and the buyer. A literary agent is the same thing, but for selling your book to publishers.
Literary agents have personal relationships with many different publishers, and they’re plugged in to the market trends more than almost anyone. It’s their job to find the publisher and the marketplace that is the best fit for making your book a success, and they have the connections and education to do so. They only make money when you do (the legit ones, anyway). They assist with all legal steps, and they facilitate the hiring of various roles you’ll need in your corner, like marketing managers and publicists. They negotiate deals with publishers for you and ensure that you’re getting the fairest deal (and that you’re not being taken advantage of). Plus, they open those doors that are locked to writers without agents.
I don’t know about you, but I want that. I want a friend who’s going to guide me through the complicated and intimidating process of being published. I want someone who will read my manuscripts and tell me honestly if they’re garbage, or unmarketable, or whether the crazy idea I just had is genius or stupid.
I thought you were self-published?
My short story collection is self-published, but that is not and has never been the goal for my writing career. I decided to self-publish Losing Air for a few reasons: short story collections are very rarely accepted by literary agents for debut works, many of the stories had already been published by magazines, and I just wanted to be able to hand people something if they ask about my work. I was never expecting to make any sort of profit from it (and I haven’t, full transparency). I also wanted to be able to show potential agents that I have the work ethic, discipline and passion to not only write consistently enough to fill a collection, but also edit, design, and market something all on my own. It’s just more padding on the resume.
My ultimate dream is to be published by Tor, my favorite publisher, and that will absolutely not happen without agency representation. I want the traditional writer’s career. I want the book tours, meetings with editors, harsh NetGalley reviews, approving book covers, the calls of congratulations when a deal is made.
I greatly respect anyone who’s decided to pursue self-publishing for their writing career. It’s incredibly difficult, even with the recent rise in interest for self-pub novels. You have to be your own line editor, copyeditor, art director, marketing firm, publicist, and everything. I admire those who have chosen to take on such a hard but rewarding path, but that is not what I want and it never has been. I want to sit on panels at StokerCon, attend conventions, and do signings and Q&As. Those doors open much easier with help from a literary agent fighting in your corner.
Okay, so what is querying?
You query an agent when you have a completed manuscript. Most agents have specific requirements for things like formatting, how to submit, and what all to send. Most commonly, agents will want a query letter, some sort of synopsis, summary, or chapter breakdown, and a portion of the work.
A query letter is very similar to a cover letter when applying for jobs. You state your reason for writing (to gain representation through their agency for your manuscript), state your credentials (any publications and/or relevant education under your belt), give a quick pitch (a grabby summary of your work that sets it apart from the rest), any other relevant information (word count, trigger warnings, why you chose this particular agency, etc), then finish with a thank-you. For fun, here’s an example of a query letter I’ve recently sent (take it with a grain of salt, as it has not yet resulted in a response).
Next, you might need to craft a synopsis, summary, or chapter breakdown. This differs depending on each agent, and they will give guidelines for what exactly they want from you. This is the part I like- crafting a thorough but concise synopsis, combing through each chapter and summarizing it. It helps give me a nice full picture of my work and is a good opportunity to test for the last time if it’s cohesive, logically ordered, and exciting as a quick pitch. If I feel like I can’t sell a story in a synopsis or elevator pitch, I’m not going to use it for querying.
Finally, you’ll most commonly be including the first three chapters of your manuscript. If an agent isn’t interested in your story based off the first few thousand words, they’re not going to waste time asking for the full thing.
That doesn’t sound so bad. Why is it so hard?
A couple reasons.
First, doing your research is time-consuming and exhausting. You can’t just blindly send the same query letter to every agency you can find on Google. You will need to research agencies, find ones that align with your specific values and are legit/have obvious successes, and select specific agents from their team (if they’re a multi-agent firm) based on their specific preferences and submission calls. You’re getting to know a lot of people and tailoring your letters to each person to show that you’ve actually taken the time to do research and make sure they’re a reasonable potential match for your manuscript. An agent isn’t going to consider a writer who can’t be bothered to do a little research.
This part of the process is what gets me down the most. I’ll find an agency that really has seen lots of success, and an agent there that’s worked with writers I admire or seems to be asking for exactly what my manuscript is. I do the thing you’re never supposed to do: I get attached.
When I was a kid, my mom taught me that you shouldn’t name a sick baby chicken (we lived on a farm), because if you get attached and it dies, it only makes it worse. If you’ve ever been in the market for a new house, apartment, or job, you’ve probably done this, too: you find the perfect listing, do a showing/interview, and start to imagine what life would be like if things worked out. And it only makes it hurt that much worse when your offer is beat, or the apartment gets filled, or you don’t get that job you really wanted. You feel loss for something you never actually had.
This is what happens to me after hours of researching agents and writing them letters. And while I know rejection is a huge part of this career path, it still brings you down for the whole day. You lose that potential future you were already envisioning.
Why do you keep doing it if it’s such a bummer?
In my darkest hours, I wonder this. Of course, this career is what I’ve wanted so badly for so long, so I never really get close to giving up. But sometimes I have to remind myself of a few things:
Most aspiring writers never even finish a manuscript. If you’ve done that, you’re already ahead of the game.
Many aspiring writers get a bunch of rejections and give up. Maintaining passion for your stories and the career you want is incredibly important when going through rejection.
There is someone out there who will read your story and like it. Art is subjective, and while one agent may turn down your work, another might love it. This is why it’s important to cast big nets, and to continue submitting even if you get 10, 20, even 50 rejections. Eventually, you will find the right fit. The reason most people don’t make it is because they get discouraged and stop submitting.
Even with the pain and struggle, I will continue to search for that perfect person who will love my work and champion it like I know it deserves. I know they’re out there, and I can’t wait to meet them.
Monthly Writing Goals Update
April Final Word Count: 31,312
May: [] / 20,000
What’s that cliche about never making plans because god is watching?
Last week I added a new goal for my writing: at least 1,000 words written every weekday. That didn’t quite happen this week. In my defense, I randomly got an idea for a DND campaign, so I spent three days making that last week, and the first half of this week was spent working on agent querying and submitting to a few contests and publications.
So, let’s just pretend I just had that 1,000 words a day idea and we’re starting to track it now!
Despite my distractions and submissions, I did manage to crank out a short story on Monday, so I have done a little actual writing. While I’m feeling a little directionless about what to focus on now that Kaja is finished, I can feel the pull coming from Stasis again, which is a relief. I’m really attached to that project, and I’d love for it to be the fourth manuscript I finish.
Thanks for sticking with me!
This content was written and created by a human, without the use of any artificial intelligence tools. The authors do not authorize this article’s usage in training AI tools. We proudly support the original works of creators and individuals over technology that steals and manipulates original content without consent of creators.
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