Me too! My skin is pretty thick. I just read a blog about querying. I think this guy works for an agency but is not an agent. Anyway he spent some time with agents from his agency. What he said was very enlightening. According to him one agent went through 19 queries in 14 minutes and rejected 18 of them. This guy is also a first time author who is still looking for an agent. He did share that he kept getting form letter rejections until he started attending writer’s conferences and meeting agents and other published writers. He still gets rejections but they are helpful in content.

His bottom line seems to be that in this business it is not how well you write but who you know.

Okay. I sent out 10 queries today 5 email and 5 snail mail.

One thing he said that I’ve started is first few sentences to introduce the book. Genre, how many words, and the world the protagonist lives in. Then 300 word summary of the book. Last a author Bio pertinent to the work and a thank you and a call to action (I look forward to hearing from you.)

Keep the faith Laura.

Jim

Thanks for the encouragement, Jim!

Once I taste enough rejection, I just may go the self-pub route. In the meantime, I’m working on growing thick skin.

All the best!

sad and scared. makes me wonder WWJW

Me too. 1. Because I think I know who Francine Rivers is. 2. Because I signed mine Jo-Wannabe.

Amen to that Laura. The query is about the book. Not the author or the agent. The subjective part is whether or not the agent thinks they can sell it to one of the Big Six, or an imprint thereof, for a hefty advance. Repping a book is hard work and takes a lot of time. Fifteen percent of a 20,000 dollar advance amounts to 3,000 dollars. Considering the work involved, it is hardly minimum wage. Fifteen percent of 200,000 on the other hand is 30,000 dollars. That will help to keep the agency’s lights on.

So, bottom line, we the unpublished, great voices that we have, remain with our light hidden under a bushel await an agent with enough faith to lift the basket, revealing our craft to the literary world.

Do not despair. John Grisham self-published his first novel A Time to Kill and sold it out of the trunk of his car at flea markets and meetings of local garden and book clubs. He got lucky with The Firm and both books became blockbuster movies.

Jim

You’re welcome, Jan!

Thank you for the link!

I think the hardest part of the query letter is what Rachelle said, “introduce your book in a way that the agent wants to read it.” I’m sure what she means is the query should be compelling to the agent, therefore making him/her want to read it. But I feel the agent’s subjectivity is the hardest part of my querying experience. I just haven’t found an agent who wants to read the story I’ve written. It’s okay. I’ll just keep on keeping on.

At first glance, I thought her topic was “Query Lines to Make an Agent Sign,” instead of “sigh.” Now that topic would be right down my alley. As great as it is to know what not to write, it would be stellar to know what always caught the agent’s attention.

I think the worst thing I ever included in a query letter is a comment about how my friends enjoy my writing and suggest that I should write a book. Looking back, I can only imagine how many agents rolled their eyes to that remark.

You’re welcome, Diane! I hope you find the information helpful. 🙂

My experience with BookLocker has been very good. Nice folks.

The best source of selfpublishing is Dan Poynter a personal friend. Checkout his website. You won’t be disappointed.

Jim