Agents & Query Letters
© Allison Brennan
This article was adapted from my workshop on Agents & Query Letters


Making the Commitment

When I made the commitment to pursue a career in writing, I thought the hard part would be actually finishing a book. For years I had started stories and never finished them. But in March of 2002, I realized that if I wanted to be published, I needed to FINISH a book.

I had powerful motivation. At the time, I had three children. The daycare my infant son was in was sued for child abuse. Thank God my son was spared any injury, but it was a wake up call -- I needed to find a job I could do from home.

Yes, I was naïve. I thought I'd write a book, find an agent, get published and quit my day job.

I had no idea about writer's loops, writing organizations, or critique partners. I didn't know about contests or queries or synopses. When I finished my first manuscript, I queried over 40 agents. How did I research them? Bought a book on literary agents.

I did receive one request for a full manuscript off the query and first ten pages. She sent the cover sheet back with one word: SUPERFICIAL.

Ouch.

But, by that time, I was almost done with my second book. I started querying agents with that book -- again, 40 or so agents. I got two requests for fulls, and signed with the first agent who wanted me. Big mistake.

She wasn't a bad agent. She simply didn't understand the single title romantic suspense market. And my book wasn't a bad book, it simply wasn't publishable. Looking back on it now, I can see that it has potential, but it's nowhere near the quality of work I currently produce.

Every book I've written has been better than the one before it.


Finding Support

When I signed with this first agent, I discovered a local Romance Writers of America chapter, the Sacramento Valley Rose. SVR has had a powerful influence over me simply because I finally met people who were doing what I was -- writing with the real hope of being published. Better yet, there were published authors who were willing to lead and offer advice to us unpubbeds. Then I heard about the Kiss of Death chapter and said, wow! Perfect -- an on-line chapter for romantic suspense writers. Of course I joined.

Also in 2003, I finished books 3, 4 and 5. And I learned oodles about publishing, agents, editors and how hard it is to get noticed.

I still don't know everything. It's that case of, the more you know the more you realize you have yet to learn. But I definitely know more than when I first started. And -- probably the most important -- I developed a thick skin.

In September of 2003, I terminated my contract with the agent I mentioned earlier, the one who didn't understand my market. Why? I looked back at the manuscript and realized it wasn't ready for an editor. I felt she should have seen that, too. After terminating the relationship, I also learned that her approach wouldn't work. I need someone more aggressive, someone who really loved my work, understood the market, and had relationships with editors in New York.

Why Get an Agent?

I spent three months finishing book #5. When I was done, I knew I had something good. Good enough for an editor.

So I sent another round of queries. But this time, I was smarter about it.

I took all the information I learned from everyone so gracious to share on the loops, did my own research on agents and agencies, and worked out my own personal plan for publication.

Now you might be asking, why didn't I go directly to editors if my book was so good?

I could have. Many people prefer to query editors directly. And editors do, on occasion, buy out of the slush pile. But I strongly believed that finding a good agent was the best way to achieve my goal of publication and realize my dream of being a career writer.

And now, knowing what goes into selling, contract negotiations, and career planning, I'm doubly glad I never queried editors. You need someone on your side, fighting for you, working with you to achieve your goals.

Some reasons to target agents over editors:

** So many of the big houses accept agented-only material.

** Good agents know the market and keep up on the trends.

** Good agents know the editors -- often personally -- and who is buying what.

** Good agents know how to pitch editors and get them to read a manuscript faster.

** Good agents understand contracts and can negotiate a better deal for their authors. This isn't just about money. It's about rights and options and the fine print.

** An agent is your buffer between the editor and you. You can focus on writing and working with your editor on making a good book great; your agent can focus on negotiations in all aspects of your career -- from the contract, to what the publisher is going to do on publicity, to making sure you're getting paid on time. In essence, an agent is your pit bull. Your advocate. They know when to fight and when to let go.

** Finally, a good agent will help you build your career. They won't be afraid to tell you something is sub-par, or that something is exceptional. They'll help you slow down, speed up, or whatever it is you need to do to keep your career moving forward. A good agent will read your works in progress -- they'll help you focus.


Goal Setting

** What are your publication goals? Who are you targeting? Single title houses, category, small press, e-pubs? Plan your query strategy accordingly.

** Who represents authors who write similar to you? Keep in mind that some agents won't take on writers who are too much like another they represent, so don't be afraid to query agents who represent a wide range of writers, even if no one writes what "exactly" in the sub-genre you write.

** Do you have a thick skin? Can you face rejection? Can you admit to yourself when the book you're hawking just isn't "it" and start a new project?

** Do you want to target editors or agents? Is getting an agent important for you to meet your publication goals? If you're targeting Harlequin/Silhouette, for example, you don't need and agent, but an agent will get you read faster. Also, I've heard their contracts are cumbersome and unless you have pubbed friends to help weed through the muck, it might be beneficial to either obtain an agent after your first sale, or retain one just for reading your first contract.

If it were me, I'd retain an agent who wanted to help me build my career.

Publishing is a business like any other. Publishers will always pursue making money. If they didn't, they wouldn't be publishing books anymore. Some writers feel very bitter about this. I don't. That's the free market system. We write, they publish. We get money, they get money. It was the publisher who invested in you, the writer. It was their capital that they put up to print your book, design your cover art, pay the copyeditor, send out your ARCs, and everything else they do. They deserve to make a profit off you as much as you deserve to see an advance and royalties from your work.


Be Professional

Because publishing is a business, your first contact with editors and agents should be professional. Whether it's at a conference and you're meeting an editor and/or agent in a pitch session or sitting with them at dinner, or in a formal letter, your first contact must scream I KNOW WHAT I AM DOING!

Poorly formatted letters, frou-frou paper, confetti in the envelope, or any other gimmick isn't likely to get you a request for a full manuscript. Likewise, not following directions isn't likely to get you a request.

Some people will insist that there's nothing wrong with submitting a partial when the submission guidelines say "query letter only", or submitting a full when the guidelines say don't. I am not one of them.

I am sure that there is someone who broke the rules and ended up with a contract. But do I want my first contact with my prospective agent or editor to be so unprofessional that I think I don't have to follow their rules? No. I want them to know that I respect their rules and their time, and have submitted in accordance to their guidelines.

That is being professional.

One more note on being professional when dealing with the publishing industry (and by industry I mean editors, agents, reviewers, authors, etc) -- what goes around comes around. I had an agent who requested three of my manuscripts and rejected them all for different reasons. She loved my writing, just didn't love my stories. She sent me detailed rejection letters about why she didn't love my stories. I wrote her a personal thank you note for the time she spent on my work.

When this agent saw my sale listed on Publishers Marketplace, she emailed me congratulations. This was two months after she rejected the book, and she still remembered my name. (I knew it had to be by my name because the title of the book had changed from when I sent it to her.) Would she have done this if I disparaged her in public? Didn't thank her? Called and whined and annoyed her? Doubtful.


Query Letters

For my first two manuscripts, I queried dozens and dozens of agents without any real strategy. But when I finished my fifth book and knew it had "publishable" written all over it, I went back and culled through all the information I learned.

1) I made a list of agents who represented authors of single title romantic suspense, mainstream suspense, or commercial fiction. If they didn't have their client list available on-line, I researched the archives of loop messages for information on who had signed with them.

2) I reviewed at Publishers Marketplace to see who was making deals. Karen Fox's website was invaluable for seeing the romance deals as well and updated information on agents (http://www.karenafox.com). [Aside: A new resource came out in 2005 called "Agent Query" and I have found the information valuable and accurate. You can reach them at http://www.agentquery.com.]

3) I prioritized the agents in groups of ten -- an "A" list, a "B" list and a "C" list. Mind you, the "C" list were still highly rated agents, but I wanted to start big, not small.

4) I then VERIFIED all the information I had pulled on those agents as best I could -- if they were still in business, had no marks against them, etc. Predators and Editors http://www.anotherealm.com/prededitors/pubagent.htm is a great site, as well as the SFWA site http://www.sfwa.org/beware/agents.html.

5) I sent to the ten agents on my "A" list, then to one more that someone recommended to me because she had just joined Donald Maass and was actively looking.

But, you might be asking yourself, you mentioned earlier that you sent out 12 queries. Yes, I did. The last one was a fluke.

I went back over my list and noticed I had left off Trident Media. Robert Gottleib is Janet Evanovich's agent and I LOVE Janet Evanovich, though I write nothing like her. But he's a top gun and I didn't think I'd have any chance of getting him as an agent. Still, a couple weeks after I sent out my 11 queries -- and after I received two requests for fulls and a partial -- I was surfing around and went to Trident's website and read every biography on every agent. That's how I found Kimberly Whalen. She has eclectic tastes and when she worked at a publishing house, she worked with Tami Hoag, Iris Johansen and Julie Garwood. Wow, I thought. In my query letter, I mentioned that I write in the same vein as Hoag and Johansen. Is this fate or what?

At the time, Kimberly accepted e-queries, so I sent my query letter off to her, expecting a polite rejection. The next day, I got a request for a full. Off a one-page e-query.

Ultimately, I received five requests for fulls, two partials, and five rejections off my query letter. Nicholas Sparks, a NYT best-selling author, had about a 50% request rate, but ultimately only one request of representation (see his story here: http://www.nicholassparks.com/WritersCorner/MyAgent.html ). He agrees that his query letter helped him get all those requests, but it took an agent who believed in him and his work, who loved his book, to sell him.

Believe me, I know that my request rate was great. I didn't expect it, and I'm not gloating about it.

Why did I get a good response? My query letter.

Three of the requests for fulls were from agents who accepted partials as part of their submission guidelines, and two were off a query letter alone. But I honestly believe that if your query letter is sub-par, they'll never read the partial.
Again, professionalism. Your query is on top. It gives the agent and/or editor their first glimpse at you, the author. What does it say about YOU? What does it say about YOUR BOOK?


Elements of a Query Letter

ALL query letters need to have four elements:

1) Hook

2) Summary of your book, like a back cover blurb

3) Hint of the audience, either by comparing your tone to that of other authors or by showing what audience would be interested in your book.

4) Personal information about yourself, including any awards, publishing history, memberships

And do all of this on one page with no paragraphs longer than six lines. I, personally, like the block letter style for business letters. This means no indents and an extra return between paragraphs.

Part of what I learned about marketing through letters I learned in my former career. I wrote constituent mail for the California State Assembly. People don’t want a lot of wordy, technical garbage. They want answers. But if you use lofty words or long paragraphs, their eyes glaze over.

Likewise, when I wrote memos to legislators about an idea for an outreach program, I had to keep it to one page -- and simple. They're not stupid (well, most of them aren't), they're simply busy and pulled in several different directions at once. If I want them to use MY idea, I need to show them it will work -- quickly.

You should spend the time developing your query letter because that's your first impression. Even if you met the agent/editor at a conference (and DEFINITELY reference that in your letter), you need to draft a professional query.


Self-Analysis

Review your latest query letter.

** Do you have a hook? (My "hook" was "Ex-FBI Agent turned crime fiction writer wakes up one morning to find someone is using her books as blueprints for murder.)

** Did you summarize your book in three paragraphs or less? Does it read like a back cover blurb? Would it make you want to buy the book? (Or make you request the full manuscript if you were an agent?)

** Do you include personal information?

** Is it one page, 12 point readable font?

I am not an expert on queries and I don't have a magic formula. Ultimately, your writing has to appeal to both an agent and editor in order to sell. Selling is a combination of skill, luck and perseverance -- you need a little of all three. Queries are your foot in the door. They CAN get you read, and that's one of many steps toward publication.

And we need all the help we can get.