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LIVE Q&A: Querying and Getting an Agent

LIVE Q&A: Querying and Getting an Agent

February 11, 2018 Blogs and Vlogs 2018, Conference 2018, Live 2018 39 Comments

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Carey Blankenship
Carey Blankenship
3 years ago

What resources do you recommend for writers starting to research which agents they should send to?

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Gwendolyn
Gwendolyn
3 years ago

Hello,
What is the best format to use for querying?

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Gwendolyn
Gwendolyn
3 years ago

Hello,
Do you work with one agent only throughout your career, or do you look for another agent if you write something that isn’t represented by your current agent?

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Rebecca
Rebecca
3 years ago

Thank you so much for your time! If a book has been previously published on a free site such as Wattpad, is it still okay to query with it? Do good numbers from those sites benefit a searching author?

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Cynthia
Cynthia
3 years ago

In your query to an agent, should you include a publishing credit if it’s older than 5 yrs and in a different genre than the work you’re querying about? (nonfiction PB vs YA fantasy) What about writing awards that were for work in a genre different than what you’re querying for? (poetry vs YA fantasy)

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Carey Blankenship
Carey Blankenship
3 years ago

What advice do you have for writers getting ready to query? Any golden tips or tricks?

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Shanice
Shanice
3 years ago

How do I know which agents to query?
A lot of agents have dystopian as something they DON’T want, but my dystopian fiction with a black MC has never been done before.
Do I ignore the wish lists?

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Shanice
Shanice
3 years ago

What are some good follow up questions for an agent if I get “the call”?

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Gwendolyn
Gwendolyn
3 years ago

Hello,
Okay, so I’ve heard ‘querying an agent a second time with the next book’ being talked about several times – do you only work with an agent for one book? I thought that you formed a longer-lasting relationship.
I’m still writing my first book and I don’t know yet what I should expect with regards to that sort of work relationship.

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Rachel H.
Rachel H.
3 years ago

Hello! I have a manuscript where the MC is in college with minimal sexual interactions (they kiss, that’s all) and I’ve had one agent tell me it’s YA and another tell me it’s NA. Should I just put “YA/NA” in my query, since the category of NA is so subjective? (It’s Fantasy)

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Branwen
Branwen
3 years ago

What is the best way to mention in a query that my book is science fiction with fantasy elements?

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Shanice
Shanice
3 years ago

I am an emotional person, so this career will definitely toughen me up.
How do I deal with the rejection letters, I’m sure to get?
What’s the best way to deal with the heartache that comes with finding an agent and getting published?

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Jennifer
Jennifer
3 years ago

Hello Carlie, thank you for giving your time today!

About 8 years ago when I was in high school, I queried a manuscript that was 172,000 words long and called it a fantasy, adventure, thriller, and my query didn’t reveal the story/conflict at all. Unsurprisingly, nobody requested to read it. Fast forward through the years, this manuscript is now 58k words, and I learned my MS is for MG. I’ve also been reading MG books to understand the market. Even though it has the same story and characters, this manuscript is completely different than the one when I queried it when I was in high school. Is it alright to requery these agents who rejected the old manuscript?

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Pj McIlvaine
Pj McIlvaine
3 years ago

Technical difficulties?

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Wendy
Wendy
3 years ago

What’s the smartest question prospective clients ask you on “the call”?
and/or
What do you wish clients would ask you on “the call”?

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Renee'
Renee'
3 years ago

I hear a lot of people wanting illustrators, but they don’t know how they will pay them. THEN, I hear a lot of people wanting agents, but they never imagine how they are paid. Can you discuss how agents are paid? Thanks.

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Shanice
Shanice
3 years ago

Any tips on writing a query letter /synopsis, cover letter?
I’ve never written one and don’t know what I’m doing.

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Ashlyn
Ashlyn
3 years ago

If a query requires a bio and you have nothing relevant to say, what should you put?

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jackie
jackie
3 years ago

If we participate in something like Pitchwars, and many agents request the MS (partial or full, depending on what they specify on the page), should we send to all of them, even if there are some people we know we wouldn’t want to work with?

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Mimi
Mimi
3 years ago

If you get a rejection saying that the agent likes it but fallen in love with it. What does that mean?

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Mimi
Mimi
Reply to  Mimi
3 years ago

Ack. It’s meant to say: If you get a rejection saying that the agent likes it but hasn’t fallen in love with it. What does that mean?

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Jennifer
Jennifer
3 years ago

If I were to post short stories on Wattpad or another online site but then a write a novel containing the same characters and setting as the short stories, could I still query the novel? Are there copyright laws that come into play that would prevent the agent from taking the novel on, even if I don’t post the novel online?

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Jasmine
Jasmine
3 years ago

Hi Carlie,

Is it recommended to work with an agent even if you’re looking at working with smaller press / indie publishers?

Thank you!
Jasmine

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Alyson
Alyson
3 years ago

What are some of the top turn-offs for agents? (i.e. I have been told that it’s a turn-off to have a question in a query or to mention that the book is part of a planned series, etc.)

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Azelyn
Azelyn
3 years ago

Thanks for taking part in this Q&A!

How many agents would you recommend a writer query at one time?

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Lizzy
Lizzy
3 years ago

If my ms is intended as the first in a series and has an obvious open ending (that would lead into the next book), do I mention it in the query? Thank you.

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jackie
jackie
3 years ago

Is there something we should be doing with Beta readers, CPs, and sensitivity readers, to ensure that they don’t talk about the book publicly after reading? Is it common for writers who are about to query to have those folks sign off on something?

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SafetyHarborwriter
SafetyHarborwriter
3 years ago

Recommendations to query #ownvoices / diverse MG stories. Thanks.

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jackie
jackie
3 years ago

If we’re interested in getting all the various rights protected (foreign, digital, etc.), should we be looking at agencies that have all in-house people already for each of those things? If an agency only displays a contact or an in-house person who takes care of only one kind of right, is that a red flag that the agency won’t be able to protect us with the others?

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Rektok
Rektok
3 years ago

Hi Carlie! Thanks for your time!

What is the absolute minimum and maximum word count in a query letter for a YA contemporary thriller? (What word count number is an automatic no?)

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Mimi
Mimi
3 years ago

Sorry, the actual question is : If you get a rejection saying that the agent likes it but *hasn’t* fallen in love with it. What does that mean?

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Barbara
Barbara
3 years ago

I have tried to tell a little too much about my main characters in my query letter, which I understand may not be the right way to go. However, how should I proceed if I want an agent to know that there is diversity in the story? For example, one character is in a wheelchair and one is African American. Thanks so much for your time.

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Pj McIlvaine
Pj McIlvaine
3 years ago

How do you decide what to represent in terms of genre? For example, on your wish list, you state you don’t
represent picture books or YA historical fiction.

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Rachael
Rachael
3 years ago

When a 1 page synopsis is requested as part of the original query…
how much should I get into the motivation/backstory/world influences versus summarizing the events that actually occur?
Thanks so much for any input!

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Sarah
Sarah
3 years ago

Hi there,

how long should you wait after submitting one query, before submitting to another agent?

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Gwendolyn
Gwendolyn
3 years ago

Does an author get any say about the cover art?

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Renee'
Renee'
3 years ago

Great answers! Loved the suggestions about social media cautions. Lots of great stuff in this session! Appreciate the feedback on my question, as well. Best to you!

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Christina
Christina
3 years ago

I queried a few agents about 6 months ago and it wasn’t a hit. Since then I have recently recently Rewritten my story from third-person to first-person and rearrange some chapters. Is it possible to requery some of those agents or are they lost me forever?

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