Get a Literary Agent: The Complete Guide to Securing Representation for Your Work by Chuck Sambuchino Page A
Authors: Chuck Sambuchino
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you do not hear back from us in six weeks, please consider that a no.” This is an attempt by agents to save time by not sending thousands of rejections each year. This way, they can direct their energies elsewhere.
These intricacies make it critical for all querying writers to keep a detailed spreadsheet of agents and guidelines so they can keep track of who wants a query only, who requires snail mail, and when those six weeks have passed, for instance.
You can find agents’ guidelines in resources such as Guide to Literary Agents and in some of their interviews online. But no matter where you get information on agents’ guidelines as you research, whether from print sources or online, you’ll want to check the official agency website as the final step before contacting them. This allows you to: (1) make sure the submission instructions did not change yesterday (the agency website is the first source that gets updated, along with their Twitter profile) and (2) be sure an agent is still at that agency and did not switch agencies or go on maternity leave the week before.
THE IMPORTANCE OF SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS
Once you’re ready to dive in headfirst, a simple question emerges: Can you query multiple literary agents at the same time? Absolutely. This is both normal and encouraged. The simple fact is that an agent may take three months to get back to you, and then her response may simply be a form rejection. That’s no way to go about getting a book published. You must cast a net—but don’t cast a terribly wide net.
So how many agents should you contact at one time? Would it be wise to just mail out your query to all agents who rep science fiction at once? I wouldn’t. I would submit to six to eight at a time, including those you’ve met at a writers conference or retreat.
I say six to eight because I want you to protect yourself. What if you submit your query to all agents on your master list, but—heaven forbid—your query letter stinks? Every agent will turn you down, and you’ll have hit a brick wall at the beginning of your journey. Instead, submit to a limited number of agents and gauge the response. If you submit to seven agents and get seven rejections with no reps asking to see more work, then guess what? Your query stinks. So edit it. Overhaul it. Give it to friends, beta readers, and maybe a professional book editor for a look.
This concept holds true throughout the submission process. Let’s say that you send your polished query to seven more literary agents and get four responses asking for more work. Congratulations—your query letter is doing its job. But none of those four agents who see a partial ask to read your full manuscript. Guess what that means? Your first few chapters aren’t up to snuff. Revise them. Overhaul them. Give the chapters to friends for a blunt critique. Remember that agents will almost never reply with a personalized rejection detailing where your story went wrong. It’s up to you to figure out why you’re falling short.
“Always follow submission guidelines to a tee (from the requested material to how long you should wait to follow up). And be prepared for the next step before submitting anything. Make sure you’ve got all the material an agent might request—a finished and revised full manuscript, information about your previous publishing history, and a synopsis—on hand and at the ready to send, should an agent ask to see that material after reading your query.”
—Mollie Glick (Foundry Literary + Media)
If you think six to eight is actually too many to send to, remember that 99 percent don’t necessarily want to review the query exclusively. Agents are aware that authors target multiple reps at once, so (unless the agent specifically asks to know) your query doesn’t need to say, “This is a simultaneous submission.”
The only instance in which you’ll submit to fewer than six to eight is if you want to entice an agent with the news that your
These intricacies make it critical for all querying writers to keep a detailed spreadsheet of agents and guidelines so they can keep track of who wants a query only, who requires snail mail, and when those six weeks have passed, for instance.
You can find agents’ guidelines in resources such as Guide to Literary Agents and in some of their interviews online. But no matter where you get information on agents’ guidelines as you research, whether from print sources or online, you’ll want to check the official agency website as the final step before contacting them. This allows you to: (1) make sure the submission instructions did not change yesterday (the agency website is the first source that gets updated, along with their Twitter profile) and (2) be sure an agent is still at that agency and did not switch agencies or go on maternity leave the week before.
THE IMPORTANCE OF SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS
Once you’re ready to dive in headfirst, a simple question emerges: Can you query multiple literary agents at the same time? Absolutely. This is both normal and encouraged. The simple fact is that an agent may take three months to get back to you, and then her response may simply be a form rejection. That’s no way to go about getting a book published. You must cast a net—but don’t cast a terribly wide net.
So how many agents should you contact at one time? Would it be wise to just mail out your query to all agents who rep science fiction at once? I wouldn’t. I would submit to six to eight at a time, including those you’ve met at a writers conference or retreat.
I say six to eight because I want you to protect yourself. What if you submit your query to all agents on your master list, but—heaven forbid—your query letter stinks? Every agent will turn you down, and you’ll have hit a brick wall at the beginning of your journey. Instead, submit to a limited number of agents and gauge the response. If you submit to seven agents and get seven rejections with no reps asking to see more work, then guess what? Your query stinks. So edit it. Overhaul it. Give it to friends, beta readers, and maybe a professional book editor for a look.
This concept holds true throughout the submission process. Let’s say that you send your polished query to seven more literary agents and get four responses asking for more work. Congratulations—your query letter is doing its job. But none of those four agents who see a partial ask to read your full manuscript. Guess what that means? Your first few chapters aren’t up to snuff. Revise them. Overhaul them. Give the chapters to friends for a blunt critique. Remember that agents will almost never reply with a personalized rejection detailing where your story went wrong. It’s up to you to figure out why you’re falling short.
“Always follow submission guidelines to a tee (from the requested material to how long you should wait to follow up). And be prepared for the next step before submitting anything. Make sure you’ve got all the material an agent might request—a finished and revised full manuscript, information about your previous publishing history, and a synopsis—on hand and at the ready to send, should an agent ask to see that material after reading your query.”
—Mollie Glick (Foundry Literary + Media)
If you think six to eight is actually too many to send to, remember that 99 percent don’t necessarily want to review the query exclusively. Agents are aware that authors target multiple reps at once, so (unless the agent specifically asks to know) your query doesn’t need to say, “This is a simultaneous submission.”
The only instance in which you’ll submit to fewer than six to eight is if you want to entice an agent with the news that your
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