#publishing tip

MISTAKE 2: TOO LONG QUERY / SYNOPSIS

Query letters should be around 250 words. Not hugely long, not one full page, not two pages. You don’t want to tell the entire story, aka a synopsis, in the query. You want to cover the first 2/3 of the story. When I glanced over the slush pile, if I saw a query letter that was hugely long it was already a point against it because that usually meant overwriting in the novel, or that they didn’t actually know what their plot was, so their query was all over the place.

You are doing yourself a disservice by not following the query letter guidelines: 250-300 words. Not more. (Though if you have a really killer bio filled with important information, that could push your query to 350 and be totally acceptable.)

MISTAKE 3: COMPLETE DISREGARD FOR THE SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Like #1, I do not understand why a writer wouldn’t look at the submission guidelines before querying an agent. Where do you get their email address from? From the submission guidelines page! So why wouldn’t you take the extra ten seconds to read what they want to see?

If the agent wants to see pages, and you don’t send pages … that’s not good. What if they are on the fence about your query? If they have a full client list, they aren’t going to take the time to ask for more pages because they are on the fence; they needed those pages to really determine if your writing style jived with them. They are more likely to reject you and move on to the next query.

MISTAKE 4: NOT DOING YOUR RESEARCH / STRETCHING IT

Doing your research is vital. You can save yourself rejection by doing it. You can also personalize your query and set yourself apart by doing it.

For example, one literary agent can be widely known for being a horror fan. However, if you look at her profile page, you’ll see she clearly states:

“I am no longer looking at science fiction and I have never accepted paranormal/supernatural/fantasy.“

So … she isn’t interested in paranormal. She isn’t interested in supernatural. But she still got a lot of queries for paranormal horror, supernatural horror, and sometimes even fantasy horror (at least when I was her assistant). But since Bree is known for being a horror fan, people will still query her with paranormal horror because they think—she wants horror.

It’s a stretch, and obviously not true. It’s also an avoidable rejection if you read her profile. This is true with a lot of agents. There is probably another agent at the same agency that would fit with you better anyway.

MISTAKE 5: BEING POMPOUS

Declaring you are the next best thing — that you are the next JK Rowling or Dan Brown or Gillian Flynn, well, guess what? You probably aren’t. I’m sorry. You might be, but no one likes a pompous person. Don’t be pompous. No one wants to work with a pompous person. (Have I made the whole pompous = bad case repetitively enough yet?)

It’s a turnoff and a waste of space to go on and on about why your book is awesome, why you are obviously the next Stephen King, etc., etc… You would be doing yourself a favor by showing the agent your book is awesome with a strong query letter and strong opening pages.

FIRST: CHECK THE AGENT’S WEBSITE

The agent or agency will often have somewhere on their website that states when they welcome writers to nudge. They might say they read within the next six weeks or two months, and nudge if you haven’t heard from them since. But what if the agent’s website doesn’t say?

FOR FULL REQUESTS:

Three to six months. You really should wait at least three months before you nudge. If you feel three months is too soon, then try for six months. Most writers nudge either at three months or six. Those are the two golden periods.

FOR PARTIAL REQUESTS:

Three months. Three months is definitely the standard for Partial Requests.

FOR QUERIES:

You DON’T. Sorry, but it’s very unusual to nudge on queries. Unless the agency website specifically says you can nudge. There are a few that do, but others usually just have a NO RESPONSE/NO INTEREST policy.

WHAT NOT TO DO WHEN NUDGING

Be pushy.

There really are very little things more annoying when dealing with a query slush pile than a writer who continuously emails about a partial or full or query–once or twice, in regards to a partial, is completely fine.

Five times about a query you just sent last month? Not so much.

Agents want to find clients they will work well with, so put your best foot forward. Don’t look like you are going to be difficult to work with.

Imagine this, if you are pushy about a query or a full or a partial—what does that say about you overall? The whole publishing process is a long hard road, and patience and determination are very important. Don’t look like you’re impatient. No one wants an impatient client.

Also being pushy is rude. It’s like you’re telling the agent that they don’t have anything better to do than serve you right then and there—someone who isn’t even their client yet. Agents make no money off reading queries or partials or fulls.

Agents make their money when they sell manuscripts, so it’s kind of crazy to think about how much time they spend reading potential clients work that may never make them any money.

This is a small industry. It's also really interconnected. People jump from imprint to imprint, agency to agency, and a lot of time it's interns or assistance that end up with the entry-level openings. Being small, it's hard to break into without any connections. And there's a lot of people who want in.

Hard Truth #3: It requires a lot of (usually unpaid) internships

As I mentioned above, internships are the best way to get an entry-level job. There are very few internships that are paid. Most are unpaid, and can be long hours of doing them. I've personally had three internships. They were all instrumental in getting me my current, full-time paid position.

Hard Truth #4: The entry-level salaries are not awesome

$30,000 - $35,000 is the standard entry-level salary (yes, even in New York City). For a literary agent, a majority of those positions are purely commission based, meaning you only make 15% off of any deal you make (advance and then royalties, but it usually takes 2 years for a book to come out so there's no immediate royalties).

Hard Truth #5: Work/life balance isn't great

This really depends on your position. As an editorial assistant or assistant literary agent, you will be reading a lot of slush piles on your evenings and weekends. Your days will be mostly administrative work. You don't often get to read the submissions during work hours (which will be a majority of what your job details entail).

Marketing, publicity, and the like tend to be a different story. There's usually a good amount of work/life balance—you work at the office, and then you don't once you leave (unless you are going on a book tour as a publicity person). But most people trying to get into publishing tend to want those editorial and literary agency jobs.