A year ago, I had an MS ready to start pushing to agents/editors when the wonderful Carol Lynch Williams offered to look it over. She found issues. Since then, my writer’s group has gone over the thing again, cleaning and tightening. This week I finished it, wrote a query and submitted to an editor. Then appears an article on submitting.
Okay, maybe it came out with it before. It’s been a busy month. The editor at WIFYR gave us until the end of July to get anything sent off to her. I’ve been cramming to get the story in a shape to send off, so emails have not been looked at.
Fortunately, I’ve managed to follow most of the suggestions Sambuchino offers. I failed with the that says to make a final check on Twitter or their site to make sure they are still open for submissions. Another embedded article caught my attention, “Query Letter Pet Peeves - Agents Speak,” also by Sambuchino.
He says its not just a matter of what to write in the query letter, but what not to write. Among the irritants of agents:
-Bridget Smith of Dunham Literary, Inc., does not like vagueness. If you can’t tell her enough about the novel in the query then she will reject it.
-Shira Hoffman of McIntosh & Otis, Inc., mirrors the same. Some authors spend too much time on their bios without presenting essential story details.
-Linda Epstein of Jennifer De Chiara Literary reminds us that agenting and publishing are businesses and the query should be a business letter that should be professional and taken seriously.
-Nicole Resciniti of Seymour Agency agrees. We should treat the query as a job interview. It should be professional and concise and the writer should know their craft and understand the market.
-Bree Ogden of D4EO Literary wants to easily know what the manuscript is about. “It shouldn’t be an Easter egg hunt for the pot line,” she says.
Not included in the above are things such as glaring grammatical or spelling errors, mass emailings sent to a dozen or so other agents, and misspelling of the agent’s name or agency. Those seem rather obvious. Most of the agents in the article mentioned statements that tell the agent the story is “the greatest,” or a blockbuster or masterpiece.
At WIFYR, agent Amy Jameson of A + B Works shared some of her treasured queries not to write. They included the above mistake extolling the brilliance of their writing. One simply included a picture of the writer. While stunningly handsome, there was no mention of his story specifics. Amy rejected it.
Dang it. And to think I just blew a bunch of cash on a studio photographer.
(This article also posted at http://writetimeluck.blogspot.com)
PLEASE NOTE: The Seymour Agency is Christian Agency and I am sure they will still lean that way even with the addition of Nicole. But she is open to the following:
Romance, mainstream suspense, thrillers, mysteries, YA and inspirational novels are welcome. A consummate science geek and card-carrying Mensa member, Nicole would love to find the next great science fiction/fantasy novel or action/adventure masterpiece.
Nicole is a member of AAR, ACFW, RWA, and Mensa. She holds degrees in biology, psychology, and behavioral neuroscience.
So if you have a smart, tight read that she won’t be able to put down? A signature voice she’ll fight to represent? Then perhaps you should query her to see if she is interested in you and your manuscript.
The Seymour Agency is currently open to submissions from new and established authors.
Be sure to include:
+Genre/Target Audience
+Word Count
+Contact Information
+References (conference, recommendation, etc)
Nicole accepts queries in the above genres in addition to: Action/Suspense/Thriller, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and YA/Children’s.
To query Nicole Resciniti:
In the interest of protecting the environment, The Southwest Florida Office with Nicole Resciniti has gone paperless. Please forward all submissions electronically.
For email queries, a one page letter will suffice. No attachments, please. Nicole prefers email queries and asks that you paste the first five pages of your manuscript into the bottom of your email.
The Main New York Office and Mary Sue accepts snail mail. Include the first three chapters, synopsis, and a SASE for our response (see contact page for address). Be sure to include the appropriate postage if you want your materials returned. Our policy is to recycle manuscripts.
To Contact The New York Main Office or Mary Sue Seymour:
Mary Sue Seymour, AAR
The Seymour Agency
475 Miner Street Road
Canton, New York 13617
Phone: (315) 386-1831
Email:[email protected]
The Seymour Agency also includes a prayer card to soften a rejection. If this offends you, you may want to query someone else. If you have a Christian focused novel, it sound like Mary Sue should be the one to query. She is looking for: Christian, Inspirational, Romance (including category), and Non-Fiction. To query Mary Sue Seymour: [email protected]