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by Miriam
At our morning meeting today, we were chatting about query letters and how to help authors who contact us (and other agents) make the best first impression possible. As we’ve mentioned many times on this blog, crafting a successful query letter is by no means an exact science. In some instances we’re hard pressed to account for our decision to request one project over another based on the relative merits of their query letters. Sometimes, I think that the process of elimination is a better way of communicating what works. Maybe by telling you what elements of your query letter turn us agent types off you might avoid having your very worthy book rejected before it’s even seen.
One of the things that makes me (and others here) crazy is self-hype that’s hard to verify or quantify. If we can’t find that award or publication you mention on Google and we can’t track that bestselling novel on Bookscan or even find it on Amazon, it should definitely not find its way into your query letter. Eric, over at Pimp My Novel has
a very useful post about when and how to mention awards and accomplishments when querying agents. On a personal note, I’d rather have you tell me something fascinating that you’ve done that’s in no way related to book publishing--e.g., you wrestle alligators as a hobby--but that makes me look at your letter twice than to read about obscure literary accomplishments, real or imagined.
by Chasya
One of our readers asks: “How important are previous publication credits to an agent? Do you prefer [to] receive queries from writers who were already published in a literary magazine/journal?”
Answer:Having really good literary credentials may get you noticed, but it’s not the only thing we’re looking for. As Michael pointed out in
his post about queries, we’re looking for a great many other things. Among them a strong voice, an original idea, etc....
It certainly can’t hurt you to get your work placed in literary journals, but being published in one is by no means the deciding factor in who we choose to represent. We’re on the lookout for all sorts of fiction, and limiting queries to authors who have any specific type of credentials really restricts our ability to search for great projects in a broad range of categories.
We hope you’ll continue to send questions! Please send us an email at
[email protected].
I hear from a lot of fiction writers concerned about writing credits. You’ve been told over time that in order to get published you need to build writing credits or are concerned that when it comes to your query you don’t have much to add in terms of your bio. Don’t worry about it. Everyone has to start somewhere, and I think all agents realize this. We don’t require writing credits and certainly don’t expect them. There are plenty of authors out there—heck, there are plenty on my own list—who never published anything until that first book.
That being said, if you are getting writing credits somewhere—reputable literary magazines, epublishers, or even nonfiction venues like newspapers—you should definitely mention that. The life and travels of a writer don’t neatly fit in a box. In other words, if you see yourself as a romance writer now, it doesn’t mean that you were writing romance three years ago, and your credits might reflect that. Writing credits of any kind show that others have acknowledged your writing ability and also show that you are serious about pursuing writing as a career and not just checking out publishing to see what might happen (and we get a lot of people who do that).
If you have fairly recent credits (a contest from third grade doesn’t count), definitely mention them no matter what they are. Remember, querying agents is like sending out a resume. Your goal is to make yourself stand out from the pack and anything you have that can help that is worth mentioning.
Jessica
Anonymous asked:
I have recently enrolled in the Institute of Children's Literature writing course. I guess editors probably don't really care that I'm trying to better my skills? I've been playing the slush pile game with publishing houses now for 10 years, I thought ICL might give me a leg up. What do you think?
Editors don’t care that you’ve taken a writing course. Editors don’t care if you’re in SCBWI. Editors don’t care if you’ve written a column on children’s books for the last few years in your local paper.
Editors care that your writing is good. If I read in your query letter than you took a writing course at the Institute of Children’s Literature, it won’t make a difference to me one way or the other. It’s very nice, but it doesn’t really matter very much.
Because, as always, what matters is your writing.
And so the course is valuable if it improves your writing. If it makes you a better writer, a better storyteller, then it is definitely worthwhile.
But don’t expect the name of your course alone (or even stellar recommendations from your professors) to get you through the door.
The course doesn’t hurt, but it doesn’t help, either – on our end. On your end, it might make all the difference.
Mark speaks with author Sally Cook about deciding to be an author while in the second grade, the magic of books and the connections they make between authors and readers, and discovering the lighter side of baseball in her picture book Hey Batta Batta Swing! – 1000 copies of which will be distributed as part of the New York Yankees’ opening day dinner on April 2, 2007.
Other books mentioned:
Participate in the conversation by leaving a comment on this interview, or send an email to [email protected].
Photo: Pippin Properties, Inc.
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Great advice. Janet Reid gave a query letter workshop this past weekend and said almost the exact same thing. And I still don't get why people lie/exaggerate... I mean, Google exists!
Always good to hear what agents think and want! Thanks for the advice!
Fantastic TRUE STORY... long time ago, fishing over a bed of spawning bluegill, I lost a fish due to a bad knot tie (my fault). So, I took another hook, same kind, gold long shank #10 out of the package, retied and baited, threw it out and caught the fish I'd just lost through the EYE of the previous lost gold long shank #10 hook!
NOW will you rep me?
Haste yee back ;-)
I recently beat Assassin’s Creed 2 on Xbox 360. Does that count as an interesting achievement unrelated to writing? Keep in mind; this is a particularly challenging video game. Not everyone can beat it, not even most people. Also, I have read all seven Harry Potter novels. Shall I expect your offer of representation within one hour or two? Sigh.
Great advice. I remember sitting down to write my first query. I struggled with what (if anything) I should say about myself. I had no awards or publications to speak of, so I wrote a sentence or two about the part of my life experience that inspired my novel. The novel is about a handicapped boy who escapes his wheelchair. I grew up with two handicapped brothers who were the inspiration for the book.
What that something worth mentioning?
Haste Yee Back and Robert, you should try sending a query and see what happens. D. Antone, yes, your mention of growing up with handicapped brothers would make me take a second look, especially because it ties in to the themes of the novel.