If you’ve been following the blog for a while, you’ve probably noticed that I haven’t posted any query updates for the last several months. As I mentioned in March’s update, I started working on a major revision in February, and I finished that at the end of May. Since then, I’ve been waiting, critiquing my guts out, waiting a little more, adding words to Steve, and waiting even longer.
Here in mid-August, I’ve heard back on most of those R&Rs, and since I haven’t announced that I have an agent, I guess you can tell how most of those turned out. The funny thing is, the vast majority of those rejections had more positive than negative things to say. They used words like “excellent” and “great” to describe the changes and praised the concept, the characters, the world building, the plot. Then they fell back on that ubiquitous, "But I just didn't fall in love." In fact, one agent seemed to be on the verge of offering (she was e-mailing every week or so, saying things like, “So sorry it’s taking so long, but I’m reading the manuscript and enjoying it and look forward to talking soon”), but ultimately, she passed, too.
Thankfully, the news hasn’t been all bad. I was corresponding with an agent several months ago, an agent who’d read and rejected one of Bob’s earlier drafts, and she mentioned as an aside that she was still thinking about him. She asked what his status was, and when I told her I’d just completed a revision, she let me know that she’d mentioned him to an agent friend and that said agent friend was interested. Said agent friend then e-mailed me--SHE e-mailed ME--and asked to see the manuscript. I’m still waiting to hear back from her.
Also, I picked up a partial request--or maybe a partial re-request--from another agent who'd read an older draft last fall, and just last week, another agent requested ANOTHER revision. In a couple of weeks, I’ll hit Bob’s SECOND birthday, and yet he refuses to take his place on the shelf. He’s tenacious, no doubt about that, and like any normal child, he’s made me laugh--and cry--more than a few times.
To be honest, I’m not sure where to go from here. I’m really enjoying Steve and how he’s progressing, but it’s hard to resist the siren song of an R&R. Maybe when Steve is ready for his first round of beta readers, I’ll have some time to dive back into Bob. The revisions won’t be nearly as extensive this time around, and maybe, just maybe, the third time really will be the charm…
(As for the numbers, I have to admit, I’ve lost track of how many queries I’ve sent, how many of those are still pending, and how many have turned into non-responses. I believe the total query count is somewhere around 80, but it’s hard to say, since I have re-queried a couple of agents.)
Showing posts with label query updates. Show all posts
Showing posts with label query updates. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Monday, April 25, 2011
Query Update
Well, after spending the last half-hour crunching some numbers and putting together a couple of handy-dandy graphs, I decided it might be best to wait until I'm done querying Bob to share all of that with you. (But I promise to post them sooner or later, since I'm too much of a math nerd to keep them to myself:) )
Total queries: 56
Pending queries: 1
Non-responses: 4
That pending query hasn't quite reached the three-month mark, but I'm sure it'll turn into another non-response in another couple of weeks. In all honesty, if I hadn't been in the middle of a big revision, I probably would have followed up with at least a couple of those non-responses (and I still might sometime), but for the time being, it is what it is.
In other news, I picked up another partial-turned-full request last month as well as another R&R. When I informed the agents that I was currently working on a revision, they both said they'd be happy to wait. And just so I don't leave you completely statistic-less, here are a few more numbers:
Minimum response time (requests): 0 days
Median response time (requests): 12 days
Maximum response time (requests): 92 days
Minimum response time (rejections): 0 days
Median response time (rejections): 15.5 days
Maximum response time (rejections): 96 days
If you compare these response times to the ones I reported in December's query update, you'll find that both maximum response times are a lot bigger than they were back then, but that makes sense, since I've been querying Bob a lot longer now. Interestingly, however, the median response times are still both relatively small, which suggests that those maximum response times really are outliers. (In fact, I heard back from both of those agents after I followed up with them.) These data suggest that 50% of agents respond to queries within about two weeks, which is actually pretty good.
Is anybody else querying a manuscript right now? Have you seen similar trends in your statistics?
Total queries: 56
Pending queries: 1
Non-responses: 4
That pending query hasn't quite reached the three-month mark, but I'm sure it'll turn into another non-response in another couple of weeks. In all honesty, if I hadn't been in the middle of a big revision, I probably would have followed up with at least a couple of those non-responses (and I still might sometime), but for the time being, it is what it is.
In other news, I picked up another partial-turned-full request last month as well as another R&R. When I informed the agents that I was currently working on a revision, they both said they'd be happy to wait. And just so I don't leave you completely statistic-less, here are a few more numbers:
Minimum response time (requests): 0 days
Median response time (requests): 12 days
Maximum response time (requests): 92 days
Minimum response time (rejections): 0 days
Median response time (rejections): 15.5 days
Maximum response time (rejections): 96 days
If you compare these response times to the ones I reported in December's query update, you'll find that both maximum response times are a lot bigger than they were back then, but that makes sense, since I've been querying Bob a lot longer now. Interestingly, however, the median response times are still both relatively small, which suggests that those maximum response times really are outliers. (In fact, I heard back from both of those agents after I followed up with them.) These data suggest that 50% of agents respond to queries within about two weeks, which is actually pretty good.
Is anybody else querying a manuscript right now? Have you seen similar trends in your statistics?
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Query Update
First, a few rudimentary and not terribly interesting numbers. (Sorry. Someday, I’ll do a big statistical breakdown of all the data I’ve collected in the last couple of months, but that day is not today.)
Total queries: 56
Pending queries: 4
Non-responses: 1
I don’t really expect to hear back on those four pending queries, though I’ll wait to mark them down as non-responses until they hit the three-month mark. I’m still waiting to hear back on several fulls and partials, but you never know when you might hear back on those, so I’m not holding my breath or anything. Instead, I’m focusing my energy on another agent-requested revision.
About three weeks ago, I received a reply on one of my requested fulls. It was a long e-mail--the longest e-mail I’ve received from an agent about a manuscript, in fact--so I knew right away it wasn’t going to be an offer of representation. But it was a revise-and-resubmit.
The agent went into some detail about the problem spots she’d noticed in the manuscript. It was a lot to think about. In fact, it was so much to think about that I started to despair (with much hand-wringing and teeth-gnashing). But one of my fantastic beta readers picked me up and smacked my cheeks and splashed some cold water on my face--metaphorically speaking, of course, since she lives on the other side of the country--and basically told me to get to work.
It was exactly what I needed to hear.
I started thinking about the agent’s ideas not from a how-am-I-ever-going-to-pull-this-off perspective but from a let’s-get-cracking point-of-view. And almost right away, I realized I could resolve almost all of the agent’s concerns if I just flip-flopped Seth and Adair’s POV responsibilities. Just.
It’s a pretty big revision, so big I’m just calling it a rewrite, but from the moment I started working on the new, new chapter one, I could barely contain my enthusiasm. It’s like I’m falling in love with Bob all over again, even after spending the past eighteen months with him. The. Past. Eighteen. Months.
So I’m busily working on this revision, and another e-mail pops up in my inbox. It’s from another agent who has my manuscript--and she’s requesting revisions, too. Her feedback matches up with Agent A’s feedback, so I give myself a little fist-pump. Now two agents want to see the revision. That’s good, good, good for me.
A few days later, Agent C gets back to me. She really loves the concept and thinks the writing is pretty clean, but she sees a few things that need fixing. Might I maybe, possibly, think about revising? Don’t have to ask me twice:) I send Agent C a summary of the things I’m planning to change, and she asks to see the new, new Bob as well.
A few days after that, Agent D gets back to me. She agonized over what to do with Bob. (Well, she didn’t call him Bob, of course, but she probably would have if she’d known about his nickname.) She even asked her colleagues to read the manuscript and give her their opinions. In the end, she isn’t quite ready to sign it, but if I ever do revise, she’d LOVE--her capitalization, not mine--to take another look.
So now I have four agents all interested in this revision, and I am super, super psyched about it. (Why don't we use that word anymore? Is "psyched" one of those decade-specific words that signals I grew up in the nineties?) Bob’s current draft, the one still making the rounds through several agents’ inboxes, is the very best Seth version of the story that I could write, but I think I’m (finally) realizing that maybe this story was Adair’s story all along. That maybe this will be the best possible version of the manuscript. That maybe this is the story I’ve been trying to tell from day one.
Total queries: 56
Pending queries: 4
Non-responses: 1
I don’t really expect to hear back on those four pending queries, though I’ll wait to mark them down as non-responses until they hit the three-month mark. I’m still waiting to hear back on several fulls and partials, but you never know when you might hear back on those, so I’m not holding my breath or anything. Instead, I’m focusing my energy on another agent-requested revision.
About three weeks ago, I received a reply on one of my requested fulls. It was a long e-mail--the longest e-mail I’ve received from an agent about a manuscript, in fact--so I knew right away it wasn’t going to be an offer of representation. But it was a revise-and-resubmit.
The agent went into some detail about the problem spots she’d noticed in the manuscript. It was a lot to think about. In fact, it was so much to think about that I started to despair (with much hand-wringing and teeth-gnashing). But one of my fantastic beta readers picked me up and smacked my cheeks and splashed some cold water on my face--metaphorically speaking, of course, since she lives on the other side of the country--and basically told me to get to work.
It was exactly what I needed to hear.
I started thinking about the agent’s ideas not from a how-am-I-ever-going-to-pull-this-off perspective but from a let’s-get-cracking point-of-view. And almost right away, I realized I could resolve almost all of the agent’s concerns if I just flip-flopped Seth and Adair’s POV responsibilities. Just.
It’s a pretty big revision, so big I’m just calling it a rewrite, but from the moment I started working on the new, new chapter one, I could barely contain my enthusiasm. It’s like I’m falling in love with Bob all over again, even after spending the past eighteen months with him. The. Past. Eighteen. Months.
So I’m busily working on this revision, and another e-mail pops up in my inbox. It’s from another agent who has my manuscript--and she’s requesting revisions, too. Her feedback matches up with Agent A’s feedback, so I give myself a little fist-pump. Now two agents want to see the revision. That’s good, good, good for me.
A few days later, Agent C gets back to me. She really loves the concept and thinks the writing is pretty clean, but she sees a few things that need fixing. Might I maybe, possibly, think about revising? Don’t have to ask me twice:) I send Agent C a summary of the things I’m planning to change, and she asks to see the new, new Bob as well.
A few days after that, Agent D gets back to me. She agonized over what to do with Bob. (Well, she didn’t call him Bob, of course, but she probably would have if she’d known about his nickname.) She even asked her colleagues to read the manuscript and give her their opinions. In the end, she isn’t quite ready to sign it, but if I ever do revise, she’d LOVE--her capitalization, not mine--to take another look.
So now I have four agents all interested in this revision, and I am super, super psyched about it. (Why don't we use that word anymore? Is "psyched" one of those decade-specific words that signals I grew up in the nineties?) Bob’s current draft, the one still making the rounds through several agents’ inboxes, is the very best Seth version of the story that I could write, but I think I’m (finally) realizing that maybe this story was Adair’s story all along. That maybe this will be the best possible version of the manuscript. That maybe this is the story I’ve been trying to tell from day one.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Query Update
Total queries: 50
Pending queries: 8
Non-responses: 1
I recorded my first non-response last week, on February first, exactly three months to the day from when I started querying. I’d long since given up on that particular query (the agent in question generally responds within a week if interested), but I don’t write it down as an official non-response until I hit the three-month mark. Because you never know when an agent might get back to you at an unexpected time.
Case in point: Last week, I actually recorded my first TWO non-responses, and unlike the first one, that second query had stayed with me. The agent was one I’d interviewed, and even though her agency employs a no-response-means-no policy, I really thought she’d at least send me one of those quick thank-you-for-the-look-but-no-thanks kind of notes. I followed up with her once, at the end of November, explaining that I thought my first query might have gone astray, but I never heard back on that one, either. I figured she was either swamped or uninterested or both.
Fast forward to mid-January. I finished Bob’s revision, and as I was sending out a few new queries, I noticed this agent’s name at the top of my query spreadsheet. Against my better judgment, I decided to give her one more try. I sent her one last query, logged the date in my spreadsheet, and resolved to move on after that. And I did. (Like I said, I marked the query down as a non-response last Tuesday.)
But when I opened up my inbox Friday morning, I found a surprise e-mail waiting for me from this agent. She thanked me for following up and apologized profusely for missing my earlier queries. Then she requested a hundred pages:)
I don’t have a rule for when I follow up and when I don’t. I know most people discourage you from following up on a query, ever, but I don’t think that’s as cut-and-dried as everybody makes it sound. If the agent claims or appears to respond to every query and you never hear back, chances are, the agent never got your e-mail. As long as you’re upfront about it--and as long as you’re professional--I don’t see a problem with sending the agent another note (provided you feel strongly about it).
Following up on requested manuscripts is even trickier. On the one hand, it’s really nerve-wracking to wait it out for weeks, and sometimes months, and most people agree that checking in with agents at the three- or four-month mark is an acceptable querying practice. Keep in mind, however, that when you follow up on requested material, you might as well be throwing up a white flag that says, “Please respond to me! No one else is interested in my manuscript, and I’m desperately hoping you are!”
Note: The previous paragraph does NOT apply if you receive an offer of representation. In that case, the ONLY thing to do is contact the agents who are still considering your manuscript in any way and inform them of the offer. Post haste.
In sum, the art of following up is definitely an art. Go with your gut. And best of luck to all the people down there in the query trenches with me. How’s it going for you?
Pending queries: 8
Non-responses: 1
I recorded my first non-response last week, on February first, exactly three months to the day from when I started querying. I’d long since given up on that particular query (the agent in question generally responds within a week if interested), but I don’t write it down as an official non-response until I hit the three-month mark. Because you never know when an agent might get back to you at an unexpected time.
Case in point: Last week, I actually recorded my first TWO non-responses, and unlike the first one, that second query had stayed with me. The agent was one I’d interviewed, and even though her agency employs a no-response-means-no policy, I really thought she’d at least send me one of those quick thank-you-for-the-look-but-no-thanks kind of notes. I followed up with her once, at the end of November, explaining that I thought my first query might have gone astray, but I never heard back on that one, either. I figured she was either swamped or uninterested or both.
Fast forward to mid-January. I finished Bob’s revision, and as I was sending out a few new queries, I noticed this agent’s name at the top of my query spreadsheet. Against my better judgment, I decided to give her one more try. I sent her one last query, logged the date in my spreadsheet, and resolved to move on after that. And I did. (Like I said, I marked the query down as a non-response last Tuesday.)
But when I opened up my inbox Friday morning, I found a surprise e-mail waiting for me from this agent. She thanked me for following up and apologized profusely for missing my earlier queries. Then she requested a hundred pages:)
I don’t have a rule for when I follow up and when I don’t. I know most people discourage you from following up on a query, ever, but I don’t think that’s as cut-and-dried as everybody makes it sound. If the agent claims or appears to respond to every query and you never hear back, chances are, the agent never got your e-mail. As long as you’re upfront about it--and as long as you’re professional--I don’t see a problem with sending the agent another note (provided you feel strongly about it).
Following up on requested manuscripts is even trickier. On the one hand, it’s really nerve-wracking to wait it out for weeks, and sometimes months, and most people agree that checking in with agents at the three- or four-month mark is an acceptable querying practice. Keep in mind, however, that when you follow up on requested material, you might as well be throwing up a white flag that says, “Please respond to me! No one else is interested in my manuscript, and I’m desperately hoping you are!”
Note: The previous paragraph does NOT apply if you receive an offer of representation. In that case, the ONLY thing to do is contact the agents who are still considering your manuscript in any way and inform them of the offer. Post haste.
In sum, the art of following up is definitely an art. Go with your gut. And best of luck to all the people down there in the query trenches with me. How’s it going for you?
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Query Update
To start, the monthly smorgasbord of statistics:
Total queries: 33 (still)
Pending queries: 5
Total query responses received between 9:00 a.m. and 4:59 p.m.: 20
Total query responses received between 5:00 p.m. and 12:59 a.m.: 6 (2 of these were sent within a few minutes of midnight)
Total query responses received between 1:00 a.m. and 8:59 a.m.: 2
That’s local time for the agent, by the way, insofar as I can tell. A lot of agents say they read their queries before and after hours, but the vast majority of my responses have come within what would be considered the agent’s normal working day. (In the interest of full disclosure, I didn’t look at the day of the week as I was compiling these numbers, so a few of these responses were probably sent on a weekend.) This really has nothing to do with anything, of course, but I found it interesting.
As for the stagnancy in the total queries count, I blame it on the holidays and my enthusiasm for Bob’s revision. I’ll admit, I was a little uncertain about these edits at first, but the more I’ve worked on them, the more excited I’ve become. I was just afraid of losing more than I gained, I think, but now that I'm nearing the finish line, I can see how these edits have improved the manuscript. As I mentioned in my last post, I plan to finish this revision by the first week in February, but probably a little sooner. I cannot wait to send the new and improved Bob out into the world.
In other exciting news, I received two more partial-turned-full requests in the last month, which brings my total partial-turned-full requests count to three. Three! That’s so exciting! (Help! Someone give me a thesaurus!) But lest you think too well of me, I racked up a few rejections, too:) Sometimes it really is a matter of taste.
That’s it from me. What’s up with you?
P.S. If you’d like to win a copy of Stephanie Perkins’s ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS (plus a few other prizes), check out Bookduck's contest. Honey Bear was under strict orders to get me ANNA for Christmas, and he didn’t disappoint, but this is the kind of book you need multiple copies of, because you’ll wear the first one out:)
Total queries: 33 (still)
Pending queries: 5
Total query responses received between 9:00 a.m. and 4:59 p.m.: 20
Total query responses received between 5:00 p.m. and 12:59 a.m.: 6 (2 of these were sent within a few minutes of midnight)
Total query responses received between 1:00 a.m. and 8:59 a.m.: 2
That’s local time for the agent, by the way, insofar as I can tell. A lot of agents say they read their queries before and after hours, but the vast majority of my responses have come within what would be considered the agent’s normal working day. (In the interest of full disclosure, I didn’t look at the day of the week as I was compiling these numbers, so a few of these responses were probably sent on a weekend.) This really has nothing to do with anything, of course, but I found it interesting.
As for the stagnancy in the total queries count, I blame it on the holidays and my enthusiasm for Bob’s revision. I’ll admit, I was a little uncertain about these edits at first, but the more I’ve worked on them, the more excited I’ve become. I was just afraid of losing more than I gained, I think, but now that I'm nearing the finish line, I can see how these edits have improved the manuscript. As I mentioned in my last post, I plan to finish this revision by the first week in February, but probably a little sooner. I cannot wait to send the new and improved Bob out into the world.
In other exciting news, I received two more partial-turned-full requests in the last month, which brings my total partial-turned-full requests count to three. Three! That’s so exciting! (Help! Someone give me a thesaurus!) But lest you think too well of me, I racked up a few rejections, too:) Sometimes it really is a matter of taste.
That’s it from me. What’s up with you?
P.S. If you’d like to win a copy of Stephanie Perkins’s ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS (plus a few other prizes), check out Bookduck's contest. Honey Bear was under strict orders to get me ANNA for Christmas, and he didn’t disappoint, but this is the kind of book you need multiple copies of, because you’ll wear the first one out:)
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Query Update
First off, some numbers:
Total queries: 33
Pending queries: 10
Minimum response time (requests): 0 days
Median response time (requests): 12 days
Maximum response time (requests): 30 days
Minimum response time (rejections): 1 day
Median response time (rejections): 3.5 days
Maximum response time (rejections): 22 days
In some ways, this seems a little counterintuitive. Why do agents take longer to request? Don’t they pounce on the manuscripts they’re interested in? Maybe they do if the concept’s super amazing, or if they wake up that morning and think, “Gee, I’d really love a YA space opera with a line-dancing ocelot,” and then one lands in their inbox.
More often, though, I suspect requests tend to take longer because agents are mulling them over. Mary Kole blogged about the way she tackles queries several months ago, and the moral of the story was, if you receive an insta-response from her, it’s probably an insta-rejection. That’s not always the case, of course, and every agent is different, but I think a lot more agents are quick to reject than are quick to request.
In other news, I’m happy to report I've only sent out nine queries since my last query update, so I’m definitely trying to be more conservative. Also, you’re probably wondering what happened to that partial-turned-full request I mentioned last month. (Or maybe you’re not. My life’s probably not as interesting to you as it is to me:) ) Well, it turned into a revise-and-resubmit a few weeks ago, and I’m pretty excited about it. The agent had some fantastic ideas, and I hope to be able to send off that revision sometime in the next couple of months.
In the meantime, it’s onward and upward. Even though I’m working on this revision, I still stand behind the original Bob. Because you never know when someone will come along and love him just as he is.
How’s everybody else doing? Did you survive NaNoWriMo? Any other good news (or bad news) you’d like to share with the rest of us?
Total queries: 33
Pending queries: 10
Minimum response time (requests): 0 days
Median response time (requests): 12 days
Maximum response time (requests): 30 days
Minimum response time (rejections): 1 day
Median response time (rejections): 3.5 days
Maximum response time (rejections): 22 days
In some ways, this seems a little counterintuitive. Why do agents take longer to request? Don’t they pounce on the manuscripts they’re interested in? Maybe they do if the concept’s super amazing, or if they wake up that morning and think, “Gee, I’d really love a YA space opera with a line-dancing ocelot,” and then one lands in their inbox.
More often, though, I suspect requests tend to take longer because agents are mulling them over. Mary Kole blogged about the way she tackles queries several months ago, and the moral of the story was, if you receive an insta-response from her, it’s probably an insta-rejection. That’s not always the case, of course, and every agent is different, but I think a lot more agents are quick to reject than are quick to request.
In other news, I’m happy to report I've only sent out nine queries since my last query update, so I’m definitely trying to be more conservative. Also, you’re probably wondering what happened to that partial-turned-full request I mentioned last month. (Or maybe you’re not. My life’s probably not as interesting to you as it is to me:) ) Well, it turned into a revise-and-resubmit a few weeks ago, and I’m pretty excited about it. The agent had some fantastic ideas, and I hope to be able to send off that revision sometime in the next couple of months.
In the meantime, it’s onward and upward. Even though I’m working on this revision, I still stand behind the original Bob. Because you never know when someone will come along and love him just as he is.
How’s everybody else doing? Did you survive NaNoWriMo? Any other good news (or bad news) you’d like to share with the rest of us?
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Query Update
Today, I'm thankful for a good night's sleep.
Ah, Bob’s first query update. At last. I’m doing the numbers a little differently with this manuscript, but in any case, here they are:
Total queries: 24
Pending queries: 15
Minimum response time: 0 days
Median response time: 1 day
Maximum response time: 6 days
I’ve really only been querying since November 1, and I didn’t expect to have so many queries out so soon. But I got a partial request last Tuesday that turned into a full request literally overnight, and at that time, I only had eight queries out. So I panicked--and probably went a little overboard:) Far and away, this is the most queries I’ve ever sent out at once. I intended to send them out in batches of five to ten every week or so, and I’ll probably go back to that now that the excitement of a partial-turned-full request isn’t (quite) so potent.
The response times are skewed, obviously, since I’ve only been querying for a little more than a week. Still, nine responses within six days is pretty good. Way to go, agents!
The only other thing I’ve noticed so far is that the rejections have all been very kind, complimenting something about the concept or the sample pages and then pointing out that, on the whole, they just didn’t fall in love with it. Even when they don’t spell that out specifically, agents probably think it most of the time. We’re the same way. I mean, I read dozens of books every year, and yet I only recommend a handful of them. Because even though I find good things in nearly every book I read, I have to really fall in love with the story if I’m going to recommend it. And agents have to fall in love with both the concept and the writing if they’re going to represent it.
Well, that’s it from me. Anyone else querying right now? If so, how’s it going?
Ah, Bob’s first query update. At last. I’m doing the numbers a little differently with this manuscript, but in any case, here they are:
Total queries: 24
Pending queries: 15
Minimum response time: 0 days
Median response time: 1 day
Maximum response time: 6 days
I’ve really only been querying since November 1, and I didn’t expect to have so many queries out so soon. But I got a partial request last Tuesday that turned into a full request literally overnight, and at that time, I only had eight queries out. So I panicked--and probably went a little overboard:) Far and away, this is the most queries I’ve ever sent out at once. I intended to send them out in batches of five to ten every week or so, and I’ll probably go back to that now that the excitement of a partial-turned-full request isn’t (quite) so potent.
The response times are skewed, obviously, since I’ve only been querying for a little more than a week. Still, nine responses within six days is pretty good. Way to go, agents!
The only other thing I’ve noticed so far is that the rejections have all been very kind, complimenting something about the concept or the sample pages and then pointing out that, on the whole, they just didn’t fall in love with it. Even when they don’t spell that out specifically, agents probably think it most of the time. We’re the same way. I mean, I read dozens of books every year, and yet I only recommend a handful of them. Because even though I find good things in nearly every book I read, I have to really fall in love with the story if I’m going to recommend it. And agents have to fall in love with both the concept and the writing if they’re going to represent it.
Well, that’s it from me. Anyone else querying right now? If so, how’s it going?
Monday, April 12, 2010
Query Update
It’s been a while since I posted one of these, but I’ve been waiting for the last of the responses to come in so I could do sort of a query wrap-up. Well, the last response came in (another request for revisions!), so you can think of this as the last hurrah for this round of querying.
Total queries: 76
Pending queries: 0 (phew!)
Full requests: 4 (2 requests for revisions)
Partial requests: 10 (1 non-response)
Rejections: 45
Non-responses: 17
I’m planning to dump a whole slew of statistics on you later in the week, so I won’t say much about numbers in this post. I will say that these ones satisfy me (for now), as they far exceeded the bar I set for myself after my first foray into Queryland. That first foray involved a query that broke about every rule of query writing, a second query that wasn’t much better, and exactly one full request (which, to my delight, was an upgrade from a fifty-page partial included in the initial query). It seemed like a miracle to me at the time, and, after looking back on those queries and that word-bloated manuscript, still does:)
What this round of querying has taught me, then, is that partial and full requests--and even offers of representation--aren’t just pots of gold at the ends of rainbows. It really is possible to crawl out of the slush pile and onto an agent’s list. Writers do it all the time (in fact, I can’t think of many writers who did it any other way), and they’ll--we’ll--do it again. So let’s stay positive, keep working hard, and for heaven’s sake, keep writing. We’re only going to get better, right? So why quit now?
And with that, I gracefully hop off of the query-go-round. I do plan to revise this manuscript, just as soon as I get Bob into the inboxes of some betas, but for now, I think I’ll enjoy the view from here. That query-go-round is pretty dizzy-fying:)
Friday, January 29, 2010
Query Update
You’ve been itching/chomping at the bit/waiting on pins and needles for the numbers, haven’t you? Well, itch/chomp/wait no longer.
Total queries: 76
Pending queries: 7
Full requests: 4 (1 pending, 1 request for revisions)
Partial requests: 10 (2 pending)
Rejections: 42
Non-responses: 13
Totally psyched about that request for revisions, but since it would involve some pretty serious editing, I’m kind of…thinking right now. Regrouping. Actually, I’m taking some time to think about the entire project (which explains why I’ve only sent out one additional query since my last query update). But as I’ve been thinking, I’ve noticed a few things.
First, I’ve received no more requests since my last query update. Not too unexpected, I guess, especially since I’ve only sent out that one query. But what makes it a little more unexpected is that, between my last two query updates, all I got were requests. No joke. From mid-November to mid-December, I received exactly four query responses, two partial and two full requests, which just goes to show this business can be, and often is, a series of ebbs and flows. But as I mentioned in a previous post, those ebbs and flows have nothing to do with our worth as writers. They just are what they are. And we just are what we are. Surprisingly little correlation.
Second, non-responses and form rejections--the vast majority of those forty-two, by the way--are just a part of querying. It’s nothing personal, and no amount of bellyaching and/or composing vicious rejoinders and then posting them anonymously in that or another agent’s blog comments is likely to change it. Professionalism goes a long way in this and every industry, and in this Google-able world we live in, those sorts of slip-ups will probably come back to bite you. Now you’re all the last people on earth who needed to read that, as you’ve been nothing but cheery and delightful around here, but I just thought I’d mention it, since we can all use reminders.
Well, that’s all I got. Anyone else down in the query trenches with me? How’s it going?
Total queries: 76
Pending queries: 7
Full requests: 4 (1 pending, 1 request for revisions)
Partial requests: 10 (2 pending)
Rejections: 42
Non-responses: 13
Totally psyched about that request for revisions, but since it would involve some pretty serious editing, I’m kind of…thinking right now. Regrouping. Actually, I’m taking some time to think about the entire project (which explains why I’ve only sent out one additional query since my last query update). But as I’ve been thinking, I’ve noticed a few things.
First, I’ve received no more requests since my last query update. Not too unexpected, I guess, especially since I’ve only sent out that one query. But what makes it a little more unexpected is that, between my last two query updates, all I got were requests. No joke. From mid-November to mid-December, I received exactly four query responses, two partial and two full requests, which just goes to show this business can be, and often is, a series of ebbs and flows. But as I mentioned in a previous post, those ebbs and flows have nothing to do with our worth as writers. They just are what they are. And we just are what we are. Surprisingly little correlation.
Second, non-responses and form rejections--the vast majority of those forty-two, by the way--are just a part of querying. It’s nothing personal, and no amount of bellyaching and/or composing vicious rejoinders and then posting them anonymously in that or another agent’s blog comments is likely to change it. Professionalism goes a long way in this and every industry, and in this Google-able world we live in, those sorts of slip-ups will probably come back to bite you. Now you’re all the last people on earth who needed to read that, as you’ve been nothing but cheery and delightful around here, but I just thought I’d mention it, since we can all use reminders.
Well, that’s all I got. Anyone else down in the query trenches with me? How’s it going?
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Query Update
I’ve been trying to be a good girl and put this off until the end of the month, like I normally do, but I just can’t keep it bottled up any longer. So, without further ado, the numbers:
Total queries: 75
Pending queries: 18
Full requests: 4 (4 pending)
Partial requests: 10 (2 pending)
Rejections: 36
Non-responses: 7
Squeak! In addition to the FOUR FULL MANUSCRIPTS I now have floating around out there (two more than last month), I also received a rejection on a requested partial that actually left me in a good mood. The agent said my writing had “a terrific confidence and polish to it” (her words, not mine--woohoo!), and even though she didn’t completely connect with this story, she encouraged me to query her again with my next project if this one didn’t land an agent--which, she seemed to think, was by no means a guarantee. What a lovely thing to say. And what a confidence booster--in myself and in this industry.
Meanwhile, one of those most recent full requests came from an agent who admitted she didn’t do much fantasy, but since she liked my blog and the biographical paragraph I included in my query, she was willing to give my manuscript a try. It just goes to show you never know who’s going to be reading the stuff you send out into the ether, so you better make sure it represents you in the way you want to be represented.
That’s all for now. I’m off to refresh my inbox:)
Monday, November 23, 2009
Query Update
Is it the end of November already? Good thing I’m not attempting NaNoWriMo:) Anyway, here are the numbers:
Total queries: 75
Pending queries: 22
Full requests: 2 (2 pending)
Partial requests: 8 (2 pending)
Rejections: 36
Non-responses: 7
Another non-multiple of ten up there in the total queries count. What is my type-A personality to do? Well, at least it’s a multiple of five…
Interestingly, the two pending partials are the same two partials that were pending this time last month. So in the intervening weeks, I’ve had two partials both requested and rejected while the others are still holding on. I wonder what that means.
Well, I hear my baby crying. No more ruminations on what these grand statistics might mean, I guess. I’ll leave that to you:)
Total queries: 75
Pending queries: 22
Full requests: 2 (2 pending)
Partial requests: 8 (2 pending)
Rejections: 36
Non-responses: 7
Another non-multiple of ten up there in the total queries count. What is my type-A personality to do? Well, at least it’s a multiple of five…
Interestingly, the two pending partials are the same two partials that were pending this time last month. So in the intervening weeks, I’ve had two partials both requested and rejected while the others are still holding on. I wonder what that means.
Well, I hear my baby crying. No more ruminations on what these grand statistics might mean, I guess. I’ll leave that to you:)
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Query Update
What was it Mark Twain once said? “Lies, damn lies, and statistics”? (Although I recently read an article in READER’S DIGEST about famous misquoted and misattributed lines, and I’m pretty sure that was one of them.) Well, then, for what it’s worth, here are the numbers:
Total queries: 59
Pending queries: 15
Full requests: 1 (1 pending)
Partial requests: 6 (2 pending)
Rejections: 31
Non-responses: 6
Yeah, that non-multiple of ten up in the total queries count is driving my type-A personality crazy, too:) But I just didn’t have the time to dig up one more name, so I decided to leave it at that. I figure I’ll catch up the next time I fire off a round of queries.
You’ll notice I’ve added one more statistic to the list: the number of non-responses. I officially count it as a non-response once the query’s more than three months old (which you can read all about in this post, if you like), so I don’t have very many yet, since I’ve only been querying this manuscript for about four months.
Oh, yeah. I also picked up my first full request last week. I’m pretty excited about that, too:)
Total queries: 59
Pending queries: 15
Full requests: 1 (1 pending)
Partial requests: 6 (2 pending)
Rejections: 31
Non-responses: 6
Yeah, that non-multiple of ten up in the total queries count is driving my type-A personality crazy, too:) But I just didn’t have the time to dig up one more name, so I decided to leave it at that. I figure I’ll catch up the next time I fire off a round of queries.
You’ll notice I’ve added one more statistic to the list: the number of non-responses. I officially count it as a non-response once the query’s more than three months old (which you can read all about in this post, if you like), so I don’t have very many yet, since I’ve only been querying this manuscript for about four months.
Oh, yeah. I also picked up my first full request last week. I’m pretty excited about that, too:)
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Query Update
Ah, another query update. And here, without further ado, are the numbers:
Total queries: 50
Pending queries: 17
Full requests: 0
Partial requests: 6 (3 pending)
Rejections: 27
So I've only sent out ten more queries since my last query update, and all of them in the past week. I must admit, I let some of the rejection get to me and wasn't sure where I wanted to go with this project. But like the good writer/query ninja that I am (pats self on head), I ultimately talked myself into jumping back on that query roller coaster.
So if you're looking for some motivation, let me be your drill sergeant--sans the standard curse words, since that's not my thing: "Just what do you think you're doing, [insert last name here]?! Forty-two queries, and you think you're done?! You haven't even started! You sit your lousy butt back down in front of that computer, and you get back to work!"
Total queries: 50
Pending queries: 17
Full requests: 0
Partial requests: 6 (3 pending)
Rejections: 27
So I've only sent out ten more queries since my last query update, and all of them in the past week. I must admit, I let some of the rejection get to me and wasn't sure where I wanted to go with this project. But like the good writer/query ninja that I am (pats self on head), I ultimately talked myself into jumping back on that query roller coaster.
So if you're looking for some motivation, let me be your drill sergeant--sans the standard curse words, since that's not my thing: "Just what do you think you're doing, [insert last name here]?! Forty-two queries, and you think you're done?! You haven't even started! You sit your lousy butt back down in front of that computer, and you get back to work!"
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Query Update
I'm right in the middle of my second query process, although this current manuscript is by no means the second book I've ever written. I won't go into details on all of those other novels (most of them never having made it past the fifth or sixth chapter). Suffice it to say that my first query process, which took up all of last summer, was a gigantic learning experience that landed that manuscript in the great query graveyard. I still love that story, and maybe someday I'll come back to it, but for right now I've quietly laid it to rest.
So now for a few statistics:
Total queries: 40
Pending queries: 11
Full requests: 0
Partial requests: 5
Rejections: 24
Of those partial requests, only two are still pending, and several of those pending queries should probably go into the no-response category by now. Still, I'm pretty happy with those numbers. When I first set out on query round two back in mid-June, I told myself I was going to be content with two requests (which should give you an idea of how well query round one went), and I've more than doubled that number already. And this manuscript isn't even on the critical list yet.
So now for a few statistics:
Total queries: 40
Pending queries: 11
Full requests: 0
Partial requests: 5
Rejections: 24
Of those partial requests, only two are still pending, and several of those pending queries should probably go into the no-response category by now. Still, I'm pretty happy with those numbers. When I first set out on query round two back in mid-June, I told myself I was going to be content with two requests (which should give you an idea of how well query round one went), and I've more than doubled that number already. And this manuscript isn't even on the critical list yet.
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