Happy December! Get ready for a recap at the end of this month. In the meantime…

I went to my writing friends and asked them, what would they like to see in a newsletter? My friends from The Mighty Pens (see below for more) had some great questions for me about writing and agenting.

1.) I know agents help sell novels to publishers. Does this mean they’ll help find you an editor?

Yes and no. An editor in this context is a publishing house employee responsible for acquiring your book to the publishing house. Yes, they’ll also send you edits on your book once they’ve contracted you, but that’s not their first job.

2.) When you’re pitching, like on Twitter. Are you pitching to Agents who’ll help refine your novel before you turn into editors? Do the DVPit (and other contest) agents stick with you afterwards as your assigned agent?

The goal, whether you’re cold querying or doing a pitch contest, is to sign with an agent who will be your assigned agent. They’ll work with you to some extent on refining your project (although how much varies greatly!) and they’ll be the ones shopping your book to publishers/editors.

3.) How many agents did you query to? What was the ratio (like 5/10 responded, 2/5 accepted)?

*cries* A lot. Except I queried across 5 different projects. The project that got me signed, Dolls, I queried to about 30-40 people, which is low. Most people will query 70-100 agents before they move to a new project. For my stats, check out my How I Got My Agent post. My request rate wasn’t good for Dolls. I think I got 4 or 5 fulls. Don’t listen to the “you need 10% request rate” because that’s just not true of post-pandemic querying.

4.) I’m always curious about when authors write something outside of their series or genre. Do they have to go through the query process again & find a new team? Or does their agent send it off to the publishing team? Because certain agents and editors have specific genres they work with.

The answer is “yes.” Both. Some agents rep multiple genres. For example, my agent represents both fantasy and horror, the genres I work in primarily. So she would likely shop my horror books to a publisher once I’m ready to do so. However, if I wanted to write, say, literary women’s fiction (I don’t), then I might have to query a new agent, OR it’s possible that someone in Maria’s agency would take me on as a referral. But don’t worry! You won’t be pinned to one genre!

5.) Where would find literary agents to look up?

Check Writer’s Market and Absolute Write. Go to QueryTracker.com and sign up for the premium membership where you can search for agents by multiple filters. Then investigate everyone in your genre.

Ask friends who are agented or have queried longer. They likely have lists of good (and to-avoid) agents.

6.) I’m not getting any requests from querying. What can I do?

You can edit your query and edit your first 50 pages. If you’re not getting requests, it’s probably because agents aren’t feeling jazzed by the concept enough to request more. Many people run querying critique services (including myself), or ask a friend who’s been through the trenches. Try cutting your first chapter and starting with chapter two, or getting rid of that “necessary” prologue. Tighten up your language like whoa. Then send out another batch. One editor I’ve worked with is Jeni Chapelle (cofounder of Revpit). Check out her Query critique package and make your own. I did a combo of * Two-pass query letter critique $50* First 10 pages (2500 words) critique $50* 30-min consultation call $100

And it was super helpful. Can’t afford it? Ask a trusted CP or beta. There’s also my editing service. I offer $20 query critiques and $30 synopsis critiques.

7.) Most of us know what our main genres are: Adult or YA, Fantasy or Sci-Fi. But how do you know your sub-genres? How do we know if our fantasy has a “lush” world, etc…? Or follow tropes that these agents are looking for?

You guess. I’m not even joking this time. Do you have a lush world? I dunno, is your worldbuilding immersive? Do people always compliment you on it? Maybe you have a lush world. Their asks won’t always be so arcane. Do you have the “friends to lovers” trope? That’s an easy yes-no. Do you have prose that hooks them in? Who knows, just try anyway if you match them in other ways. Agent MSWLs are not an exact science. They’re vibes. If you feel like you fit the vibe and you don’t hit any of their NOs, then give it a try.

Updates

Writing

If you missed my last update, I got a short story published in Tales of the Moonlight Path. Read “The Creeping” there. 

I also got notification for another short I sold, but details are still secret!

I’m between 3 stories right now, and my agent is going to help me decide. Just going on vibes, what is your favorite? 1, 2, or 3?

Listening

1989 (Taylor’s Version) is on repeat.

Taylor was predictably my Spotify #1 artist of the year, but “You’ll Get Yours” by Tom Morello x X Ambassadors was my top song. Go figure.

Watching

It’s Christmas movie season, so I’m cranking up Christmas Vacation, Scrooged, Elf, and White Christmas. Plus the romcoms. The Holidate, Christmas Prince, Princess Switch… What are some of your favorites?

Creating

I’m still on an art break. Stay tuned.