Querying - What is it?

I'm no expert, but I've done this enough to give some advice. ;)

What is querying, anyway? Long story short, if you’re looking to be published by one of the big U.S. publishing houses (Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster), or any of their imprints (smaller publishers that are still technically part of the big 5), you first need to find a literary agent to represent you and your work to those publishers. Of course, there’s much more to the process than that, but that’s the basic idea.

So what does the querying process look like? Well that’s where it gets slightly more complex. Your first step is to finish your manuscript! This is, arguably, the hardest part of the process. You want to have a pretty polished piece of work. Of course, this doesn’t mean it needs to be perfect. You don’t have to hire an editor before sending your work to agents. What polished really means is that you’ve gotten your work to a point where you feel like you can’t take it further on your own. Some agents will give feedback, which can help you polish it even more. Don’t count on this though - your best bet is to find critique partners and alpha readers who can help you polish before you send it off.

After you’ve finished the herculean task of finishing a whole book (omg pat yourself on the back, that’s HARD!) you now need to prepare a querying packet. In general, your packet should include:

1. A log line - this is what would go on the front cover of your book. Something quick, snappy, and accurately summarizes what the general theme or vibe of your story is. I recommend starting with the log line, then expanding into the query letter, which I’ll talk about next. A log line isn’t usually required for queries, but it’s a great practice in boiling down your story into a short, consumable item.

2. A query letter - this is arguably the most important piece of your packet. The query letter is a few paragraph summary of your book (think what you’d find on the inside of a dust jacket or the back of the book) and a small paragraph about you as the author. The point of this query letter is to sell your work. This is also a great time to lean on your alpha readers - they’ve read your work by this point, they will know if you’ve hit the important points. Ask others who haven’t read your book to review your query letter as well - they will have great insight as to how well you sell your work.

3. A 1-2 page synopsis - this is a full summation of your work, including spoilers. Most agents will ask for something like this to get an idea of if they want to read your work in more detail (aka a manuscript request). Keep in mind some agents will ask for a single page, while others may allow up to five. I recommend sticking to a single page! The synopsis is probably the most challenging thing to write out of all the items in your packet, so take your time. Perfect it.

4. 2-4 Comp Titles - comp titles are books that are similar to yours. That can be because of genre, overall vibe, certain themes, and many other factors. Try not to go too huge with your comps, but well-known titles give agents an idea of what they can expect from your work.

These items are not the rule, but rather, the common items I’ve found while making queries. Some agents will ask right away for snippets of your work (the first 5 pages, the first 2 chapters, etc) and some won’t ask for anything at all. Make sure, before submitting to each agent, that you read their query requirements closely! They’re working through thousands of manuscripts on a regular basis - adhering to their requests makes their work go faster.

But what happens after you get an agent? This is the fun part. Once you’ve found an agent for your work, they will represent you and your book to publishers! If you’re writing a series, sometimes they’ll try to sell a multi-book deal on your behalf, or they’ll only sell the first and hope you get picked up for more. Here’s a super important tip to remember - an agent will never ask you to pay them. They get paid only when your manuscript sells to a publisher. If someone is asking you for money to represent you, run.

So what happens if you don’t get an agent? Keep trying! First, analyze what you’ve been including in your queries. If you find you’ve been getting a lot of rejections with no requests, something might be wrong with your query letter. If you’ve been getting lots of requests, but no offers of representation, it might have something to do with the story itself. If you’ve had a full request from an agent, some will offer feedback if you ask kindly. Even the smallest bit of feedback from an agent can spur you in the right direction.

Overall, querying can be a super stressful process as you’re dealing with a lot of rejection, because not every book is to every agent’s taste. You have to tailor your requests to people who you think will love your work, and who you would love to work with in return. A great way to find agents you might enjoy is to look in the acknowledgements of comp titles and books you enjoy in the same genre as your own. Since those people have represented similar books in the past, it stands to reason they might want to represent you.

There’s a lot of information about querying, and I’m definitely not an authority. All my knowledge comes from doing a lot of research, spending hours on literary agency websites, and obsessing over querytracker. You’ll learn what works and what doesn’t as you jump in, and asking other writers how they’ve done things is always an option!

If you’re considering querying but have been unsure where to start, I hope this helps you in your querying journey!

Best of luck!

Tia