A few months ago I met with a fabulous new author, and we discussed, over brunch, how to get her book into the right hands of agents. Since I have an amazing agent, I don’t have to go through the query trenches again.
What a weight off, but I thought I’d share, just a smidgen, of what I shared with her.
First up…
Get on twitter and make writer friends. When you realize you aren’t alone, wonderful things happen. Plus, this is just such a cool place to meet other writers. I mean, some days it seems publishing deals even get made there.
Next…
Make sure your manuscript is ready for prime time. (Hey, we’ve all been there. With eager little fingers, we send it to agents before it is ready. DON’T. Stop right here! Find some excellent Beta’s or CP’s and swap!)
You think you’re ready?
Do the research, find out what works, find out what doesn’t.
Repeat often.
Query letters are a beast unto themselves. So be prepared to come out of it bloodied and spent. (For me, it took about a month, and even after, it was revised again.) You know those writer friends you’ve made on twitter, this is a good point to network with them and share your query letters. Believe it or not, I’ve found that most want you to succeed. How cool is that?
Some helpful links on queries to check out:
8 Tips
The Single Most Important Thing Your Query Letter Must Do If You Want To Get A Literary Agent
How To Write A Query Letter In 12 Easy Steps
So you have a kick-butt query, now what do you do?
This is where your business side must turn on.
RESEARCH.
Start searching for an agent. Thanks to the there are a gazillion ways to find the right one. And, thanks to the there are a gazillion ways to find the wrong agent. You are looking for agents who like/read/want what you’ve got!
Join Query Tracker…
Or you could manage your own spreadsheet, but, as for me, I rather enjoyed having this already done. Query Tracker gives all the details along with a community for writers to ferret out the good and the bad. It has a wonderful portal for keeping track of who you send your query to, along with which particular letter you sent. Might not seem like a big deal, but believe me it is!
Then there is Preditors & Editors…
another excellent site to help with scammers. Remember, we don’t want to get burned.
Okay, you have your list, now what?
Here is where patience comes in handy. Don’t send out your query in mass emails. For me, I chose only five to ten agents, ones I thought might enjoy my manuscript, then I detailed my query to fit their taste and humor.
Check, check, check, before you send.
Are your greetings correct?
Did you follow their guidelines?
At this point, I’d probably have my synopsis completed as well–another beast to fight with as well.
Now, wait.
This is a lot like fishing, moments might go by or weeks. If you get a nibble, great, if you get a big fish, fantastic, but if the water is tranquil as glass, time to refine your query letter again. Chances are your query letter didn’t gain the notice you wanted.
Repeat again in small batches.
While you wait, write a new tale. Something about a new idea gives you the energy you need to say, HAY, I CAN DO THIS!
Some other helpful links:
How to Get a Book Published – The 7 Step Plan
Wordcount Dracula
http://mswishlist.com/mswl
HOW TO WRITE A 1-PAGE SYNOPSIS
Sonia Poynter is a professional freelance writer for hire, blogger, and author. She writes books with a common thread of wonder. She found that golden string under the crumpled leaves of her favorite tree when she was but a child, since then she has been unraveling it and weaving it onto the pages of her books. Her first book, The Last Stored, was published in 2015 with Anaiah Press. Since then she has gone on to write many other manuscripts and articles.
Sonia’s vivid imagination often got her into trouble throughout school, but as an adult, she learned to cultivate that creativity into world-building, and storytelling. For more than twenty years, she worked with teens and young adults as a youth leader, speaker, camp organizer, event planner, and homeschooling teacher. She is a mother of three children and married to her high school sweetheart. At the age of five, her son was diagnosed with autism, which ultimately led her to homeschool all their children. Now grown, she often advises others on how to navigate the tricky waters of raising kids with autism. Their oldest teaches in China, and the youngest is a CBS TV reporter, while her son surpassed even her goals by marrying the love of his life, workes as a receiving manager, and the couple has a baby boy.
CREDENTIALS
Founding member of YANA Sisterhood where she published many writing how-to articles
Semifinalist in Pitch Wars 2017
Attended Midwest Writers Workshop Intensive 2016
Attended WriteOnCon 2017
Member of American Christian Fiction Writers
Launch member of Querying Authors Facebook group
Guest Posts for Numerous Blogs