You've written the book, revised, and polished it. You've crafted a query, perfected it, vetted it. You've done the research and narrowed your list of agents to those who truly represent what you write.
But have you narrowed it too much?
Is your list really just one name of agency?
1. Dream Agent
Yeah.... that could be a problem.
While it's natural to want to query the agent who repped your favorite author, or seems so awesome on twitter, or described your book to a T on their MSWL- having a dream agent can limit your openness to other amazing agents. Rejection from your dream agent can also really hurt, especially if you were convinced you'd connect or your book was exactly what they were looking for, the rejection can feel personal.
(Note: the rejection can feel personal=😢 whereas personalized rejection=😄)
And we may take such rejections harder, discouraging you from querying other agents, or even writing. I've seen it happen and it can be hard to bounce back from...
If you want to query your dream agent DO IT! Just don't make their response what is going to make or break you. After all the biggest dream agent is the one who loves your books!
Happy Querying!!!
2 comments:
My agent list is not too narrow, but I definitely have favourites and rejection from them really does sting. I've only just started querying my new novel with a small first round, so it's too early days to have all the responses, but the fulls aren't rolling in yet... I definitely want to pause and sense check my query before I continue.
(I'd love a critique - you can reach me on tash.tinsley@gmail.com)
hi - are you still offering query critique off these posts? If so I'd love one! :)
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