Dear O'Abby: How do I avoid querying mistakes?

 Dear O'Abby,

I'm about to start querying my first novel and I'm terrified about making some egregious error and ending up on some publishing blacklist forever.  I've done a lot of reading, but I thought you might have a few extra tips that might keep me out of the industry's bad books?

Kind regards,

Querified

Dear Querified,

The best advice I can give you is to read carefully and follow directions.  Every agent has slightly different preferences and it's important that you adhere to these and send the agent what they want.  This means doing through research and double checking that you are following each agent's specific requirements.

But here are some other general tips you might find useful.  They may sound obvious, but you'd be surprised how many people don't do these things.

1. Personalise the query.  No one likes to be called "To Whom it May Concern" or "Agent".  If you've researched the agents who are the best fit for your particular book, the least you can do is address them by name.  And if you can also include the reason why you've chosen to query them, that's good too.  And don't send the query to multiple people at once - ccing other people (even bccing) is not cool.

2. Send them exactly what they are asking for.  Every agent is different, but most of them ask to be sent the query and a certain number of pages of the book.  Some also ask for a synopsis and some even specify the length of this.  Don't send 50 pages of your book and a 10-page synopsis if the agent is asking for the first five pages and a two page synopsis.

3. Don't send attachments.  Always include your query, pages and synopsis in the body of the email unless specifically directed to include them as attachments.  Most agents won't open attachments and including them will send your query directly into the trash.

4. Is your query really a query?  A query tells an agent about the book - what genre it is, length, audience and most importantly, what it's about - all in under 300 words or so.  Some writers try to get cute and send pages from their book in lieu of a query, or write more about themselves than the book they're trying to get representation for, or even try something entirely new.  This is not the place for being creative.  There are hundreds of query writing resources out there, so use them to write the best possible query you can.  You will probably need to tweak it for each agent as some like the housekeeping stuff (length, genre, audience etc) up front, while others prefer you to lead with the story.

5. Is your book finished? Don't query until it is.  It may be tempting to start early because publishing does tend to be slow, but if your book isn't ready to send when you send off that first query, don't send the query.  I've had requests for full and partial manuscripts come in hours after sending a query.  Not often, but it does happen, and you need to respond promptly.

6. Don't query agents who aren't looking for your book.  Agents tend to be specific about what kinds of book they are looking to represent.  Some have broad interests, while others may only be looking for one type.  There is no point in sending a query for YA fantasy to an agent who specifies that they are primarily looking for adult romance or celebrity non-fiction.  Agents specialise because they have relationships with editors who work with specific kinds of books, and they will not necessarily have connections with editors who represent books outside that niche.

And those are just a few tips.  And don't forget to include your name.  Especially if your email address doesn't make it obvious.  And talking of email addresses, if you've been using the same snugglekitty@hotmail.com address since high school, it might be time to set up a new account under your real name to make your queries look more professional.

Hope that helps, and best of luck with the querying!

X O'Abby

Waiting to Query Your Dream Agent

You’ve just finished your manuscript and you’re ready to start querying! YAY! You have your query letter, synopsis, and comp titles all ready to go; you’ve got your list of agents to query; you threw up four times already. So, it’s time to fire off that query to your dream agent, right?

Well, hold up.

First of all, are you sure that your manuscript is 100% polished, professional, and perfect? What about your query letter and synopsis? Have you gone through a few rounds of revision and sent your manuscript to betas and CPs? If not, get on that right now.

Okay, so you did that. Now can you query your dream agent?

Well…you could, but why not wait a little longer?

Look, I know it sounds annoying and counter-intuitive. Agents can take up six to eight weeks to get back to you, and frequently their response time is even longer. So why wait to submit your work to the person you want to hear back from the most?

The simple answer is, if this is your first time querying, you probably aren’t as prepared as you think you are. I recently celebrated the first anniversary of when I started querying the manuscript I am still querying. In a caffeine-induced haze, I thought it would be fun to look back at the first query letter I ever sent and oh lordy. Not only was it over a page long and read like a synopsis, it also clocked my manuscript as coming in at 167,000 words. Yikes. At the time, though, I felt like my work was completely perfect and it’d be signed by the first agent who saw it. Obviously, it was not.

What I learned from this is to start with my middle-interest agents – people I thought might be a 50-75% fit for my work – just to get some practice. Why submit the version of my work that has the highest chance of rejection to the person I want to love it the most? Even after sending thirty queries, I’m still adjusting my entire query package. Not everyone does this, but as I’m querying a work that feels done, I’m still having other CPs and betas read it. My manuscripts are constantly evolving. So by the time I’ve queried maybe ten middle-interest agents, I am much more confident in my work and am ready to send it to Dream Agents.

My disclaimer, though, is that the writing, revising, and querying process is very different for everyone. Some people send five queries, get full requests on all of them, and find their agent within a couple of months. Some people query for years and never get anywhere. You don’t have to make your process the same as anyone else’s, or take anyone else’s advice. If this is your first time querying, it can be daunting. So maybe send some practice queries first. You never know what might happen.

E is for Essentials: Dear OAbby: Are Non-Fiction Credentials Relevant in a Fiction Query? #AtoZChallenge

Dear OAbby is a new feature on Operation Awesome where we answer your questions! It's an advice column by writers, for writers, chock-full of information about writing, querying, the publication process, etc. If you have a question you'd like answered, just send it to operationawesome6@gmail.com. All questions may be edited for clarity and/or space, and will be posted anonymously, with no identifying information.

Dear OAbby,

I've written two nonfiction books (both traditionally published), with a third on the way. If I'm querying a novel now, how helpful is it to include in the bio paragraph that I'm a soon-to-be three-time published author in an unrelated field?

Sincerely,
The Bio Blues


Dear Bio Blues,

Certainly, your non-fiction publishing background can be used to show a potential agent or editor that you've got writing chops. If you're including a bio paragraph, it's not a bad idea to include this information. If those books are (as you say) in an unrelated field, then it's not necessary to go into detail. Just say you've traditionally published three non-fiction books, and leave it at that. Of course, if your non-fiction books are related to your novel, then you can explain that in a little more detail (for example, if you're a professor of archaeology and your novel features an archaeologist).

Remember, though, the query needs to focus on the essentials. This means explaining what your book is about, and including basic information such as the title, the genre, the word count, and, if you're writing for children, the age group. To the extent including a bio distracts from this essential information about your novel, feel free to leave it out. An agent wants to know what your book is about, first and foremost.  

Focus on the essentials, and happy querying!

Thanks for sharing,
Dear OAbby

Operation Awesome's #AtoZChallenge theme for 2018 is... 

OA to Z! We'll be correlating our usual posts with the challenge letters, plus, each weekend, you'll get a chance to get to know one of our bloggers better.

Query-Writing 101: Writing a Basic Query

Writing a query is tough.

You've just spent months agonizing over a manuscript of 50, 75, or 100,000 words and now you're expected to reduce that down to a succinct, attention-grabbing pitch of just 250 words? No wonder writers stress out about it!

There are many blog posts and articles out there about how to write a good novel* query, including:

• "The Complete Guide to Query Letters that Get Manuscript Requests," by Jane Friedman
• "How to Write a Query Letter," by agent Rachelle Gardner
• "Example of a Good Query Letter," by agent Nathan Bradford
• The entire Query Shark blog (yes, read the whole blog) by agent Janet Reid
• "The Complete Nobody's Guide to Writing a Query Letter," by Lynn Flewelling
• "Ask a Literary Agent: What Do You Look for in a Query Letter," by Lauren Sharp
• and for you visual learners, "How to Write a Query Letter," video by writer Emily Lowrey

With so much information, it can be kind of overwhelming. Today, to ease some writer anxiety, I'm going to try to break it down as simply as possible.

1. SALUTATION

Take the time to research the agents you're querying and open with "Dear [insert agent name here]:"

2. PERSONALIZATION [if applicable]

• IF you have a referral from another industry professional whom this agent knows personally...
• IF you met the agent at a conference or other event...
• IF the agent has requested materials from you for a prior manuscript...

then put that information here. Otherwise skip this and dive right into telling them about your manuscript.**

3. PITCH
3A. Your main character & their goal

The first paragraph should tell the agent who your main character is and what s/he wants at the beginning of the novel. I find it useful in the "pitch" section to write this information in the absolute simplest form first and then add more detail.

• SIMPLE: Emma wants to be a matchmaker.
• DETAILS: Twenty-year-old Emma Woodhouse doesn't mind a life of spinsterhood. She has a loving father, plentiful wealth, and finds great pleasure in bettering the lives of her neighbors and friends. After successfully finding a husband for her beloved governess, she sets her sights on helping the others in her life find their perfect marital happiness as well.

3B. The inciting incident & conflict

Your inciting incident (which should take place in the first chapter or two of your novel) should create some sort of conflict for your main character.

• SIMPLE: Emma tries to set up Harriet with Mr. Elton, BUT Mr. Elton likes her.
• DETAILS: When she meets Harriet Smith, a plain girl from unknown parentage, Emma decides that Harriet is the perfect match for the village rector and sets out to ensure that they fall in love. To do so, she must keep Harriet from the humble farmer who's already begun to win her affection and introduce her new friend into higher, more worthy society. It all seems to be falling into place, until Emma discovers that the rector whom she intended for Harriet has taken a liking to her instead.

3C. The stakes

The stakes are what the characters stand to lose, what they will miss out on or what will be destroyed if they do not achieve their goal.

• SIMPLE: Emma must admit her mistake or they all will be unhappy.
• DETAILS: As her attempts at matchmaking only cause more and more awkward misunderstandings between the pair of women and the men whose affection they've won, Emma must give up her matchmaking and admit her errors, or there will be no happy endings for anyone involved.

4. BOOKKEEPING

Here's where you want to put the "business details"

• category (MG, YA, NA, Adult) 
• genre
• word count (rounded to the nearest thousand)
• any relevant biographical information (membership in a national writers organization, participation in a major writers' workshop such as Clarion, education or experience relating to writing)

5. CLOSING

Include your contact information here

• your legal name ("writing as [pen name]," if applicable)
• your mailing address
• your phone number
• your website (if applicable)

Once you've got your basic structure, you're ready to add details, polish it up, and get some fellow writers to critique it. Check in tomorrow for my checklist of query dos and don'ts!

*queries/pitches for nonfiction and children's literature follows different formats
** Some agents prefer the "bookkeeping" info up front; others prefer it last. If they say one way or the other in their guidelines, then follow their guidelines. If not, then it can go either place. For the sake of this simple outline, I include it at the end.