Top 10 Reasons Your Query Didn't Sell Your Book
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 ต.ค. 2022
- Literary agents Jessica Faust and James McGowan discuss some of the things to avoid when putting together your query, and how to make sure your query sells your book.
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Jessica Faust’s love for books is what first brought her to open BookEnds Literary Agency. It is her desire to be an advocate for all authors that pushed her to create her blog, the BookEnds TH-cam channel and to maintain a vibrant presence on Twitter.
Jessica is proud to have grown BookEnds to an agency that represents authors of all genres for children and adults, allowing her to reach more readers and help more authors and illustrators achieve their dreams.
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James McGowan is a Literary Agent at BookEnds and writer for children. He began working with the agency as an intern in the summer of 2015, and basically never left. He represents a talented group of authors and illustrators working in everything from board books to middle grade graphic novels. He also works in adult nonfiction, and adult mystery and suspense projects. James is the author of GOOD NIGHT OPPY, which is available now.
Connect with BookEnds!
Twitter: bookendslit
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Website: www.bookendsliterary.com
Connect with Jessica: bookendsjessica
Connect with James: jmcgowanbks
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It’s crazy to me that people would be mean in a query letter… and that it happens often!
I wanted to take a moment and say "Thank You!" for sharing your expertise, experience and professional perspective with the community. For those of us with limited exposure to the business of publishing, these videos are invaluable. Thank you so much for taking the time to create this library of knowledge.
Oooh, voice and tone of the book in a query letter…game changer!! Thank you!!🎉🎉
You two are so much fun! Don't often comment, but have been enjoying your vlogs for some time. I think I may try sending you a query letter one day soon.
I love the analogies! 😅😅😅 Funny but also super helpful. Thank you both 💓
These videos are incredibly helpful! Thank you both for posting!
Glad to hear they've helped!
I appreciate you two so much! I have watched a lot of these and found an even balance of me being on the right track with my stuff, and still having a bit to learn. I know I am not alone in how much knowledge I've soaked in from you two!
Well I've paused your video less than halfway through to say that now I'm going to have to find a recipe for Blackout Cake. And while I do eat apple pie occasionally, anything that gives me visions of food comas, excessive amounts (well, there's no such thing) of chocolate, and/or a fork and a dark place to lay down, I'm ALL IN. And, I DO understand that I will not find in the store frozen apple pies in the same section of "Desserts" as Blackout Cake. The analogy made sense to me. (Should that scare me?) Now I will continue your video. Thank you very much for humorous food analogies (they should be their own genre!).
Can you two consider a video or short video on what "marketable in US" means for international authors? Does it mean a particular writing style or voice? Does it mean not having anything that wouldn't be understood in the US? If I want to query US agents should I get US readers to read it first or remove all Aussie slang? Try and use American words (gas instead of petrol)? Is it worth saying in the query that you'd be fine to Americanise it or is that sound like too much effort for an agent?
Same question I'd like answered too, please Jessica. Thanks for your great advice.
Love your videos, and your agency, and your agents, and your authors. Thanks for sharing all your witty wisdom.
Always fun. Always helpful. Always leaving me with a feeling that I can do better.
Love your Wednesday night content!
I won't be querying for a while as my finished book has been entered into a competition. But I am about to start on my second novel. Thank you for the information!
Another helpful, practical, fun video. Thank you! This aligns with a previous video you did some time ago, and also with the tutorials and various other "How to Write a Query Letter" lessons I've seen/read/taken/ learned. Very helpful reminders of all the points to include (and those not to). On we go... Thank you again!
Thank you for the laugh this morning. Oh, the information was appreciated too. 😊
I think I'd enjoy these videos even if I had zero interest in finding an agent just because you make me laugh.
Another great video with tons of helpful tips. Thank you both for all the wisdom and laughs.
PS - James, I'll be your assistant!
I don't comment often, but I really look forward to your Wednesday chats!
This was so fun 😂 you guys are the best
Thank you for doing these videos! This is great information. I enjoy watching the videos. They are informative and funny. I am blessed to have recently joined a critique group that is helping me be a better writer.
We're glad you've found a good critique group! :) Thank you for watching!
Thanks for clarification about reader and agent expectations; and for the laughs 😂
Insightful. Thank you.
Soooo very helpful! Thank you!
I've written a 284k word book and cringed after I realized following the creative spirit painted me into a corner. I've honed that 284k down to 99k (fantasy), but feel better this time. I've even recoiled from old query letters I've written. When you know better, do better.
Okay I simply have to know your editing process... 284K to 99K? Im struggling just to cut about 18K words from 103K to about 85K for a middlegrade fantasy.
@@KarrGalaxyStudios
Complete rewrite.
I had 3 plotlines with north of 20 characters.
I cut it down to 1 plotline +smaller subplots and cut half the characters.
I stuck to the beating heart of the story and it's most critical characters.
I saved everything else mind you.
I now have almost 2 books of material to draw from.
@@wmichael78 Wow. Thanks for sharing.
@@KarrGalaxyStudios
No problem 😊
Actually now that I think of it....THE biggest thing I did was to think of the story I wanted to tell but not look at what I'd written. Looking back got me bogged down and I didn't want to rehash what I'd done.
I also began with a goal: 85k
That might have been fanciful for adult fantasy. I wound up with 99k though it might get down to 98k if everything goes right.
Biggest thing is don't get bogged down in what you did....focus on what you want to do and write toward that goal.
@@wmichael78 Thanks! For me its more a matter of shaving the fluff and trying to rephrase or rework and tighten up the novels descriptions, excessive writing and correcting mistakes or bad sentences so that the story telling is more concise while still trying to keep the reader turning pages. Every draft I do (now on to its 5th major - technically the 8th draft) improves this. Im quite blind to my own writing at times so its been a cringe fest but worth every minute spent. Its my first novel so I have to make sure and take the extra time to get it right. Id be lying if i said i enjoy this editing phase of the writing journey (I hate doing things more than once and hate correcting myself and rewriting several times in line by line passes). I dont like it but its necessary. I do find I can correct errors in plot holes but im way past that creative changing draft phase now. Cheers.
This video is super informative.
Thank you so much! I've been watching your videos for a few years now and I was hoping that I could throw out some questions for video suggestions.
The first was-- I have a ms for lower YA or upper MG, but I'm not sure if I should query as fantasy or magical realism. So I guess my question is how much fantasy does a book need to have to no longer be considered magical realism and does that vary by age category?
Second-- I have a semi autobiographical YA ms that deals with subjects of relationship violence (in a teenage couples) and substance abuse. The questions is, how dark can YA go before it needs to be queried as adult? I wanted to write this ms because I know these subjects are very real among teens, but as a former bookseller I also know that many parents aren't interested exposing their children to those topics.
Thank you for your time! I love your videos. Always smiling!
Great questions! I think magical realism/fabulism typically reads like a contemporary story with a touch of magic. There might be an unexplained magical system, or just a minor detail that hints at magic, but the focus is on more contemporary issues/it feels more grounded. Fantasy typically includes otherworldly creatures/magic in our world (contemporary fantasy), or another world entirely (fantasy/high fantasy/epic fantasy). The themes explored in either type of story might be different, too, since the characters' relationships with the worlds will differ!
As for the second, the best way to tell would be to look at some of the books currently out in YA that deal with those subjects and see how far they take them. If you Google "YA books dealing with XYZ" you should find some good lists, and you can either read those or check out some reviews to try to get a sense of the vibe of the books! There's no hard and fast rule about what can be included in YA vs. Adult, but you might be able to get a good sense of what isn't "allowed" in YA based on what's already out.
Hope this helps!
@@BookEndsLiterary Thank you so much! Did a little google researching about ms #1 decided ms #2 is magical realism. Thank you for the help 🙏
We all google Blackout Cake and replay you both laughing about how hard Jessica tried with that example. 😂
it's like the three bears with the porridge dilema in deciding how to present a query. What is too short? What is too long? What is just right? Examples would have been worthwhile.
There genre is also problematic. Say you write Sci-fi - Post-apocalyptic - dystopian, but say publishers consider it a dead genre. By that genre's nature, it would also appeal to horror readers, usually crafted as a thriller, and suspenseful, it could possibly be pitched as Psychological horror. I know of one fantasy book that was pitched as such to a publisher and ended up contracted. In these days of internet sales, category tags as just as important as the recognized genre to reach a broader audience of readers. Saying that, I understand you have to know where it fits on a bookstore's shelf, but it makes me smile as if publishers are stuck in the mud when it comes to classifying a book, considering the importance of genre tags for internet sales.
I agree with the word count. Author's should know the range for the genre.
Not sure about voice in the query either. More important is the voice in the sample. Let's face it, if you are to include a synopsis with the query, voice for that effort goes out of the window.
The bio section is ultra important, especially if it conveys you would be easy to work with when it comes to killing your darlings.
I agree about tone. All possible stories have already been written, but it's worthwhile saying what you believe is unique about your story, but make it humble and not arrogant.
Agent research is also important. As an example I have previously looked at Bookends and decided it would not be worthwhile querying them for my genre. All the same, thanks for sharing.
I love this video so much! I have one question regarding themes.
Is it ok if I put a few themes in the first paragraph after introducing my book?
Ex:
"My book explores the themes of identity, found family and personal growth-literary fantasy with a commercial hook."
After that is the one-sentence pitch, then the blurb.
Thanks❤😊
As long as you're also inserting the one sentence pitch and a blurb this should be totally fine! We just see too many queries falling on the themes and not telling us about the actual book, so we want to encourage authors to avoid that! :)
Today I learned what Blackout Cake is and now I need to make some. Why isn't this a thing in Australia?
I'm here to take the spotlight off poor James and admit I've never even HEARD of David Foster Wallace 🤣
popular among urban intellectuals and school people
He did write Postmodern literature / post-postmodernism /Metamodernism / etc, so you've never heard of him because of reasons? He would be popular for new yorkers lol and many many college kids. Others could read him for sure. I am, of course, just making an educated guess. I don't reckon to know everything.
@@brunacosta8965 That's funny cause I have a Ph.D. in English 😆😆but my areas are children's lit and 19th cent brit. And for fun I read/write SFF.
@@ArtemisMS yeah I did go to Rice and Cornell but I have no PHD. I have been to Manhattan many times. I lived in New Jersey. I have seen many people talk about the book. These would be youths who are in the city. They aren't necessarily in school, or even nerds. The book would draw in a type. A crowd. A lot of "hipsters" or "go-getter" types might be familiar with him because he did enough to make him part of a scene. Is hipster still lingo?
@@ArtemisMS I write in fantasy too. Maybe enter a competition! I definitely didn't get an MFA, but stayed in the real world. Ha!
Hi! Thanks for this video. In your experience, how common is it for agents to not respond at all, as supposed to sending a rejection letter?
You're better asking authors this question. i do think many have a no response means no policy. But we highly recommend Query Tracker for this sort of information.
Yes! And? If a query is all about the 'themes' and the writer can't figure out how to focus on the stakes... When I read pages, the story often ends up being more after-school special and less about character and plot.
Very thorough but my God, we’re you taping this during Happy Hour?
Yeah, main question, What's blackout cake?
Just got to the part of labelling genre and I wanted to ask: what if you're writing a book that contains something commonly thought of as fantasy/urban fantasy (lets say werewolves or vampires or things in that vein) and you do a sci-fi spin on it, but the agent reading the query figures you mislabelled your genre simply because they're going off of the idea that werewolves or what-have-you are UF only and they reject you on that basis?
Because theres "know your genre" and "subvert tropes to keep things interesting", which you try to do but it may come across as being uninformed about genres in a query when the agent sees x as being one genre only. (Am I making sense or just rambling?😅)
Good question, and totally makes sense!
Part of knowing your genre is that your book will very clearly be housed in that genre, even if there are elements from another genre, and the query will make that clear. For instance, if you'll be labeling a story with werewolves and vampires as sci-fi, reading the query should make it extremely clear why. The comps will be sci-fi instead of fantasy, the tone of the query will likely be different than that of a fantasy book, the conflicts that are outlined in the query will likely revolve around sci-fi elements, the world you introduce will clearly be sci-fi, just with werewolves and vampires. If that is not clear to a reader after they see the query, either the query isn't strong enough, or there's a chance that the book isn't being housed in/labeled the right genre. If the sci-fi elements don't come through as strongly as the fantasy elements in the query, maybe it's actually a fantasy book with sci-fi elements instead of a sci-fi book with fantasy elements.
Hope this makes sense!
So I was actually advised by a respected agent who does query critiques to add themes into mine (within the paragraph that's about my word count, comps, genre, etc.). Is this just a personal preference for agents? If the rest of the query is solid will adding those in with an agent who hates people discussing themes harm my chances of a positive response?
Might be a personal preference. I’d say just research the agent you plan on querying as much as possible to get more of a feel of what they’re looking for in a book.
I feel as if David Foster Wallace would write both a long, and rude query letter…
Your last point, number one, brings up a huge question. At least three times you said “, your book did not stand out…it wasn’t different…”. So what would make a book standout to you in an oversupplied market? Thanks
This will vary for every agent, just like it varies for every editor we try to sell to. A good hook will go a long way (we have a video on hooks that talks more about this). But if you think of how you shop for books, and think about how you end up deciding to read a book by an author you've never read from before, there was probably just something about their premise that intrigued you. It's the same for queries! Some just draw our attention more than others, while some may seem to us like something we've already read before or seen a lot of
@@BookEndsLiterary thanks for your reply. Speaking only for myself, after many rejections, examples of letters that work are more valuable than the same list of “don’t’s “ . Again, thanks
How does genre apply to "literary fiction"? For example, if an author was writing in a magical realism tradition, exploring subjects of mystery and imagination....could identifying a work as "fantasy" or "mystery" relegate the book to a less "serious" category.
For example, if Gabrielle García Márquez was writing today, would you advise him to market his work as "fantasy"?
Hi! "Literary" is actually a descriptor of the style of a book, rather than a specific genre. Literary means that a book has a heavy emphasis on the style of writing, and usually is highly introspective; commercial means that a book has a heavy emphasis on the events/plot of the book, rather than the writing; and upmarket is something in between, with a good hook and commercial plot but more sophisticated writing or focus on the language. This is true across all genres; so you can have literary fantasy, upmarket horror, commercial general fiction, etc. When we talk about "literary fiction" as a genre in the industry, what we usually mean is literary GENERAL fiction, i.e. it does not fit into any other genres and is just exploring the experience of the characters in a world that matches our own, and has a heavy emphasis on character introspection and decorative prose. But you can also have literary fantasy or mystery, if those genres are more accurate descriptors, which should be mentioned in a query so that the agent can set their expectations appropriately.
As for the question of magical realism (also called fabulism), it's actually its own genre which is separate from fantasy. The defining feature of a magical realism or fabulist novel is that it is usually set in our world, with a dash of magic. They're usually more focused on character and examining the world around us than they are focused on the understanding of the magic itself, and for that reason, it's actually a genre that typically appeals more to readers of literary general fiction than fantasy readers-most fantasy readers are focused on plot and world-building.
In the publishing industry, a lot of people who are interested in the broad umbrella of speculative fiction (sci fi, fantasy, horror, etc.) also enjoy magical realism/fabulism, but so are a lot of general fiction readers. So, no, magical realism does not have to be categorized as fantasy. It's its own thing, and can be queried to agents looking for general fiction AND agents looking for speculative fiction! And, particularly, Gabriel García Márquez is considered one of the founders of the genre, as are many Latin American authors who are considered to have created the literary canon of magical realism, so reading those books is a great way to get an understanding of the bounds of the genre and whether your book would fit :)
I hope this answers your questions!
I watch every one of these videos. Don’t worry about being rude. Some people (me) need the painful truth.
If you're querying the first book in a planned trilogy, should your pitch be the first book? Or should you pitch the entire story?
Hi! You should pitch the first book, and you can say that the book is "the first in a planned duology/trilogy/series"
If a book is a little over typical word count in its genre, would an agent be willing to help the author cut content to meet requirements (assuming it is a book with a solid hook)?
Hi! If it's only a little outside of the word count expectations, that's totally fine-it's only once it's way outside of the word count expectations that it starts to appear to agents as a potential problem (not having a focused enough hook, not having a fleshed out premise, etc.) and indicated the author may not understand the market they're writing towards. Hope this helps!
@@BookEndsLiterary That is very helpful. Thank you! 😁
Nobody cares about themes but make sure your characters and plot express your theme?
(Please don't take this as a criticism) I'd add another reason: the industry itself has struggled to classify a clear direction and expectation of the querying process. At least historically. Obviously, what ya'll do is the opposite. Query Manager is the opposite. But it feels like a poor reflection of the industry that knowing how to write a proper query letter comes from a dense list of Dos and Don'ts rather than a clear reference point ala how to construct a resume or cover letter for a job application. Until this channel, I had zero insight into literary agents, their relationship to publishers, and the querying process. And no, I don't say this as someone who checked off all 10 Donts on this list; maybe two or three. But no way I ever queried as confidently before binge watching all your videos. Even now you can find competing advice within certain elements of querying beyond length and general bullet points.
... too bad you guys aren't having any fun ... ;)
3 martini lunch before shooting this one?🤣
Personally, I don't think it was possible to sell my book with any query. I queried for 3 years, went to loads of writers conferences, got a few manuscript requests from agents, and even got some manuscript requests from editors (that I met through those conferences), and in the end it just didn't happen. An m/m Sci-Fi novel was too hard to sell, and one agent pretty much straight up told me that. Whether prejudice in the industry is the problem, or it's just filtering down from toxic fandom in such a way that it limits the market sellability, and agents know that and aren't willing to take a risk, I don't know, but I felt shut out of the industry. In the end, I self-published my book and got 25 sales after three months, which is about what you can expect. (I am happy that I can say it has an average rating of 4.8 at Amazon, so I know it's a good book.) Moreover it was bad advice to say "don't write the sequels until you sell the first book" because I wasted a lot of time in which I could have been writing the sequels that I need to have *right now* in order to build my brand as a self-published author. (If self-publishing is your backup plan from the beginning, then write those sequels right away!)
My advice, as someone who has been through the entire process: don't lie to yourself and tell yourself that you just have to follow all the rules and you'll eventually be accepted. It's just not true. You can only improve your chances.
I am very uncomfortable with the idea that the writer has to "sell" the book to the agent, and the comparisons to Amazon or buying a book only underline that the writer needs the agent to be figuring out how to describe, title, and cover the book in a way that sells. I also quite understand that a YA writer who thinks that it is a mystery (YA Mystery is entirely possible), may have thought that Jessica might represent it bc she said she does mystery
But on her Querry Submission Form it literally states that she doesn't represent YA. So yes, she might represent Adult Mystery, she doesn't represent YA Myself. Like I dunno, at that point it's clear that the Writer just didn't read that and submitted it to her anyways and as a result wasting their time and her time since she's gonna automatically reject the Querry anyway. Like, there are other agents at Bookends who do represent YA Myself so it doesn't make sense and to me shows that the writer couldn't have taken the couple of minutes to see at Bookends who does represent YA Mystery.
“Sell” here, I think, is interchangeable with “pitch.” An agent is a business partner, and you are pitching your business idea to them in hopes that they’ll be as passionate as you are and want to get onboard. Expecting them to spend time reading a 6 page query letter is like going on Dragon’s Den and rambling for 20 minutes. If you don’t hit the important points in a concise way, you’ll likely end up confusing the person you’re pitching too, which causes them to disengage. In their other scenario, where you don’t provide a query at all, it’s like going on Dragon’s Den, showing them the product and refusing to talk about what the heck it is. Writers are entrepreneurs selling a product. We’re the engineer that creates the prototype. The agent is the business partner that knows the market and how to sell the product we’ve built. We, as the writer or engineer, don’t just build a product with no idea what it’s for or who might want to buy it. Even if you don’t have the industry connections or market savvy, you still should know where your product would fit (e.g. does it belong at Home Depot? What aisle should it be in? What are similar products? How is it different or better than those?). Hope that analogy helps!
Here are my thoughts,
Your query doesn't have to be perfect, but it needs to catch the eye of an agent just like you need to catch the eye of a reader. Publishing is a business, and someone considering representing you needs to feel like you have something viable to sell.
And when it comes to the math, they've been saying that they're getting 500 queries per month. So then you have 500 queries, maybe spending 4 minutes each reading/considering/replying to which comes out to 33.33 hours per month spent doing something that doesn't make them any money. That's almost an entire week's worth of a standard 40 hour work week with no pay, they don't have the time to read the pages/request/give you feedback unless your query wows them in some way and still do all the work that actually helps them make a living.
Also, I could be wrong but in Query Manager, YA and adult are two separate categories so it's fully delineated.
Rule no.1 Do not laugh at at people who are trying so hard to write, under the guise of trying to help them. You are ridiculing them.
i am a reader! I have no axe too grind, no story to tell as i am not requesting publication. What i do understand is that some potestial author who has tried so hard and worked so long to be published , deserves better than your self satisfied mirth. Even the agents, I am sure, are more polite in their rejections.
There is so much helpful advice available on You Tube, which encourages and helps new writers.. but no-one I have ever encountered has your arrogant, hysterical polishing of your own egos whilst destroying the confidence of others..It is distasteful and pompous.
I love you guys but what is going on in this video? Lol! You guys! You’re cracking me up. You’ve lost it!
Love you guys. Do a video exploring how the rise of Far Left woke ideology is impacting agents, writers and the publishing industry at large.
Sounds like someone has an ax to grind.
Hey! Just FYI we dont use the term Woke anymore. You need to police your language and watch your privilege. We use the term Mindful Social Justice, or MSJ for short. Please do watch your future langauge so you dont offend anyone.