How and When Do Literary Agents Read Queries and Submissions?
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 ก.ค. 2024
- There's always discussion about a literary agent's response time, their MSWL, or their client list. But all of those things come back to one thing: when and how do they read their queries and submissions? Well, every agent is different, but in today's video, Literary Agents Jessica Faust and James McGowan discuss how THEY do it... and it's not even remotely similar!
We hope this is a helpful peak behind the curtain.
****
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.
--
Since interning at BookEnds as an undergrad in the summer of 2015, James has (basically) never left. He's just continuously level-up-ed inside of BookEnds. Now he is the Literary Assistant and Social Media Manager for the team. He’s been a reader since his mom gave him the first A Series of Unfortunate Events book and ordered the sequels regularly through Scholastic book orders.
James is currently growing his own list and is actively seeking submissions in adult literary and upmarket fiction, mystery, thrillers, and suspense. He is also actively building his picture book list.
Connect with BookEnds!
Twitter: bookendslit
Instagram: bookends_literary
Website: www.bookendsliterary.com
Connect with Jessica: bookendsjessica
Connect with James: jmcgowanbks
I love query manager, from an author standpoint it's so much easier to send out a query. I'm special needs, so for someone like me it really helps me out alot to know what I need to send.
Whenever I start to get the revision blues, I come here to watch one of y'all's videos. ♥ Always reminds me what I'm working toward and gets me excited to start querying! ♥ Appreciate the info!
THANK YOU
@@BookEndsLiterary Of course! ♥
I had 2 different agents ask for a partial on Query Manager. I sent them in and they both never responded. As it turns out they have a 'no response means no' policy even for submissions. I prefer the quick 'no thanks' response over that. Especially since QM is just a simple press of a button to decline.
We definitely agree with you.
I have a special request for a future talk/video. Would one or both of you be willing to actually READ queries in real time in front of the camera, and explain your process of acceptance/rejection? The vibes, the flags, the good and bad?
I really have no idea why any agency would not use QueryManager. Even from an outsider perspective, I can see how much easier it is to control the process.
Great fun-like always!
This was a fantastic video and cleared lots up for me. I queryed a couple weeks ago and have been wondering how things worked on the agent side. Thank you for the awesome and informative videos! Keep it up!
I find QueryManager vs Email is just like Email vs Snail Mail was. It's an expected change and I imagine more agent friendly. I'll take the extra time to reformat my sample pages in QM to make an agent's life easier.
Love the idea of the "maybe button."
Love your videos! Been watching them almost every morning! You guys talked about what is "hot on the market." Was wondering how an author will know what they should write about based on what is selling? I read a lot of picture books that are recent, but I also know the amount of time it takes to make a book and how the trends change sometimes with what publishers will buy. Any advice? Thank you so much!
So glad you enjoy our videos! The most up-to-date info you can get is usually via Publishers Marketplace or Publishers Weekly! They announce right after a deal is finalized, which is usually several seasons ahead of then the book will actually get published :)
So say you fall in love with a book, right, but it needs a huge amount of work. Assuming you don't do a revise & resubmit but you do make the offer (and they say yes), what exactly do you propose they do to change the manuscript? I know it's gotta be different for every book but I'm curious if there are generalities, cause you've discussed what draws you to the story but not what kinds of work you ask of them.
Also, on the flip side, what is the smallest (still significant) amount of work you accept a book on? Do you blow up a scene, or is there some weird 'find & replace' thing you'll make them do...?
This is a great question. We're adding it to the video list. The short answer: it really does depend on the book. It could be anything from pacing or characterization, to reworking the plot, cutting POV chapters, etc. etc.
Hey guys! I love the videos :) I was wondering something> I had a partial request after a query back in mid-October, and I was wondering if I should check in with the agency? Or should I just leave it be.
Go by their submission guidelines on the website!
I recently watched a video in which a querying author notified agents when one agent asked for a full ms (and again when an offer was made). I thought only the latter was customary. Should I notify agents when I get a request?
Only the latter is necessary
So are we automatically querying to query manager when we query you, or do we have to be "in" or be using query manager get our query to you? (wow, that's a lot of queries in one sentence, sorry).
You don't need an account. Visit www.bookendsliterary.com/submissions for the link to our forms!
I’ve queried two different agents, before they closed to submissions for the next month. One may have reopened to queries, but it does not say anything on her Twitter page or on her agency’s website. When is it “safe” to nudge? Her agency has a no response means no, but on query tracker it says she responds even if it’s a rejection letter. I don’t know, if she got more queries than she expected.
Does the agent have guidelines under her section on the site and their social? If not, we would suggest waiting 12 weeks for a submission, 8 weeks for a query.
The guidelines are under their submission section on the website. Thank you.
Just curious. If I send a query to an agent and three weeks after I submit my query the agent changes their status to closed to queries does that mean I should query a different agent or does it mean they got swamped with queries and I should just wait.
The agent will likely still respond after their close. Most agents will close to catch up!
Unfortunately, I don't think these convos apply to writers of color and I'm not quite sure why it appeared in the algorithm today. What I have found is that when it comes to writings by black authors stories must appeal to a very narrow or defined interest that includes those who are Black. Years after the first Black book folks are still infatuated with passing tales, racial strife, stories rife with stereotype, poverty and trauma or stories about a wealthy few. Zora Neale Hurston wrote in an essay years ago about the things that White Publishers Won't Print, and included these words, "Outside of racial attitudes, there is still another reason why this literature should exist. Literature and other arts are supposed to hold up the mirror to nature. With only the fractional ‘exceptional’ and the ‘quaint’ portrayed, a true picture of Negro life in America cannot be.” Mostly the reason has been that there is no audience, but that troublesome since the majority of the Black experience is not always focused on "race" and most of "us" fall in the middle these two bookends. The lack of these portrayals constricts the narrative about Black folks. However, WE are exposed and read about a range of White experiences with a focus on the middle group, while views of Blacks are narrowly focused and not really marketed to or read by broad white audience. As a writer who portrays realistic stories of people like those I know and experiences that ring true I have found with limited marketing that a multi-racial readers ARE interested in reading writings that portray these kinds of stories and even find them relatable. I used to be an avid reader and have lost a lot of my passion for reading after my own experience with the publishing world. While I am only one person I do think others feel similarly about the lack of relatable books from diverse authors and I believe the reading audience will continue to shrink if something doesn't change.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA