How to Query
An overview from the trenches.
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I’m about to enter the querying trenches for the third time (which, hopefully, will be the charm). It’s not a fun or exciting place to be. Unless you’re extraordinarily lucky, even the most talented writer will face a lot of rejections (and silence) from agents they query.
To help me prepare for another daunting round of querying, I’ve separated my general strategy into eight discrete steps. Hopefully it’s helpful for any aspiring queriers who may be planning to join me in the trenches. We’ll be spending the month of April covering different aspects of querying and pitching, so buckle up!
Prep your list
Your manuscript has been edited (and edited, and edited), and you think it’s ready to be published! If you’re going for the traditional route, you’ll want to assemble a list of literary agents to query. Many publishing houses (especially the Big Five— four now, post-merger) don’t accept unsolicited submissions. You’ll need to be represented by a literary agent to have your work considered— and finding representation is the point of the querying process.
You can find potential agents in a variety of ways: Manuscript Wish List, Querytracker, Bluesky, Publisher’s Marketplace (requires a subscription, but it’s worth the price), at writing conferences, here on Substack, word of mouth, prophetic dreams, etc. It’s important to find agents who are actively seeking queries in your genre (or who are at least open to it). It’s a waste of time to query your adult romance novel to an agent who exclusively requests kid’s lit. You will not change their mind.
Organize your list clearly (I use Google Sheets). You’ll want to know their name, which agency they work at, authors they’ve published, and what materials they require with a query (see step 2). I also have a column with a link to their agent page and submission page so I can quickly access them. You’ll want to have a lot of potential agents on your list, though you can gather them in batches as needed.
Prep your materials
Every agent I’ve seen asks for a query letter (we’ll be doing a deep dive into writing and revising these next week!). In addition, they may ask for a 1-2 page synopsis of your novel, and a portion of your manuscript (sometimes by page number, sometimes by number of chapters). Some agents may ask for materials beyond these. Be sure you know exactly what each agent is asking for, so you can have everything assembled and ready to send simultaneously.
Willingly set yourself up for rejection
Once you have your list and materials ready, it’s time to start querying. I prefer to do this in small batches (5-10 agents at a time). Send over everything the agent asked for, making sure it’s neat and easily readable and as polished as it can be.
Wait. Maybe cry.
Be patient. Agents get hundreds to thousands of queries. It may take weeks or months to hear back from them– and often, you won’t hear back at all.
It’s okay. Breathe. Vent. Cry if you need to. Work on other projects.
Gather feedback and edit materials
Once you start hearing back from agents, this is when you can evaluate what needs to change. Agents will either reject your query or request more material (e.g. a full manuscript). If they reject your query, it may not necessarily be due to the quality of your writing. It could be that the letter itself wasn’t appealing (don’t beat yourself up for this! Writing a query letter is a separate skill from writing a novel). If this is the case, it may just be that your query letter (or synopsis, or other non-novel materials) needs revision before you send out another batch.
If you get requests for full manuscripts and are then turned down, it’s more likely the issue is with your novel. This is harder to address— it often requires heavier editing and means you need to spend more time preparing before querying again. Hopefully, you’ll get some feedback that you can act on. If not, you’ll need to workshop your novel with beta readers and other writers, or pay for an editor to assess the readiness of your manuscript.
Repeat
Once you’ve addressed the problem (whether it’s with your letter or your manuscript), it’s time to try again! Send out your materials to another batch of agents, and see if you make any progress. Assess the second batch responses using the reasoning from step five. You will likely need to do this multiple times.
???
I am delusionally hopeful that there’s some secret step I’ve missed that will advance me to step 8. If there is, I’m sure I’ll figure out exactly what that step is this time around.
Sign with an agent!
From here on out, I only know the hypotheticals. Full manuscript request, call with an agent, and an offer of representation. This is also only the beginning of the traditional publishing journey— from there, you must also navigate revisions with your agent and submitting your manuscript to editors in publishing houses. It’s one step in a long and arduous process, but it’s a step many of us are desperate to achieve. My fingers are crossed that we all get there eventually.
Not everyone needs an agent. Some people will find traditional publishing tiring, or outdated— or they may decide it’s just not a good fit for them. You may want to self-publish, or pitch directly to editors at small publishing houses. All of those are valid ways to get your work into the world.
If, however, you decide to pursue traditional publishing, and your goal is to be represented by a literary agent, then I wish you the best of luck. It’s a rough road, and I’m right there with you in the trenches. We’ll dive more deeply into the process next week, when we talk specifically about query letters.
See you next Sunday,
Allie
If you have any good advice for people on their querying journey, or if you think I missed any important information, please let me know in the comments!
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