Thanks to everyone who weighed in yesterday on the question of ghost queries and queries by committee. Strong feelings all around!
Having now read the relevant blog posts, I’m actually not sure that the query that kicked things off is actually the best test case for the debate that followed. I can’t speak for Agent Kristin, but my guess is that since Courtney’s query was preceded by a client’s enthusiastic recommendation and a successful in-person pitch appointment, Agent Kristin probably would have requested the manuscript short of Courtney confessing to a crime and/or stating that she hates kittens and puppies in the query (and she doesn’t — she’s very nice). That’s more of an example of how well networking and referrals work than anything else.
But back to the subject at hand: My own personal preference is absolutely that the person who wrote the book should write the query. I want to hear from the person I’m potentially working with, in their own voice, with their own writing. Incorporating feedback is fine, but I want to hear from the author.
And yet despite those opinions I have always felt decidedly ambivalent about this question, mainly because I know my own personal preferences are basically irrelevant. People are going to do what they’re going to do.
The more important question, to me, is this: does it work?
Call me skeptical.
A query letter is not a competency test. Well, it partly is. Researching how to write a good one is valuable and increases your odds of having your manuscript requested. And getting good feedback from those in the know can definitely help, and I don’t have a problem with that in the least.
At the same time, I think there’s a huge tendency out there to overthink the form of the query, namely because it’s the one part writers can easily control (and what, ahem, blogging agents can blog about). Aspiring authors begin to view the query letter as a lock that can only be picked by those who hold the secret key.
But more important than nailing the form is conveying the author’s voice. It has to come through in the query. And how can a ghost query or query by committee convey the author’s voice?
In a recent interview, agent Dan Lazar talked about how in an otherwise rambling letter there are times when certain lines stand out and make him want to read a manuscript. If the author’s voice wasn’t there, that wouldn’t have happened.
I’m sure a ghost query or query by committee worked before — it’s a big publishing world. But if I were an aspiring author I’d be very careful, paranoid even, about ceding my voice to others. Even if you were to get to the partial request stage, it’s still your work that’s going to rise or fall.
I still stand by my basic feeling: if you can write a publishable book you can write a good query. It may be painful, annoying, time consuming, need feedback, result in hair loss, need some more feedback, take years off your life, and take multiple tries, but you can do it. You are a writer, after all.
(Bonus: Jennifer Jackson addressed this topic as well.)
Scott says
Thanks, Nathan. Agreed and amen.
astems n. pl. 1. those bits of a query that are written by someone other than the writer that often belie the writer’s own voice. 🙂
Anonymous says
I’ve heard other writers say that if it’s taking you months to craft a perfect query letter, then there’s something wrong with your manuscript. Do you believe that’s true, Nathan?
Query letters are so subjective. I’ve read many agents’ blogs, writers’ websites and books, and some queries that are spotlighted and praised as brilliant aren’t that interesting to me and don’t keep my attention and I would never read the book.
Nathan Bransford says
anon-
Well, I think the reason it’s so frustrating for writers and agents is that it’s both subjective and objective. Jessica Faust at Bookends today has a post on the subjectivity of taste. And she’s right. There’s a whole lot of subjectivity involved.
At the same time, yes, there very well may be something wrong with the manuscript or the underlying idea. Or it just might not be good enough.
I think the main problem is that people define success as the default position. As in, if it’s not working something’s wrong. Look — success in this industry is exceedingly rare relative to the number of people who want it. Every successful debut book should be viewed on the order of a minor miracle. Success shouldn’t be expected.
But that’s not the way aspiring authors treat the process. So many people approach the business expecting success, and if they don’t find it they find fault with the process.
Sorry to ramble, but there’s no easy answer on this one.
Professor Tarr says
Thanks for the comments, Nathan. It’s funny, but your voice is quite unique in its own right. Even though the issue is a sensitive one to unpublished writers, you gently navigate the treacherous waters without jumping into the vitriol of the surly. That is so much appreciated.
Anonymous says
“At the same time, yes, there very well may be something wrong with the manuscript or the underlying idea. Or it just might not be good enough.”
Good points.
“Every successful debut book should be viewed on the order of a minor miracle. Success shouldn’t be expected.”
Amen.
By all means, ramble on. It’s appreciated.
BookEnds, LLC says
Nathan:
Very well said.
jhf
Jael says
Writing a great book and writing a great query letter are separate but related skills. I think most people struggle with the query because they want to sum up the whole book, and that enterprise is doomed to fail. Don’t sum up. Tease. Intrigue.
There’s a time when I would have been outraged to hear that a query letter wasn’t written by the author of the book, and I respect your position, Nathan. But at this point I truly believe that books get representation and/or sell based on whether or not the agent/editor thinks they rock, and a great query letter isn’t going to save a bad book, no way, no how.
Great point too about the “minor miracle.” An editor or agent can’t read your book and think, “Oh, this is good.” They have to think, “This is too good NOT to publish.” Such an odd business to be built on excitement, isn’t it?
Anonymous says
Once again, you’ve quelled the waters of paranoia by a blog post.
I think reading others’ queries helps you write your own as well. That’s why every so often when you take the “first three” queries and then comment on them (you did this awhile back) or when I go on Query Shark, it reinforces what I know and gives me pause about what I don’t.
It’s all helpful, as is this post. Class act, Nathan.
gwen says
Quite honestly, finally composing my query letter scares the crap out of me. I’m fine writing a novel-length manuscript, but the thought of writing a one-page query just makes me want to go cry in a corner. I dread the day when I finally have to do it… manuscript still under construction. I don’t actually think I’ll be able to write a good one. Sigh.
Elyssa Papa says
I can’t begin to tell you how many drafts of a query letter I write. I’m sure I drive my CPs crazy with them. But, I so try to get my voice down and what the tone of the novel is in the query. I never have a problem in writing the query, it’s just that my first drafts are horrible. (I’m thinking of what Anne Lamott dubs first drafts as, but I don’t want to use a curse on this blog). I definitely look for feedback/critique, but I’m not going to change my voice.
And I find that even if your query is really good, that agents could just not be that into you.
MzMannerz says
“But more important than nailing the form is conveying the author’s voice. It has to come through in the query. And how can a ghost query or query by committee convey the author’s voice?”
Excellent point.
Anonymous says
Oooooh, thanks for the link to the Dan Lazar/others article. Fascinating!
Ugly Deaf Muslim Punk Gurl! says
you are right, a query letter is almost a “test” of writing skills and I am sad to say that I am horrible with queries.
Ugh
Margaret Yang says
Nathan, I asked this yesterday but it kind of got buried in all the good comments.
What about the query that the agent sends to the editor? That one is written by the agent. If the “voice” were all-important, then the agent would send the original query to the editor, yes? However, the agent makes a new query from scratch. On PubRants, Kristin Nelson posted the query she sent editors about Ms. Milan’s novel and it was quite different.
Or am I comparing apples to oranges here?
Whirlochre says
It has to be about voice in the end, doesn’t it — even if the writer of the query is synthesizing the fruits of crit groups and other input.
Nathan Bransford says
Margaret-
I think it’s apples to oranges. The letter that an agent sends to an editor can help frame the work in the right way, but it’s far secondary to the agent and editor’s relationship, the agent/agency’s reputation, and most importantly, the work itself.
In other words, I’m not trying to get a foot in the door with a pitch letter — I know the editor is going to take a look at the material. I’m just framing the work to put the editor in the right mindset. It’s a different ballgame.
Lady Glamis says
I believe a good query letter is a must, but it’s also just as important to query the right agents.
That can take a lot of time and research, as well, from what I understand.
Marilyn Peake says
From Nathan:
“I think the main problem is that people define success as the default position. As in, if it’s not working something’s wrong. Look — success in this industry is exceedingly rare relative to the number of people who want it. Every successful debut book should be viewed on the order of a minor miracle. Success shouldn’t be expected.”
Amen to that. Took me years to realize that. It’s easy to come to the conclusion that one’s query letters are problematic when they’re met with rejection from an agent without any explanation whatsoever about why the book’s being rejected. I know authors who have received letters from agents, even one who received a phone call from an agent, to personally communicate how much they loved their book but to explain that the book isn’t mainstream enough for them to represent it. My feeling is that it’s best to just keep on writing, submitting to both agents and small press publishers, hoping for financial success with writing but never expecting it.
Margaret Yang says
Nathan, this is interesting. I wonder if you could talk about it a bit more in a future blog post? What happens to a manuscript once an agent starts the sales process is quite a mystery to us newbies, even those of us who are happily agented.
LiteraryMouse says
Good point about the author’s voice needing to come through in the query. I’ve seen too many query letters beaten into bland pulps because writers were trying to follow a proven formula or had too many people re-writing the letter for them.
I’ve been re-working my own query letter and have definitely asked for feedback. Some of my fellow writers were even kind enough to do some re-writes for me, but I didn’t use those because I couldn’t hear myself in the query anymore. Rather, I listened to their criticisms and fixed the problems in the query using my own words.
It’s very similar to editing a manuscript, I think. If someone offers you criticism, would you let that person do the re-write? Probably not. Rather, you’d probably use the feedback to identify the problem and fix it yourself. That’s the way I see it, at least.
Nathan Bransford says
Margaret-
Definitely understand, although that is touching on one of my proscribed blog topics. I don’t feel too comfortable divulging much about the submission process, but there are other blogging agents who share more.
Madison says
I’m going to quote something from the post:
Quote:
I still stand by my basic feeling: if you can write a publishable book you can write a good query. It may be painful, annoying, time consuming, need feedback, result in hair loss, need some more feedback, take years off your life, and take multiple tries, but you can do it. You are a writer, after all. Unquote.
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, Mr. Bransford! Nothing is easy, so why should the query be? Why get out the easy way? I admit, in the past I have loathed writing queries, but now I’ve actually begun to enjoy it. None of them have gotten me even to a partial request yet, but, hey, I’m having fun striving to achieve my dream, and that’s what counts! Thanks again! 😀
Julia Weston says
Thanks for prompting another great discussion.
lotusgirl says
I think what we all would love to have is a well written, representative query that reaches the right agent at the right time.
I appreciate that you are helping me with the “well written, representative query” part, and I think the ball is then in my court to find the right agent (you’ve actually helped with that too) and hope that the right time is now–well, in a month or so when the book is ready.
LiteraryMouse says
I’m starting to think the submissions process involves dressing up in black robes, placing the manuscript on an ancient seal, saying a few incantations in Latin, throw in an evil albino for good measure, then POOF!
The manuscript magically appears on some editor’s desk in New York. Or falls out of the sky and knocks someone cold in Hoboken, NJ.
Steve Fuller says
I know it’s the nature of the business, but there is more discussion out there about how to write great queries than how to write great fiction.
I tend to believe a great query flows from a great novel. You may think you’ve written an amazing book, but if no one is publishing it, then maybe your novel is the problem (and not the query).
Just a thought.
Adaora A. says
Honestly, I have to agree. But you say it so well….
Your put a bit of yourself in (and on) evertything you touch and participate in. When you write a letter, it’s your style and your personality that’s being laced between the words on the page. How can someone else do this for you? How can the first correspondence that you’re putting out to someone you want representing you, NOT be written with your own hands? They are going to be working with YOU and YOUR work. Not the person you hired.
Anonymous says
Reading the specific directions on submission guidelines is important, too. I’m editing an anthology right now and all I’m getting are wonderful, well written queries. But I don’t want queries, and I’m not reading them. Query = delete. I want pages and that’s clearly stated in the guidelines.
Sorry for ranting 🙂
Robena Grant says
I’m coming in late to the party, but heck I’ve been busy writing. I agree with the “write your query yourself” side. It’s part of the whole writing/creating process. Who knows your story better than you?
However, I’m still riding the rough road to getting the art of query writing down pat. After frequenting your blog Nathan, and Jessica Faust’s blog, and braving putting several queries or pitches on the blogs for feedback, blush, blush, I have learned several major points. Thank you both.
While I’m still learning how to write a query letter it has never once occurred to me to ask anyone else to write it for me. Just like I wouldn’t want anyone else to write my story for me (feedback is okay because I can take it or leave it) but to have someone else write it, or parts of it that I found difficult, would be to my mind a misrepresentation. Color me stupid, maybe, but while we all want to get a foot in the door, and the query is the first step, I still want to achieve that on my own.
other lisa says
But more important than nailing the form is conveying the author’s voice. .
Thanks for confirming something that I’ve long suspected. Well, maybe not that long, but since I queried my most recent MS. I also love the insight about how writers can overthink the query. So true. That can suck the “voice” right out of it.
Oops. I started a sentence with “that.”
Stephanie says
I think sometimes we can get a little paranoid when we read about “good query letters.” We start to think, what if mine is one of those atrocious ones and no one has told me? I do tend to have a harder time writing queries and synopses than actual manuscripts, mostly because I feel like every sentence is going to be a massive mistake that everyone in the industry knows about but me. So I procrastinate. You can always tell when it’s query letter/synopsis-writing time because my house is spotless.
Doug says
Nathan, while I agree with what you’ve said about the query being a bit of a test, while doing some of my own research, it seems that the style and form recommended by former or current agents varies so much that it is sometimes difficult to decide exactly how to write it. I know, like the work, the query letter is about what the agent likes, but it’s hard to find that out without submitting something. The usual rejection letter has no feedback about what was liked/disliked so it feels like us authors are shooting in the dark sometimes.
Doug P.
Follow me on Twitter as thenextwriter
Amber Lynn Argyle says
Before I found my agent, I felt like sending out blind queries was like shooting bats in the dark. What would grab one agents fancy depended upon so many factors. Some of them are super strict about the form, others aren’t. It seemed more a product of mood than anything else.
What I found the most effective was to connect to the agent. Meeting them at a conference, being a regular poster on their blog, etc. Those were the things that opened the doors. Not necessarily the query.
CapitolClio says
Writing a query is like writing a personal ad. A well-crafted description will get you first date. But when the agent realizes the prose doesn’t match the tease, there will be no second date.
Scott says
By the way, I just read the interview provided by the link and it was extremely informative. I recommend all writers check it out as it really takes you through the many facets of selling of a book and what agents are up against up in their “ivory towers”.
Of those things I learned, the two that struck me the most were how passionate agents can be about their properties and how mean Jeff Kleinman can be when he’s drunk.
Just keeding, Jeff! He was alarmingly frank about the entire business, and his views on New York reps was very interesting to say the least. Good thing you’re in SF, Nathan!
Dearth of Reason says
I write superb query letters and get requests for my manuscript more often than not. But my novel sucks, so I have made no progress. It seems I am wasting my talent. I’m going into the query-writing business. This week I’ll offer a special on writing your query in your own author’s voice. It will be costly, but aren’t you worth it?
Seriously it’s not as hard as all that. Here’s the secret: Just be yourself. Only, be organized too. And do your homework first. Yes, all of it, sorry. And did you forget to floss? Don’t. And never never let anyone represent you in your own domain… except that would eliminate using an agent… Er, forget I said anything.
Sarah Jensen says
I have a question on voice. My query sounds like me. Not my character. Is that what you want? Because I’m 36 and my MC is 17. We sound very different. So which voice should I use?
Anonymous says
Query letters would be a hell of a lot easier to write if there wasn’t a girth of contradictory info on how to write them festering on the web.
Also, if you read various agent blogs and websites (this one excluded), you sometimes get the feeling that queries are flat-out loathed and considered a nuisance.
It’s not hard to see why many are overwritten. I don’t care how well you think you digest rejection, nobody wants to see years of hard work amount to nothing because a crabby agent dislikes the way you tried to pare a 300-400 page manuscript down to one page.
Best of Success,
Disgruntled
Nathan Bransford says
Re: contradictory info.
It’s always going to happen, whether it’s trying to muddle through the query process or incorporating an editor’s feedback on a manuscript. It’s part of writing and the publishing process. One person is going to think you should do one thing, someone else thinks you should do another. All you can do is consider the advice, decide what you want to do, and plow forward.
Sarah Jensen says
And the voice? Mine or my MC’s?
Phoenix says
Nathan, I respect you — and your opinion — a lot. It’s why I follow your blog. But this statement …
Every successful debut book should be viewed on the order of a minor miracle. Success shouldn’t be expected.
… absolutely floors me. The odds are great, granted. But you play the lottery to win. Athletes play to win. Entrepreneurs start businesses to succeed. Career writes write to sell.
Only a hobbyist shouldn’t expect success. Yet in the comments yesterday, you talk about the difference between a hobbyist and a professional. What professional shouldn’t expect to succeed? The mindset of a professional should always be that if there’s not room for everyone, it’s the other guy that’s gonna fail. Whether that’s the reality or not.
A query’s success is measured on whether it receives requests for more material. Not on the book’s ability to sell.
I do, however, fully agree that finding fault with the process isn’t the right response. Making excuses isn’t the right response. But having a dynamite manuscript to go with a dynamite introduction to an agent/editor — whether via the written word or the social network — is.
Uh, I guess now wouldn’t be a good time to send you my query, would it? ;o)
Ink says
Phoenix, I think what Nathan is speaking to is less about having confidence that you will succeed and more about having a sense of entitlement. I’m owed this… success is my right… everything should work out as I think it should work out and if it doesn’t it’s anyone’s fault by mine and I’m gonna demand answers…
I see that a lot, and I can see why it can bother people in the business who know the reality of things. That’s my take on it, anyway.
My best,
Bryan Russell
Nathan Bransford says
Sarah-
Your description of your work should convey the spirit and tone of the work. So if the book is funny the description should be funny. If the book is literary the description should be literary.
The rest of the e-mail (such as the personalized parts) can be in your own voice.
Nathan Bransford says
Phoenix-
More on that on Monday. But expecting success isn’t professional, it’s irrational, particularly when you expect that it comes easily. You hope for success, and then work furiously toward that goal.
Nathan Bransford says
bryan-
Yup, that’s what I mean.
Anonymous says
Nathan,
I assume you’re an AAR member. Have they attempted, in the past, to standardize queries and the like?
Nathan Bransford says
anon-
Not to my knowledge. I don’t even think it would be possible, given the varying opinions.
JES says
Jael: …most people struggle with the query because they want to sum up the whole book, and that enterprise is doomed to fail. Don’t sum up. Tease. Intrigue.
That’s a stupendously helpful bit of advice. Really! Thanks for including it in your comment; whatever other problems my queries might have, I am certain the temptation to sum up is a fatal flaw.
(Now if you tell me you’re a 12-year-old protege who’s never had to write a query, well, I’m hanging up my spurs. 🙂
other lisa says
Seconding Scott’s recommend on the linked interview. Really interesting!
Sarah Jensen says
Thanks Nathan, back to the query drawing board
🙂