Whoa boy am I getting a lot of queries these days.
In addition to the 400 or so I received over the holidays, I came in this morning to another 100+ that had accumulated over the weekend. To put that in perspective, last year I received about 110 over a three day weekend, and that had been a record.
I’m not totally sure why this all is happening, but I’m guessing it’s a combo of:
– NaNoWriMo novels have been edited and are ready for submission
– Contests tend to bring new blog readers and new blog readers tend to bring queries
– People had some time over the holidays to prep their submissions
– Cylon virus weakening human race by compelling people to spend time writing novels instead of fighting robot uprising
And yet, despite my best guesses there are also some slightly unexplainable aspects to this new deluge. For instance, I’m receiving an abnormally high volume of personal religious manifestos. Why? I have no idea. Certain trends just come in waves.
I also really do believe we’re in a cultural moment where an abnormally high percentage of the population is either writing or thinking about writing a novel.
I’m not complaining about all of this – after all, many of these new projects are quite good! It’s just making for a tricky couple of post-holiday weeks.
Any personal theories about the query deluge?
If the deluge is from NaNo, would you say that sending in a query at this time of year would be bad for a writer, as they would be competing against hundreds of others?
How have NaNoWriMo authors already edited their novels?! I'm still revising the book I started long before that month!
Nathan, please tell us how many of these queries are fully developed ideas. Do you really think people wrote a first draft in Nov, edited in Dec, wrote their query letter a few days ago? Could anything that fast possibly be good enough to get published?
I'm going to go with number four, "Cylon virus".
Your blog. It's good.
Is the religious manifesto the new vampire???
(humming theme to Twilight Zone)
PS
And how many vampire novels are amongst the queries?
Print, make into paper planes, read the fifty that fly the furthest.
Subliminal messaging on the TV is telling everyone to write a novel…
I think it's the economy. More people are out of work, which gives them more time on their hands to write, plus their financial situations have them hoping for some sort of lucky pay day.
In the mid-west, we've had a serious amount of snow.Combine this fact, with other places, who aren't used to the snow, getting it and you've got a perfect recipe for people stuck in their homes! What else is there to do but finish up those manuscripts. This might account for your query deluge over the weekend.
Interesting….but might it be that you're very popular, and as you become more well-known, perhaps more writers around the globe are querying you? What was really interesting to me was that more people are querying religions manifestos. This is the kind of thing I'd like to read right now.
I don't know why there's such a query deluge, but it does make me wonder if such a huge workload can make agents weary of even promising books when there's so much to go through.
And yes, I'm being self-serving because you and a hundred other agents rejected me, but I think the question remains valid.
Goodness knows haha. Mine was in the pile, but only because I was giving it a week after the holidays. Maybe people really did read your advice last month after all! 😉
Yes. Cylons.
<>
Marilyn, good point well made. I agree as there's been many instances in history where a group of people have taken part in trends before they were even known. This makes me wonder about the nature of human existence. Why are human minds susceptible to influences that are unseen and unheard and yet cause a group of people to have the same inspiration? And where do these influences come from?
I'm going with the Cylon Virus too.
NFI.
My belief is that the query deluge is proof that God hates me.
But, since that's the central theme of my personal religious manifesto, I'm getting ahead of myself.
Seriously, I've wanted to write a novel for decades! I finally reach the point where I have the maturity and stick-to-itiveness to finish the thing, and everyone else has done it, too, so my book gets lost in the shuffle.
Maybe it's because Gen-X has grown up, realized that most of their dreams are no longer attainable, and have turned to writing as an outlet that requires neither beauty nor youth.
D**n, that's dark, even for me. I think I'll have a couple of beers and watch Disney movies until the angst passes.
disgruntled bear and others-
Look on the bright side! If the present trend continues there will be still more queries next year and even more the year after. You have a head start.
I'm pretty sure it has to do with the end of the world. Or sheep.
BTW, I've decided to become a brain surgeon because I'm out of a job and it seems like an easy thing to do. And everybody else is doing it.
Hmm, I was thinking the NaNo novels. Although that seems like a quick turnaround for editing. Heck, my NaNo novel first draft still isn't finished 😛 Perhaps I'm just a slacker…
It can't possibly be NaNo manuscripts, already, can it? Holy quick writing and editing, Batman. Am I the only writer who needs at least a month before the first edit?
(I also don't write as solid a first draft at the speed of NaNo, but that might just be me.)
At Nano speed to finish a full novel I'd need December – and then rest, and edits, and query, and agent research, and synopsis creation: I feel like a bit of a slug if NaNo folks are querying. Wow.
(Also, Terry, you're in company I also have some theological themes in a book I'm about to send out that started this time last year. In urban fantasy/fiction, which, hey, often has such themes: still, it is somewhat worrisome…)
Not many people went to the Hawaiian Islands for a month like I did….too much cabin and not enough fever,,,,,cold on the mainland
Thanks for the thought, Nathan. I better write faster, which is to say, not so slow.
If you count the word, "adultery," in my murder mystery, it could have a religous bent to it. Maybe too bent.
I would cross-reference the queries against the folks who entered your recent contest. Perhaps they believe that since you're familiar with them through their entries, you might have been awed by the awesomeness of their writing skills and might take a harder look at their queries.
That's why I sent mine in. lol
Just kidding…I didn't send one in.
Seriously.
I didn't.
But my sister did.
Okay, I don't have a sister.
I believe it's a combo of the three things already mentioned
1) the recession has given birth to free time
2) Stephanie Meyers and her obscene success
3) the internet continues to change our lives
And a big one, you are marketing yourself really well (well done)
Curious….of the 110, how many requests did you make for partials or fulls?
brent-
Three.
I'm going with New Year's Resolutions + the recent contest + everyone wants to be Nathan's best friend.
Funny that you bring up Cylons. I'm currently having somewhat of a BSG festival (of one) at my place. I'm in the last season. All but one has been revealed. NO SPOILERS PLEASE.
I wonder what I will do with my life when it is all over. Lost starts soon, thank goodness. And a new Project Runway! (the new one better make up for the stinker that was the last one).
Carry on!
I'd like to ditto everything Brent Peterson said, and add that that would be the most nefarious, ingenious Cylon plot ever!
I think the holiday break is what is killing you. I would have sent in my query this week, since I spent my two week break from school tweaking my manuscript. But then, I anticipated you might get hit with an avalanche of queries and didn't want to get lost amidst all that. I would think after reading that many pages, your brain might get tired. No offense. 🙂
My think — in my case — I'm querying now because I've finally given up on the fact that the agent I have my full with is EVER going to get back to me about it. She was one of my top picks (nathan already rejected me, politely :)). I wanted to give her a running start. But, after the holidays, with no word forthcoming, I queried four new agents this weekend and got two requests for fulls today.
Maybe others were waiting around for agents that had their fulls too, hoping they'd get some type of response after the holidays, only they didn't?
I think you're getting all these queries because people love you, and you take the time to listen and write about what they are going through.
Great shot of Niagara Falls, I know that exact spot, breathtaking!
I think it’s the get it in by the end of the year personal deadline thing
Now that you've had an 'attach pages' policy for awhile, have you noticed whether your request rate has increased/decreased?
Also, of every 100ish queries, how many, on average, do you reject before even getting to the pages?
I don't know but I'm enjoying the comments on the subject!
bofa-
My request rate has decreased, actually, because I'm better able to assess whether I am interested.
I'd say I at least scan the pages for half of them. Half it's already apparent before I get to the pages.
Thanks! Here's a token of my appreciation. (You may have already seen this gaff by JR Smith in the game Saturday night, but if not, as a Kings fan, I'm sure you'll enjoy it).
Alright I'll bite.
I know I was one of those unfortunate queries. I guess that's just incentive to redo my query letter. I was hoping that my letter and first five pages satirized religious dogmatism. I guess I was wrong.
Or, it's a not too subliminal, subliminal message that it's time to turn cult status into the status of a cult? ; )
Thank you Elaine. lol!
I definitely have to learn to be more careful about precarious subjects.
At times like this, just be thankul you read fast!
Good luck!
nathan, if it helps any, i'm seeing a lot of amateurs trying to market bad photography. i think it's the economy and the kind of optimism that thinks artsy stuff like writing and shooting don't require any training or practice. they also have lots of time on their hands if they're out of work (and i'm not dissing out of work people, it must be horrible!) and it feels more productive than watching daytime tv?
and also aliens.
People stricken with cancer *again* after surviving unfathomable odds just learned they currently face new insurmountable odds and want to share the peace they've discovered in their personal journeys to help others not go to the depths of despair. Also, Nathan your bio says you like narrative nonfiction (which can be interpreted as memoir) and anything else you happen to like… doesn't mention zero religious tolerance. Perhaps some of those novels have religious comments, but not zealous enough to be fully a specific religious genre…. either that, or the full blue moon that we just had caused incredible amounts of metacognition and people couldn't wait to query their favorite agent.
I didn't see the show Oprah show with Stephanie Meyers but heard she said to "just send your book idea to an editor or agent and see what happens." Yikes!
My bet is on those damn unemployed query zombie robots who want to write a religious manifesto before Nostradomius' prediction of the coming to an end in 2012 comes true.
Hmm, this just occurred to me: the first line of my writing sample the query I sent to you contains a rather violent Bible verse. My novel is not religious and the verse was intended ironically, but maybe it sends the wrong message that my book is some kind of religious tract.
You might have rejected me for other reasons, but I should still think about this point.
P.S. Hi, Ryan Field, good to see you here, too. I'm Mike Russell. 🙂
Arrgh, I missed an "in" in my last post "…sample IN the query I sent …"
Hope.
I'm in agreement with many from above: a terrible economy, internet resources and New Year resolutions. Beyond that, a few extremely poorly written blockbuster best sellers (What the–???) give people hope that maybe they can be the next household name author.
Something not mentioned yet: a writer's inaccurate portrayal in movies and on TV. Every once in a while a realistic spy film, cop film etc comes out, but how many realistic "Author Films" are out there? I don't recall any…they'd be boring as hell. Much easier and more attractive to insist that authors are rich, sought-after and hounded by gorgeous suitors and fans. Besides, with a good idea, it only takes a computer and two weeks to crank out a novel! Riiiiiiiiiight.
But even false hope is hope. Which even ties into the reason for the rise in religious manifestos?
Cylons, aliens, space monkeys, Mayan Calendar. All of the above.
Catch word: glyza. In case your Mayan is rusty.
Crap, I was just about to send my personal religious manifesto in picture book form.
I think part of it is that the thorough and useful instructions your provide for writing a query include the suggestion "Don't know who to query? Start with me."
That's why I did it a few weeks ago, even though I didn't know if it was the type of thing you'd want to represent.
As it turned out, I got a prompt and polite rejection. Which, after bawling for an hour and shouting "he doesn't love me!" I was able to channel into writing a really incredible query letter to someone else.
e.e. and Tara-
I never said I was against religious topics, just that I've seen a lot of them.