I’m not complaining. That needs to be said up front. Not. Complaining. I love queries, I want queries, that’s not what this is about. Cool? Cool.
Now that we have that out of the way, let me just level with you: the number of queries coming in is rising every single day, and it’s kind of a mixed blessing. On the one hand, just by sheer numbers there are more good projects coming in than ever. This is great!
On the other hand, the “frivolous queries” that read like a Craigslist personal ad are also on the increase, and disproportionately so. For every one extra good query I receive a day I’m receiving two extra bad ones. This is bad! (and it seems it’s not just me)
As you probably know, query-answering time is in addition to day-in/day-out tasks that are very much a full-time job on their own. It’s not like I can divide my day between mornings dealing with clients and agent stuff, and afternoons devoted to queries. Every minute/hour/several hours I’m spending answering queries is a minute/hour/several hours extending my day. So far I have been able to manage everything and still maintain a roughly-twenty-four hour response time for queries, two weeks for partials, and a month for fulls, but that pace is getting more challenging by the week.
So. What would you do? How would you manage the unsoliciteds when they are forever threatening to overtake the ramparts? Would you only respond to the ones that follow guidelines? Still respond to everyone? Develop a more stringent incoming-query system?
As you answer, let’s say for the purposes of this discussion hiring an intern or assistant isn’t possible. What would you do if you were an agent?
Melinda Mahaffey says
As a magazine editor, I never received quite as many queries as you do – I got maybe 100 per week -but it was the same thing, with most of them being unusable and/or unprofessional (I'd be lucky to get one that was worth a personal response).
I set up signatures with various responses since I tended to see the same errors over and over again. That way, I could just push a button to reply (our policy was to reply to everyone). When someone sent a well-written query and seemed to have made an effort (which was VERY rare), the stock message encouraged them to look at our guidelines and pitch something else in the future. For the rest, the depressing lot, the response just said thanks but we couldn't use it at the time.
The signatures saved me a lot of time; it usually just took me 15-20 minutes in the morning to go through the inbox. (They also came through a different email address than my own so they queries would be available in Outlook, but in a separate area from my regular emails.)
Joanna van der Gracht de Rosado says
Nathan, you are an amazing agent. It would be a shame if (from total burnout) you lost the passion and honesty that sets you apart. I agree 100% with Mark Barrett's comment. Create an on-line form that takes all the queries through the first steps. You scan them and ask for more from the ones that seem right for you. I know you'll figure it out and I also predict there's an incredible book that's going to come to you soon. Within a short time, you will be handling best selling authors that you have discovered. You work extremely hard and you have integrity. You will do very well. Hang in there!
Nathan Bransford says
Oh – also meant to mention regarding delaying responses to people I might be interested: I've had times where I was out of the office and couldn't get back to people for a couple of days, and by the time I was back they were already signed. Hopefully that also helps explain why I jump on things quickly – I send requests for partials just as fast as I send passes.
Cyndy Aleo-Carreira says
I'm giggling a bit at thinking what a dream job it would be to get to read all an agent's queries. Even better than seeing queries dissected on agent blogs, you'd get to see SO MUCH DONE WRONG. I think any aspiring author would jump at the chance, even for minimum wage.
Julia says
I would not reply to unsolicited manuscript submissions unless they are great – and I'll know if they are because I do not see how one can avoid taking a peek at something that's already in a mailbox. I read very fast and within 2 pages I can tell if the book is worth my time. So I'll spend that minute and check out the first few pages even if it's in violation of my terms of accepting queries, just in case there is a gem created by a clueless person who made an honest mistake. I will however reserve the right to not reply to queries that are not in a correct format.
T. Anne says
OT; I happened to be at Borders tonight with my DD and purchased TSY. Excited to read it!
RBSHoo says
I'm still curled up in a fetal position since trying to tackle the 50 queries from your "Be an Agent" exercise last year.
No clue.
Word verification: "gothook" — seems appropriate for an agent's blog.
Kathryn Packer Roberts says
As someone on the 'scary side' of the desk, I would have to say that I wouldn't have my feelings hurt one bit if you didn't respond at all to me if I didn't follow guidelines. Anyone who doesn't follow them isn't worth your effort…in my very small oppinion =)
OR– just take my manuscript and be done with all other queries =)
*that was a joke-sort of
Mira says
They were already signed? That sucks. Sorry.
Okay, ideas.
a. I couldn't help but notice that many recommended a fill-in form. I also couldn't help but notice you rejected that idea. I wish I could get you to reconsider. I'm not sure what you mean about the advantage thing, but people who come to your blog already have an advantage by their name recognition.
I wish, wish, wish, wish you'd reconsider this. I think it would be heavenly for you – the organization, the elegance, the ease, the simplicity, the auto-responders. Lovely.
Then you can find out who you're working with when you request the partial.
Also, you can create the form to meet your needs for information.
Okay, wishing on a star and moving on:
b. Request the partial with the query. Why not? Saves you time.
c. If you don't want to do that then only request fulls and skip the partial. Saves you time, and if you're worried it sets up expectations, you can clarify your policy.
d. Hire an intern/volunteer and have them work on non-query related things. I agree – don't hand over queries to anyone else – but filing? Research? Quick business letters? Thank you letters? Not important phone calls? Let your helper do that stuff.
Well, that's all I got. Hmmmm. Feels like there should be more. If inspiration strikes me, I'll be back.
Good luck, Nathan!
Anonymous says
Eliminate the draconian query system.
Ask the aspiring writers to upload the first fifty pages of their book to a site (linked from here) where your readers can parse and rate the quality of the submissions.
Once a week: Nathan checks the site, reads the reviews and reads the highest-rated partials. Nathan then requests a synopsis and manuscript from the 3-4 most promising writers.
This would save you many hours, and that's time you could spend working for your clients.
Jen Weingardt says
Stick with your response times so you don't get bogged down. Trust your instincts. You know which ideas will succeed and which ones won't. Immediately reject the Craig's List queries and tell the writers to resubmit after reviewing your guidelines. A turnaround like yours is almost unheard of in this business and makes you stand out in the literary agent crowd.
Janalyn Voigt (WaySinger) says
I vote for deletion of queries from those who don't follow guidelines. That reserves your time for those who respect your wishes enough to deserve it.
Anonymous says
Could you use an autorespond to let queriers know that the email has made it to the inbox, but only reply to those you're interested in ("Congratulations… Your email has made it safely to my inbox")?
The most common objection to "if I don't get back to you, it's a pass" is that people worry their emails have been eaten by spam filters.
Dawn Maria says
It's easy to say just ignore the folks who don't follow guidelines, but I know that you sincerely like helping writers, so I would suggest that you have a form letter response you can send to guidelines violators. That way, maybe they'll learn from their mistake. I imagine that this will cut your reading time down too, since those errors are so easy to spot. I doubt you'd need to read the whole query.
Terri says
Nathan – I have good news and bad news. You've become America's #1 "reach" agent.
Just like the deluge of wannabe lawyers flood Harvard every year ("Hey, I don't have a chance, but what if lightning struck?"), everyone with a manuscript is going to throw it at you and hope something sticks.
That's both the good and bad news in a nutshell.
I have to admit, I giggled a bit when you answered an email I sent you with a link I thought you might like. And I am a lawyer for heaven's sake! In our world, you are a rock star.
Now, my "for real" suggestions on dealing with the inbox problem. I also work part-time for our family company and the "got a question?" button on our website comes to me. The questions range from serious to idiotic to blatant spam.
How I handle it (you've heard a few variants on this, but this requires no programming, no intern, no fer-special macros):
1. Make it real clear on your website that answers are not coming instantaneously. Give yourself a break and say that if there is no answer in two weeks assume the manuscript has been released back into the wild. No law says you have to take two weeks, but cut yourself some slack. For me, I say answers in 2-3 days.
2. I have a list of keywords that are common in the spam and useless emails. When I open my email, I run a word search on those keywords. Any that pop up go into a folder to be dealt with last.
For your situation, it could be the real common clunkers like "Dear Agent" and "fiction novel" and "What if".
Also keywords like "twilight", "Rowling", "vampire", "sparkly" and anything else that makes you cringe.
On the flip side, you could also keyword search on interesting words like "monkey" and "bacon" to help float the cream to the top.
2. Now that the morning's take is sorted, open the folders in priority order and deal with them. The lower the priority, the longer the response time.
3. Lather, rinse, repeat as needed to keep the influx sorted.
4. This goes quick once you get it down. It takes me about 10 minutes 2-3 time a day.
4. A dedicated query email address is essential. Make it real clear that anybody who thinks they are showing moxie by using the correspondence email will be deleted unread.
Keep it up! The good news is we love ya! That's also the bad news!
Terri
https://www.whyifearclowns.com
Andrea Franco-Cook says
I get the feeling you want to give potential clients as much individual attention as possible. Although this is admirable, there are only twenty-four hours in a day. You can't do it all.
Perhaps you should limit your responses to queries that meet the submission guidelines. This way you will be concentrating on people who took the time to do their research.
If all else fails, you could try the KISS method (Keep It Simple Stupid). Sort all the queries in two piles. Label the first, "Hopeless" and the second, "Hopeful." Create a standard rejection letter for the first pile and devote more time to the subsequent stack. Joking aside, I hope you find a solution to your problem.
All the best
Sarah Scotti-Einstein says
Nathan,
My first thought is that sometimes it simply isn't possible to manage an increased workload with increased efficiencies. Like many other posters, it feels like the best solution–an intern–has been ruled out, though, and so here are two suggestions that have worked for me. (Different field, same problem.)
First, consider an email solution that will allow you to put individual queries into specific folders and then batch-reply to everyone in that folder. This cuts out having to individually respond with a form rejection. It isn't a huge improvement in efficiency, but if you are rejecting 150 submission a day and it saves you 10 second per submission, that's almost half an hour.
You might also consider finding other places to cut your workload in order to make time for the increase in the submission load. (I am about to make a lot of enemies!) Your blog is pretty prime web property and it's obvious that you put a lot of time and effort into each day's post. I don't imagine you'd have a difficult time finding "guest bloggers" to cover one or two days a week, and I don't think this would hurt the brand equity that the blog is building for you. A small stable of "guest contributors" might free up more hours in your week than any non-intern solution to the increased time spent responding to submissions.
It's a thorny problem, and one I imagine will only get worse. Best of luck to you!
AstonWest says
Set up an online query submission form, and you can auto-respond to all queries that are for a genre you don't represent (or set up the form to not allow those to get through), a word count you won't accept, etc.
I'd say that would take out about 30% of your query load.
Other than that, just set up specific times during the day when you're going to review queries, and stick to it…get what you can done in that time, leave the rest to the next scheduled time. Heck, that's what many of us have to do with our writing time.
Steve says
I think an agent should respond even to bad queries, because often the querier just didn't know better, and they should get feedback.
That being said, I expect that bad queries are both more plentiful and easier to handle quickly. Make form rejections for the most commonly found categories of bad queries. The more inclusive you can make these the more you will benefit. I.e. you want (say) the top 10 = not just the top 3. As the stereotyped problem queries come by, just click reply and shoot back the appropriate form rejection, which should provide at least general insight into why it was a weak query. This part of the process should go pretty fast. Needless to say, also include either full text or a pointer to your general query guidelines, and a link to your blog.
With that much chaff blown away, you can now start to winnow through the unstereotyped material.
Good luck,
-Steve
Anonymous says
I would identify a set of guidelines on your website and state in bold that if you do not clearly meet the guideline (info)requirements then the query will not be dealt with. This can be said politely. You could have a online form to fill in or you could ask people to provide information under particular headings, similiar to seeking a grant.
This will allow you to quickly skim to the most relevant information to determine if you are interested in spending the time reading further.
A standard reply can be sent to people who don't meet the information requirements pointing them to the online guidelines. Then it is up to them to take the time to meet the requirements. You haven't crushed their egos nor offended their aspirations.
Your required fields or headings can be identified in a way that will assist you culling your queries, for example, story synopsis is obviously the first level, next might be the writer's background, they might have written good stories before and, whilst the synopsis put you to sleep, the query might be still worth considering, etc.
If it is clearly stated up front what is required in a query then people cannot reasonably get annoyed. Your response time is incredible and thanks for the great well considered blog.
JDuncan says
Sounds like most of the ideas are in here, Nathan. In order to stay on top and keep the same response rate, you have to obviously find a way to do it even faster than you do now, which already boggles my mind or find a way to cut down what you look at. So, you either create a way to filter ahead of time, i.e. use a form to cut out the crap or stop responding to the "no's". I know form rejections don't take much time, but it's still time to be saved. Another filtering option might be to require folks to put genre and or wordcount in the subject line. So, you get something like Query-Memoir-75k or some such as a way to knock out a few more of the automatics.
Tori says
Maybe not respond to people who obviously are not even TRYING to follow the guidelines? At least, that is what I would do if I were an agent. Your time is precious and should not be wasted on people that won't even take the time to do their research. Is that too harsh?
KFran says
Switch to forms and have required fields, also have minimum, maximum field length so that your submitters will submit the right stuff. You could have drop down menus for your genres and leave out the ones you don't represent. Then, you have three buttons to push, reject which sends them the standard form reject, reject with comments and request partial. I'm going to go design the webapp right now and distribute for free.
KFran
https://karenfcarr.blogspot.com/
Lorel Clayton says
You could eliminate replies entirely by establishing a policy where, if they haven't heard from you in (say) 72 hours, then you are not interested or suited to the work and they should query elsewhere. Then you only have to reply to the ones you like!
Marewolf says
I get the responding quickly thing. I have an outlook account at work, and when that little envelope pops up in my task bar my OCD kicks in and I HAVE TO get rid of the envelope.
You know Miss Snark's first victim blog? She set up a new thingy (yes, I am a writer and "thingy" was the best I could come up with there)that automates the Secret Agent contest. Perhaps it would be worth the time setting something up that auto-rejects anything not formatted correctly.
Or, just stop sleeping, maybe invest in some Depends so there are no wasted trips to the restroom. 🙂
Remilda Graystone says
I think you should only look at the ones that follow the guidelines and/or develop a more stringent incoming-query system. I don't think you should reward someone with your time when they couldn't even look and follow your query guidelines.
Anyway, good luck!
Beautiful says
Go with your gut Nathan. You are a very intelligent man. I understand completely.
Jil says
Why not forget the whole query idea. Isn't it the first page of the book that grabs the reader – and therefor should entice the agent to want to see more? It's being able to write a great book that counts ; writing a query is not the same thing at all.
treeoflife says
Too many queries to read? How about too many blog comments? 😛
But on a serious note, how about restricting your queries to ones that have been professionally edited? That would weed out a lot of garbage, plus people who are not willing to handle criticism.
Caledonia Lass says
I agree with Adither. Your response times seem far too short. Good for you for trying to stay on top day-by-day, though.
I would suggest more stringent guidelines and reading only those who have gone by said guidelines. That's just me, I can be mean that way. 😉
blgrgurl says
I agree with everyone saying make your guidelines a little more strict. If someone doesn't at least bother to try and meet them then are they really that serious? Your response time is awesome no arguments there.
Lucy says
Nathan,
I think my conclusions are probably ones that you're reaching for yourself.
I hate to say it, but you're up against a flood that's only going to get deeper. Unfortunately, I see the time coming when even the most responsive agents are going to have to limit responses in sheer self defense.
At this point, I'd start by setting up an autoresponder that says "Your query has been received. It is now impossible for me to reply to all queries, but if I am interested in reading more, I will contact you within {X time-frame). Thank you for your submission."
Thus the writer knows you have the query, a time frame has been set, and you can delete as necessary.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do–it doesn't sound like a fun decision.
Stephen Prosapio says
I WOULD TELL YOU TO SLOW DOWN!
Seriously, I understand what you mean about the practicality of it, however think of the implications. By responding so quickly to the poor queries, you're encouraging more poor queries. If only by the law of "what we focus on expands" you put that out there that "To query me you'll get a no faster than anyone" — it's great and all…but really time needs to be focused on the "yes" queries.
And if you can't get an intern/assistant to skim queries and rate them into an A pile, a B pile a C pile and horse crap pile, then no one in the industry should have one!
howdidyougetthere says
I get your response time. It's the way you work / stay on top of things. And very much admired and appreciated by all.
Perhaps add to Guidelines if they do not hear back within 24 hrs then you (regretfully) must say…
It's still a definite answer, and doesn't take your time.
Mel says
Looks to me like you have a couple of options.
1. Be aggressive (in a nice way). Make it clear that if your attention isn't grabbed in the first 5 (or whatever) sentences, the query is binned.
2. Get yourself some helpo kiddo. An assistant can tell you what seems interesting and you just read those.
Keep up the good work.
Zoe Winters says
I'd take up drinking.
Maybe crack.
Probably agenting isn't the career path for me, huh? 😛
Anonymous says
Couple of things: Sometimes when I didn't hear back from an agent, I was pretty sure they didn't even read my query. This was even though I knew that a "no meant no." So, even one sentence saying you read it and it's not what you want right now works for me. I don't love the no response option on queries that are decently put together and follow guidelines, at least.
Also, you love queries. You prefer to be queried than not to. So, what other part of your job can be cut back to help your query time? Forum interaction? Contracts (not).
Can't your "go to" publishers simply trust your good eye by now and just take what you give them? That'd save you all sorts of time! Wouldn't that be great?
This post is wasting your time.
sri says
Maybe this is the moment I have been looking for. As an aspiring/budding/almost frustrated but not yet given up writer, I have now developed a website which manages queries for agents. With this tool agents will get only serious queries – no more email queries – no slush pile. I want to test the website which will be up in a couple of days. The tool manages all the elements of the query process.
The issue here is that I plan to charge aspiring writers for the service. What do writers feel about paying for such a service. This is free for agents .Still , how would they react to this new development.There is no such website existing as of now.
I look forward to the reaction of writing community.
Sri
Margaret Adams says
You're probably worried about missing the opportunity to represent that really superb undiscovered writer who has sent you a query but hasn't quite followed your guidelines.
If you're being overwhelmed by incoming e-mails then you might miss this communication anyway, or overlook it or fail to recognise its value because you're tired and overworked.
Why not ask every one who submits to put a specific phrase in the e-mail title? Those writers who follow the guidance go to the front of your queue to be reviewed. Those who don't will be reviewed if and when you have time.
Rough and ready, but it might give you more space for the rest of your life.
JTB says
one more thought
Have a 'query holiday', have set time when queries can be submitted up to. Put up a note saying no more queries until [date]…
Clara says
Hi Nathan,
I know where you are coming, I also had a very tight window to respond my emails at work, and I liked it.
However, you are indeed very fast. First step to a solution would be taking longer to respond queries (I think you have a good timing regarding partials and others). Make it 48 hours to 1 week.
Second step, and most important, is that you have to expect writers to do their research. So, if you receive a query that is abnormally not following the guidelines, toss it away. Notice here, that you don´t need to be picky. One, or two mistakes can pass. But not more. Every writer has to be a researcher, and a damn good one.We are sellers and our books are out products, we have to know the business in order to be able to sell them to the market we want.
I hope this helps you. Good luck!
Ian says
It sounds like you have a really long day. For sanity's sake, you shouldn't respond to queries that don't follow the guidelines.
Maybe you could also close for submissions for a bit if you're swamped. Either that, or you hire an assistant, or get an intern.
teacherwriter says
Month on, month off. Close your door to queries, etc for a month to give you time to read. Post that no submissions will be accepted at that time. Then open it back up when you are ready.
Clara Rose says
I am sure you are pleased with the number of quality suggestions and I have to say I agree with some of them.
You could of course simply delete them when they don't follow the guidelines but then you run the risk of missing a gem because of their oversight.
Patty and Mark offered the first things that came to mind for me, both simple solutions, however my personality type would not allow me to eliminate the human element.
You might consider using the reply with stationary option in your email system (if you are using outlook or express). It is simple to set up and the reply would be a form letter with the added flexibility of an additional comment if you desired to add one.
Wow, that idea came to me prior to my morning coffee!
Thanks for making me think and as always… making me laugh.
Clara Rose
Kermit Rose says
I would, in every blog communication,
refer to my page wherein I explain concisely and precisely exactly
what kind of query letter I prefer, and can read quickly.
Claire Dawn says
I've notice that several agents take time off for the query scene once in a while to concentrate on their existing clients.
If I was up to my eyeballs in queries, I'd shut shop for a month or so. It won't kill authors to wait a month if they're really that interested.
I might miss out on the next Twilight/Harry Potter/LOTR, but I would also miss out on mounds of headaches waiting to happen.
jongibbs says
I think if your guidelines are clear and easy to locate, then people have no right to complain if they receive a form rejection.
I know we all make mistakes on submissions (at least I do from time to time), but let's face it, if someone can't be bothered to figure out how to follow some basic submission guidelines, what are the chances that they bothered to figure out how to write a good story?
Just my 2 cents 🙂
Gabriella says
You need more hours in a day…and here's how to do it.
Have a person in the future who reads queries for you….and sorts the queries into 'must read', 'slush pile' and 'junk'.
The person who reads queries for you should live in a timezone that is several hours ahead of yours. When you arrive in the office in the morning, you are greeted with queries that have been pre-weeded for you.
I'm a Canadian living in Croatia (9 hours ahead of California), and lots of businesses in the USA/Canada use this sort of overseas system (web design, editing, business writing, translation, etc). It is a great way to stretch out your business hours!
If you'd like to give it a try… me and my query-sorting abilities are standing by 🙂
Kate Evangelista says
I wish there was some way to program the inbox to sort the good queries from the bad, so that you know which ones to reply to with rejections. Alas, that isn't possible yet. Right? Or am I missing something?
Ishta Mercurio says
Nathan,
First: I understand how you feel about not wanting to miss out on a good thing. It's that same feeling that makes me want to get my queries out as quickly as possible to as many editors as possible, before they sign some other book that is "too similar" to mine and my MS gets bumped into the "thanks, but no thanks" category.
But: an author who queries multiple agents and then signs a contract with one of them without a) letting the other agents know that they've been offered a contract; and b) giving those agents due time to consider their work is not exhibiting the level of professionalism that you should be demanding. You should be demanding it because you deserve it.
Your blog is the industry's best. You have thousands of followers. You have your pick of authors. Picking the best authors is about picking people who will be professional and courteous and a joy to work with as much as it is about finding people who can write a good book.
That said, here's how I would handle the query deluge. I don't like the "no response means no" approach either, but if someone hasn't even bothered to follow your guidelines, they might not be the kind of people you want on your team anyway. So how about a "no response means you didn't follow my guidelines, so go back and look at them before querying me again" policy? This will (hopefully) eliminate requeries from people who get their knickers in a twist over worrying that their query got lost in cyberspace, save you time on reading queries that are obviously not for you, and encourage people who are serious-but-maybe-a-little-green-and-overexcited to take a breath (or ten), do some homework (which if they're serious and they deserve you they should be doing), get it together, and try again.
It probably won't solve everything, but it's a step.
Also: I understand what you are saying about feeling that reading queries yourself is the way that works best for you. Who knows better than you what you feel you can best represent? I have a Type "A" personality myself, and have a very hard time delegating work to others. But, I have been fortunate enough on one or two occasions to find someone who knew me so well, and knew my mind so well, and was so much like me, that in a particular situation they would have known without a doubt exactly what I would have chosen, because they would have chosen exactly the same thing. I hope that one day, you find the book-loving equivalent of this person for you, and that when you do, if you are still overwhelmed by queries, you feel that you can hire this person as an assistant – not to make the final delicate decisions for you, but to help you to make the obvious preliminary ones.
Good luck.