As surely as the changing of the moon and the appearance of new seasons of Survivor, there always seems to be a website out there devoted to poking fun at bad queries. These come and go, with varying levels of humor and angst.
The most recent iteration has been the subject of some debate on various blogs in the past week, and I’m curious what people think. Do you find these sites rude, funny, educational, malicious, informative, privacy-invading, entertaining, possibly a combination?
And, just FYI, my personal policy that I will never ever make fun of a query that is sent to me, nor will I quote from one without your permission. Query freely.
ryan field says
Indifferent.
Sometimes it's really funny, and sometimes it's just blah, blah, blah you're trying too hard to get a laugh.
hannah says
A hundred percent against.
Patty Blount says
They're very entertaining, yes. But I'm also terrified of ending up on one of these sites as the poster child of what not to do. (Oh, the shame.)
I want to learn, I want feedback and critical evaluations, yes. But no need to Simon Cowell me.
ed miracle says
No time, Nathan, for query bashers. I'm fully involved on the Left-handed, Gay, Atheist, Republican, Oompah Band Website.
Deni Krueger says
Against. But critiquing is valuable. And most people know the difference between the two.
Cory Jackson says
I'm not a huge fan of these. I know some agent mean them to be helpful, but if I discovered my query used in this way I would be bummed out. Humiliation is not the best teacher.
abc says
I must say, the idea makes me feel icky. I haven't actually visited any of these sites (I swear), but I probably wouldn't look away. I bet there are some amazingly funny bad ones. Still, people have feelings and I hate hurting them.
I answer with no answer. Yet again.
Sierra McConnell says
I think poking fun at is mean, but if its done in an informative way then it's okay. And if they got the person's permission it's okay.
Say…an author looks back and says, "Lord, did I eat grass back then. I want the world to learn from my mistake. Make fun of me to let the little ones know better." And then someone takes that and hacks it to bits for them, then it's okay. I wouldn't mind. Because I sure as heckfire pick my mistakes apart when I see them.
Then promptly hide them under a rug and never own up that it was me. 😀
Anonymous says
With permission or tweaked to protect the innocent is fine.
Otherwise, it's unprofessional. I think there's a reason why so many of those types of blogs are anonymous.*
*Ironically posted as anonymous.
Josh says
I've seen a number of writers talk about being a little more timid regarding queries, for fear of being "that guy" on "that site".
Occasionally humorous, query-bashing serves to enhance the stigma of agents and editors as gatekeepers who revel in making life miserable.
Courtney says
Good topic…I've seen this come up twice recently, on two blogs I follow. These blogs are written by caring, considerate agents. Since everybody is different, there are many ways to present the same information, but at the end of the day, I truly believe all agent/editor blogs are trying to help us writers do a better job. Some just go about it differently. Some hold us by the hand, some smack us over the head, and some point and laugh. They all work for me. I'm learning…and when everybody inherently understands it's not a good idea to offer to stop by an agent's office to drop off your query, then we all win, right?
Taylor Mathews Taylor says
I think there is a difference between websites where one submits one's work (think Queryshark or EvilEditor) and where one's query is posted without permission. I particularly enjoy Evil Editor's brand of humor and have found it to be helpful (having had one of my own early queries torn to shreds there) and humbling. But, were I to find a serious query submission as the object of ridicule without my permission, I'd be pissed.
Ruth Horowitz says
All of the above. I consider them mean spirited and a violation of an assumed trust. On the other hand, they're my guilty pleasure. That said, I'm really glad I didn't know they existed *before* I landed an agent. If I were still in the querying stage, I would live in fear of finding myself in one.
vrgriffith says
I think they can be funny when not too mean. They can also be instructive.
Bethany Elizabeth says
Well… it depends. I don't like sites that are mean-spirited, but some sites that just post a line or two from the query anonymously and add a snarky/mildly sarcastic comment are okay. Sometimes it helps because it points out what definitely NOT to do in a query – not in a nice way, but it gets the point across.
Kayeleen Hamblin says
I love a good critique site, like query shark or the former Monday critiques here on the blog, but I'm definitely against making fun of someone intentionally. I would hate to be the recipient of such behavior, so I won't dish it out or support it when someone else does the dishing.
A.L. says
If someone wants to post their own query for ridicule, that's fine. If they give permission, sure. But it is unprofessional to post someone else's query to your sight for purposes of flat out mockery.
In general, I don't like any website based solely off mocking others, unless the subject up for mockery was put up their voluntarily by the mockee.
Richard says
What bugs me the most is when an agent posts a terrible query and says, 'This is a terrible query! Didn't read my guidelines! Form rejection!' — clearly, 'form rejection' = 'f*** you, author!'
Then I look at my query, which followed all that agent's guidelines, and note with I got a form rejection too…
marilynn says
There's a lot of cruelty out there. Sometimes you just feel like curling up in a fetal position. Being rejected is bad enough; you don't need to be ridiculed as well.
Marilynn
Anonymous says
I'm just terrified of the timing of this blog since I just sent you a query two days ago without a response yet.
I have visions of you and your colleagues laughing, doubled over with glee, tears streaming in the break room while passing around my query.
I'm going to go throw up now…:-)
Tori [Book Faery] says
Depends for me. If it's an approach like https://slushpilehell.tumblr.com/ then I think it's more funny than mean. Some people simply have no common sense when it comes to being professional, etc.
If it's an actual agent poking fun at people then… well, that too depends. Sometimes it's informative. Sometimes it's just plain mean. It really all depends on the approach to posting about the mistakes.
Sheila Cull says
Can you name one of these Websites? A site is devoted to bashing queries? Where?
Nathan Bransford says
anon-
Well, first off, I don't do that, second of all, I've replied to all queries that were sent as of yesterday around 6pm, so you might try sending it again. I've been having some e-mail glitches lately.
signed...bkm says
I do not think it necessary to poke fun at anything written…query or otherwise..what I find is if it is good it will stand on its own..if it is great..soon the world will know about it…if it is bad..it will fade away no matter how much attention it is given….bkm
Nathan Bransford says
sheila-
I don't really want to link to one directly, but you can click through the link in the post to find it.
Cory Jackson says
FYI. Back in February this was a hot debate on Twitter. Author Bob Mayer spoke out against this exact thing. Interesting blog post.
https://www.bobmayer.org/blog/?p=201
Michelle Kollar says
I think if you are pompous and say things that make you sound like a lunatic in a query, then maybe it is a good lesson for you to learn.
Natalie Whipple says
There's a difference between good crits and outright rudeness. It might be funny to some, but at whose expense?
Jesse says
I love that site. You know, sometimes, you just have to poke holes in the pretentious. Besides, humor tends to be a better teacher.
Sheila Cull says
I saw what Tori wrote and went to slushpile… Very funny.
Malia Sutton says
They really piss me off.
AngelB35 says
I think it's rude to make fun of people's shortcomings… I bet someone out there would make fun of that particular 'agent' if they queried a book, too! 'Let he who is without sin' and 'Those who live in glass houses' and all that jazz!
Leah Raeder says
I love them. You can get across so much in a pithy bit of (admittedly, sometimes cruel) humor. What would take hundreds of words to explain is communicated instantly by making light of a mistake. Sometimes the best way to make a point is by showing someone failing woefully and hilariously.
In the end, I think most of us sympathize with the querier anyway, because we know how difficult it is to do it well. And some of the queriers are just obnoxious or arrogant and deserve their lampooning–which makes for guilt-free fun.
I don't think it's disrespectful or an invasion of privacy as long as no identifying information about the querier is included.
Daisy says
I admit, I find most of the things posted on those sites hilarious, though I'm glad they didn't exist when I was sending my first query letters. As long as they leave off any identifying information, the odds that the querier will ever even know it was posted seem slim. And if we can't laugh at people like this, well then, frankly, I don't know why the internet even exists.
Kerry Gans says
I am indifferent to these types of sites, AS LONG AS THE WRITER OF THE QUERY IS KEPT ANONYMOUS. I don't look at those sites (except QueryShark, which is different), so do not live in fear of finding my query there.
My opinion, if you don't like those sites, don't visit them. There's nothing you can do about them, anyway – the agents will do whatever they want.
Gabriela Lessa says
I think that, as long as the author's name is kept confidential – which is what they do in every site I've seen – there is no problem at all. They are funny and, at times, they can be educational. Something that sounds so obviously absurd to agents might come as a tip to an author who was thinking of doing just that. I don't think it's offensive at all. Especially in SlushPileHell's case, since the agent keeps her identity a secret.
bobmueller says
If it's mocking just to mock, then it's a bad idea. If you're using it to illustrate a point, I'd make sure the author is OK with you using it in that way.
Gryvon says
I love SlushPileHell and the #queryquotes (or is it #queryfail) hashtag on twitter. I think it depends on the tone. It's funny if it's just short WTF lines from queries that are anonymous and near-impossible to trace back to the source. Not so funny if you can identify who queried or it's a larger chunk of query without constructive criticism to make up for the targeted snark.
Fran Ontanaya says
I do wonder why any seasoned member of the industry would devote time to it.
Forget even about the public feelings. They would look a bit inexperienced among their equals if they see poor queries as something surprising or noteworthy.
Nobody said publishing was an aseptic job where people doesn't have to deal with much diversity.
kelcrocker says
First of all, I LOVE Slush Pile Hell. The agent picks just a small slice of the query–so it's anonymous, and it's always highlighting the kind of mistakes that writers who did even 10 minutes of research could easily avoid. I think the agent's responses are funny, and I enjoy them.
I've seen other blogs, such as this one, where the agent will critique queries, and I find that very helpful. You have a nice sense of humor, Nathan, and have gently chided people for things such as starting with a rhetorical question. That's fine and funny.
I was shocked today to discover this post: https://cba-ramblings.blogspot.com/
In part, it's about all of the negative responses to a funny Q & A that agent Rachelle Gardner posted a week ago. I tweeted in response to this something along the lines that: Writers who get offended by such things need to get a life, a sense of humor and perspective.
Just because a writer sends a "serious" question to an agent doesn't mean that she can't answer it with a bit of humor. If you don't like the answer, too bad! Seems like everyone is getting a bit touchy these days. Writers need to act as professionally as they want agents to act.
We all love books. We all want good stories to continue. Agents aren't some ivory-tower Gods looking down on the rest of us. They need writers just like we need them. (Unless you want to go another route, which is fine…) I'm just saying…Let's take our craft seriously, but not ourselves.
:: Rant over ::
Thanks for listening.
Rena says
I don't care for them. Most of the emphasis seems to be on putting someone down with rude comments, basically telling people they're wasting their time. If they were constructive or helpful, it would be different. Maybe I've just read some of the more rude ones.
j. m. lee says
I think query-bashing or query-"poking fun of" or #queryfail are just downright unprofessional. Everyone has annoying things that happen to them at work — people not following submission guidelines, people not knowing what they want to drink at Starbucks, client asking for impossible deadlines, etc – doesn't matter where you work. Everyone has something to complain about at work. But I feel that if it's your job to publicly represent your agency, your authors, and to an extent the publishers which have picked up your projects, you have a certain responsibility to be professional.
Meaning, as a barista, it's not exactly professional for me to complain about the annoying lady who just ordered a really gruesome latte in front of the rest of the cafe (or internet). "Hey everybody! Check out this dumb b**ch who just ordered a mocha-latte! Everyone ridicule her!"
What's the point? It doesn't help anyone, and laughing at someone else's actions gets old really fast.
Really, I think it enforces agent pedestalism, clique-ism, and elitism. This is a business venture, guys… not Glee club.
Anonymous says
only fair if writers can poke fun at some of the more interesting rejections.
Stu Pitt says
It's kinda funny. Most of those queries read like joke set-ups.
There was newspaper in the UK a few years ago that sent out queries to agents with sample chapters. The chapters were from a famous book, and all the agents rejected it.
That was funnier.
Rowenna says
Seems like a victimless crime. I assume most of the poor souls sending these kooky queries aren't reading agent or industry websites or blogs as they clearly have no clue what's appropriate in a query–so little to no chance they'll discover they've been made a laughingstock.
Danielle La Paglia says
As long as it's all anonymous, I'm okay with it. Sometimes I'm shocked by what people actually write in their queries & sometimes I feel bad for the writer. Mostly, I just feel bad for the agent who has to read through hundreds of really bad ones to find the golden ones. If you pay attention to some of them you can learn from it. Granted, not all are educational.
Stephanie Faris says
I find it hilarious, and I learn quite a bit from it. Even before this became all the rage, I attended conferences where everyone had a chuckle about the woman who passed her manuscript to an editor under a bathroom stall. In fact, writers have been laughing at other writers for years…and we all, deep down, have that thought of, "Oh God, please tell me I've never done anything that stupid."
Anonymous says
It's only fair if writers get equal time. Some of the rejections we get are interesting, to say the least. Though if you ask for query feedback, that's a different matter all together.
Cory Jackson says
One last note from me…. Even if a writer's name is removed from a query, it may not be anonymous. Many writers post their queries in forums to be critiqued. People have had their queries recognized.
We are professionals. Think about it this way. Say you wrote a report for work, and that report was sent anonymously to all your coworkers as an example of what not to do – without your permission. And then you watch as others join in the discussion to mock your genuine effort. How is anything about that professional?
Julie says
There's something a bit catty about it. Like we're all snickering and gossiping behind our hands about 'those losers'…
On the other hand, you see this in other forms of comedy. We laugh at other people's expense all the time. Like the guy getting nailed in the privates by the baseball on America's Funniest Videos…
I guess it's funny until its us.
Julie Johnson
http://www.busywriting.net