One morning I looked out at the literary agent blogosphere and saw two great posts that had wonderful advice. Rachelle Gardner delved into pen names and whether you need one, and Janet Reid’s Query Shark offered feedback on a query.
There’s just one problem for the compulsive reader of agent blogs: Rachelle thinks you should query as your pen name, and I think you should query as yourself. And Janet wants you to discard your prologue when you’re sending the first five pages, whereas I want to see how you think the novel begins.
What in the world is a conscientious writer to do about all the contradictory advice out there?? It’s hard enough just to write a query, let alone writing it when you’re being spun in circles.
Here’s a checklist.
UPDATED 5/30/19
Take a deep breath
As long as you’re getting the big stuff right, you’re going to be fine. You don’t need to have every single little teeny tiny thing perfect. You can get an agent’s name or gender wrong and they still might request your pages.
An agent is not going to reject you because you sent them the first five pages of Chapter 1 instead of your Prologue if they like the idea and your writing.
Don’t sweat the small stuff. Because really: if an agent is going to reject your query over some small niggling detail, are they someone you’d want to work with anyway?
Remember that publishing blogs are just trying to help
I know how tempting it is to throw up your hands and just think that literary agents are so many Goldilocks with completely different ideas of how hot the porridge should be.
Please just remember that everyone offers so much advice because people ask.
We get e-mails and comments all the time asking about everything from paper size to fonts to anglicized spelling to serial commas. So we try to help, and we’re not always going to agree on everything.
Personally, when I’m wearing my author hat I’d rather have too much information than too little, so I tend to err on the side of dispensing too much advice. It’s up to you to decide which advice you agree with and which you don’t. Just remember that we’re trying to help, not trying to make your life miserable.
Not all publishing advice is created equal
I went back and looked at some of my early blog posts, and holy cow a lot of them are way out of date (I try to update as many as can as often as I can).
Consider the source, consider the freshness of the advice, and beware of anyone who tries to tell you that there’s one way and only one way to find successful publication.
Occasionally an author out there somewhere will have a sense that the way they found success is The Way That Should Work For Everyone, whereas people who have worked across the publishing spectrum have seen the proverbial cat skinned in an impossibly vast number of ways.
Try to meet an agent’s specifications, but don’t go crazy trying to do it
If you happen to remember that Rachelle wants you to query with your pen name and I want to hear from the real you: great! Query accordingly. But don’t go creating a massive spreadsheet with every agent’s particular individual, tiny preferences. No agent expects you to do that.
If you think the contradictory query advice is mind boggling, just wait until you reach the publication stage
In case you haven’t noticed, this business is an art, not so much a science. There’s no one way to do things, and you’re going to face conflicting advice and opinions about your manuscript, cover art, marketing plan, you name it.
There are even more opinions out there than people (sometimes people can’t even decide what they think and have multiple opinions). At the end of the day, all you can do is just take all the advice into account, and choose the route that works best for you.
Need help with your book? I’m available for manuscript edits, query critiques, and coaching!
For my best advice, check out my online classes, my guide to writing a novel and my guide to publishing a book.
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Art: Exilium Melancholiae by Bartholomäus Hopfer
Terry Odell says
Although I blogged about not sweating the small stuff recently, it's still a headache for someone trying to get it "right." Especially when there is no "right."
Terry
Terry's Place
Romance with a Twist–of Mystery
Scott says
Good advice, Nathan, as always.
As an aside, I've looked through your website and I've read you for a number of years, but I can't find a definitive answer about memoirs. Do you represent them, and what is an acceptable word count range for such a work?
Thank you,
Scott
Nathan Bransford says
scott-
I do, and I don't really offer advice about word counts. It all depends on the work itself.
Dan says
The only rational response to conflicting query advice is to disregard all of it and do the opposite. Specifically, you should:
Query as your main character Pen name? Real name? Forget it. Query in character. Especially if your character is a sex offender, a serial killer or an angel. If you open your query with "I am an Angel of God, sent to Earth to serial-kill the women who won't date me," there's no friggin' way an agent won't ask for your pages. That's what they call a 'baller hook' in the biz.
Insult the agent If you can diminish their sense of self-worth, agents will become desperate to associate with you, so that they may shine with some of your reflected glory. If you tell an agent that you think he is an idiot but that he can prove you wrong by representing you, he will be filled with an unquenchable desire to prove he is not an idiot. That's just psychology, or something.
Mass e-mail queries You're busy and your book is a hot commodity. Let everyone know it by sending your query to everyone in Writer's Marketplace in one e-mail with the salutation: "Dear Sir or Madam." That way, they know they have a lot of competition and they had better get around to requesting your full immediately.
Good luck to you, Noble Writer, and godspeed.
Scott says
Thanks, Nathan. I'm thinking mine will wind up in the 50K range. It seems like I've read somewhere else that 60K is the norm. I think that would be a stretch for what I'm doing. When I'm done, when I think it's ready, I'll query you and we'll see how it stacks up!
Juice in LA says
Ah the memoir word count… well, Scott. I would not take my perspective over Nathans, AT ALL, because I do get the feeling he'd rep a good book without regard to numbers.
But if you can't get Nathan, I can tell you that I have had 3 agents tell me they would have a hard time even getting a publisher to look at a memoir over 110,000 words, and the publishers prefer it to be around 60,000 words.
I have not yet decided if I can make this "cut", but I understand the issues (cost to print, turning off the typical memoir reader with heft.)
Good Luck!
juice (www.moreinnerstrength.blogspot.com)
Anonymous says
I don't want to play the game anymore. It's too confusing. I give up. I'm going to E-publish.
Candyland says
Maybe you should just do ALL of it. You know, like send multiple emails informing them of option a, b, or c. That won't be annoying at all.
Author Guy says
Uh, Dan? Much as I hate querying, don't query, and would rather die than try to write another query, somehow I don't think your advice is spot-on.
Marc Vun Kannon
https://authorguy.wordpress.com
dcamardo says
My biggest struggle is where to put word count and genre. Some agents want it up front, some want it at the end.
Emily White says
Great post! I do find the conflicting advice frustrating in some instances, but I do appreciate the information being there. I'd rather have to take detailed notes on what so and so wants than feel like I'm going about it blind.
By the way, I love the cover for your book! If I'm completely late on that, I apologize. 😮
Jess Tudor says
This isn't going to be a popular opinion, but…
I saw the headline for your post on Twitter and thought, "My goodness, why do we even need a post on this?"
Because, really, isn't it common sense? Tailor your query to the agent. If Nathan wants the prologue, give him the prologue, but give Janet the first chapter. You should find their preferences out in the prereq research you've done on them, so what's the big deal?
And if it's something that can't be tailored, go with your gut.
I'm reminded more and more in the over-informed information age of Kant: Immaturity is the inability to use one's understanding without guidance from another.
Sure I read all the blogs and want to make sure I get it as right as I can, but "how to deal with contradictory advice", query or otherwise? it just seems a bit much.
Krista V. says
Oh, Dan's going for the Comment of the Week Award:)
Nathan Bransford says
Ha – Jess, it's funny, I was thinking something similar right before I hit publish. But I always err on the side of TMI so there you go!
Regan Leigh says
"As long as you're getting the big stuff right, you're going to be fine. You don't need to have every single little teeny tiny thing perfect."
This is all I need to hear so that I may avoid insanity.
🙂
BJ says
That's what a lot of folks don't get: Agents are individuals with their own preferences. So are editors.
When I see an argument over TNR vs Courier, I can give names of editors on either side. When I see someone arguing over what goes into a query, I can point to blogs or submission guidelines that want different things. You can even find two agents in the same office who want different things in queries.
Best rule is to follow the agent's guidelines. If they don't give specifics and if you don't know their preferences, just go with the most interesting query you can write.
D.G. Hudson says
You must have an incredible intuitive mind, Nathan. I have been trying to sort through all the different querying advice, and this is very timely.
You're definitely on my list to query and there are a few others that I consider my best bets.
Thanks for addressing the Pen Name issue as there are many reasons that authors use them. I think the agent should know if an author uses a pen name, if its applicable. (e.g., if you're referring to your blog ID)
Personally, I like your way of asking for information. Guess that's why I follow this blog.
A great Monday morning post, Nathan.
Joni Rodgers says
Scott ~
If you don't mind my two cents worth: "Norm" is a fat guy on Cheers. There's no such thing in publishing. A book should be as many words as it takes to tell the story, but the publisher needs the heft of a book to support the price point. I recently did a YA mini-memoir for a young pop star which will be mostly photos, and the word count on that was 31K, so IMHO, 50K or even 60K would be very slim. The minimum I'm usually asked for is 75K. My forthcoming book is about 118K. Most memoirs for adult audiences fall somewhere between.
Peace, love and grooviness ~
jr
PS ~ Right on, Nathan. As usual. This is a really excellent blog for aspiring authors.
Anonymous says
No massive spreadsheet with each agent's preferences? But I just made my massive spreadsheet with each agent's preferences last weekend!
If only I were joking.
T. Anne says
Another great reason to research the agent you're querying to see what they want. I don't mind the contradictions.
Marjorie says
This is impeccable advice, but I still wonder about an author who has written a terrific book and who just may not read agents' blogs for advice and not send a good E-mail query. What If he broke all the rules and sent a few chapters via snail mail?
I think there is too much emphasis on the way these queries are formatted. It's like fixating and obsessing over the ingredients of a recipe and never getting to the point where you evaluate the dish.
Years ago before computers, how did agents determine which authors to represent? Jack Kerouac carried that scroll around in his rucksack.
Raquel Byrnes says
Okay, so don't sweat the small stuff. Make sure my query is professional, targeted, and the best of my work…and then take a breath and send. Got it. =)
Edge of Your Seat Romance
Douglas Morrison says
I have been trying to reduce the variables by charting agents query preferences… Ok I wasted a bit of time…maybe alot of time. It has been interesting. I have come to believe that the preferences are as much about seeing if a author can follow a set of rules at the outset. Especially on agent site that actually insist on strict compliance with their guidelines.
I think most agents are looking for a better or more efficient way appreciate the queries they receive. Writer's Digest has some amazing numbers for the amount of queries agent read…AMAZING!
The best advice I've found was on this site : follow the rules an agent asks you to follow, but add just a touch of self as you feel necessary.
I have been WAY over thinking this whole process. I have been writing different query letters for each of the agents I plan to query…EeeeeK!
Nina says
Nobody is created equal. To think that many books out there went through maybe hundreds of agents hands before they reached the right one, says enough.
It helps you relax a little…
Mira says
Dan, that was funny! Good stuff.
Nathan, thanks for tackling the thorny issues. I really appreciate your advice geared toward the practical and the 'relax' approach.
Personally, I can't talk about the query "system" without getting really grumpy, so I'll stop now.
Sierra McConnell says
This is so true. I have tried and tried to get query advice for what seems like forever and only just this weekend got the perfect advice.
But even then there's going to have to be some tailoring done to the letter, I know. I had some people tell me I had to rewrite it each time, because if I didn't, no one would want to read the book. But if I rewrote it each time, they wouldn't get an accurate look at how I wrote the book, so I would feel as if I was misrepresenting myself. Lying, just for them. One synopsis should do the trick for a little while, and if that doesn't work, then I'll revisit it.
And on the subject of pen names, I already have one, because I know I'll need it. I was named after a celeb and I hate my name. Sierra McConnell sounds so much more fantasy than Jessica /Leslie Nielsen/. Ugh.
Julie Geistfeld says
Nathan,
Thank you for this post! I thought I was querying ok, then I read more advice and refined my query. I knew I was querying better and even got a request for full. Then I read more advice, and more, and more and then I almost lost my mind!
A few tears and probably very strange queries later, I realized I had to stay true to my writing and my novel first, get the main requirements for each agent, and hope for the right match with an agent who gets me.
Still waiting for that match, but doing it more patiently now.
Thank you to all the agents, including yourself, who make yourselves more accessible and 'human' to all us writers out here.
Rebecca says
The timing on this post could not have been better, as I spent the entire weekend trying to make perfect my query following conflicting advice. Since I know there are no glaring errors, I suppose I should just step up to the plate and send it out.
Thank you for taking the time to help us out.
Dayana Stockdale says
Well we all know how you like your porridge! This is good advice. All in all, the takeaway message for me is, do your research and write the best query you can, and then relax.
marilynn larew says
A very timely post. I am suffering from a surfeit of advice. I only wish it were lampreys. I like eel.
When I was doing academic work, I often found myself obsessing about that last article I couldn't find. I'm doing the same about querying, so I decided to stop doing that, try to follow the individual agent's instructions, and let it go. If you do everything everybody tells you to do, there will be no time left for writing.
LaylaF says
Thanks Nathan. As always, very level headed advice.
But, darn! Now, I wish I had included my prologue when querying you, then for sure I think you would have requested more…darn darn darn. j/k 😉
Katrina L. Lantz says
Okay, so…hypothetical questions?
What if the world was about to end?
What if Tommy held the key to its salvation?
What if Sara Lee made the best pie in the world, but it wasn't enough to ward off the invaders?
What if the only way out was colonization…on Mars?
Is this ever going to be a good way to write a query? 🙂
swampfox says
It seems more people write books than read them. It seems.
Christine Macdonald says
Thank you for this. I always take something from your blogs and they are usually "okay…. relax…keep plugging away…you know a little more that will help you now."
Many thanks,
Christine
@thatgalkiki
Jared Larson says
Nathan, you make this entire process so much clearer, it's amazing. Thank you.
And, why is it I just barely noticed the cover for your book on the right hand side of the blog? That's awesome!
TKAstle says
Hallelujah for the voice of reason.
Susan Kaye Quinn says
The best advice I've heard about this (besides your entire post, which is awesome) is to educate yourself in the blogosphere, and then step back and do what feels right. Hopefully, it will be successful. But it most certainly will be YOU.
BTW, I just noticed the cover for Wonderbar! Very cute! 🙂 Can't wait for my boys to read it!
fashionbloomusa says
Hi Nathan,
What are your thoughts injecting humor in a query or story that deals with a serious topic? That's the topic of debate on the Query Shark post that you referenced in your original post.
And how in the world do you have time to do all the things you do! Reminds me of that movie Multiplicity
Marilyn Peake says
Wow, very timely advice for me. First, I’d like to say thank you for all the incredibly valuable advice that you provide on your Blog and in your Forums. I’ve learned a lot. You’re right about finding information on some agent Blogs that contradicts advice on other agent Blogs; but over time I’ve found it all very helpful because I’ve been able to learn what only one or two agents prefer and what almost all agents prefer, and I’ve learned a lot about trends that change.
Right now, I’m having an incredible dilemma about contradictory advice; and, if I find enough guts to do it, I’ll probably ask you about it in the Ask Nathan thread in the Forums (which, by the way, is an incredibly generous thread for you to provide!) I have a science fiction manuscript that I’m thinking I should stick in a drawer for a while, but for which I also keep thinking maybe I should keep sending out queries. It took me a long time reading your Blog and other agents’ Blogs to figure out how to write a decent query letter. On about the 40th version of my query letter, I finally started getting requests for the full manuscript along with personalized responses even when the agents were no longer representing science fiction. Long story short: I’ve been getting feedback to the full manuscript that it could be a best-seller, is "high concept," and that it's based on a brilliant idea. BUT everyone has disliked different characters in my novel, and no one has disliked the same characters … so your post today about contradictory advice really resonated with me. In my case, I think everyone who read the manuscript had very credible advice, but I’m stuck about how to edit, since everyone had completely different advice. For now, I’ve moved on to another novel in a completely different genre that concentrates specifically on the development of all the characters, since that seemed to be the problem with some of the characters in my science fiction novel.
lexcade says
*internet hug* thanks for the reminder, nathan 🙂
lexcade
Jeffrey Beesler says
The advice seems contradictory because it stems from the fact that everything is subjective. A matter of taste and such. In the end, the author has to decide what works and what doesn't work, and go with that.
Jess Tudor says
Too funny, Nathan. I didn't mean I don't think it's a helpful post and a relief for some, it just feeds a growing frustration I have with society at large. Didn't mean to take it out on your blog. 🙂
Marilyn Peake says
Hmmm … My comment disappeared into cyberspace as I was posting it. Just testing to see if this one appears. If it does, I'll try posting again.
Nathan Bransford says
Marilyn-
Sorry – Blogger, in its infinite wisdom, created a Spam filter, which is nice, but it doesn't alert me when a comment has landed there. I'm just supposed to check in occasionally (shaking fist at Blogger). Anyway, I marked your previous comment as "not spam" and freed it from jail. It should be there now.
Marilyn Peake says
Thank you so much, Nathan, for freeing my comment from spam jail! I'm so sorry I posted twice. I saw your response after I posted a second time. 🙂
Kristy says
Great advice as always and also a little daunting!
Rachael Harrie says
Nathan, that's such fantastic advice. I do try to keep track of individual agents' preferences, though not in an over-the-top way I think. I guess I look at it as one more little thing I can do to improve my chances of success. But it's nice to hear that occasionally mixing things up or not complying exactly with a querying method preferred by one agent should not spell the end for my query. Onwards and upwards!!!
Remilda Graystone says
I was wondering about this, and this post helped me out of my confusion. Thanks.
Kelly Wittmann says
Great post, Nathan. When I was just starting out, I used to drive myself insane, trying to tailor my queries to the individual taste of each agent. Such behavior is really a time waster and an energy drainer. If you have a well written query, it may not appeal to every agent you send it to, but you certainly won't "get in trouble." In all my years of querying (14), I can honestly say that I've only had one agent (out of hundreds and hundreds) go truly psycho on me over nothing. It's just very, very rare.
Cathi says
Dan- LOL!
Some might think this post is common sense, and when you sit back and take a breath, maybe it is. For me it was an arm around the shoulder and a hug from someone who cares enough to say, 'hey, follow the rules, do your best and let the agent gods do as they will.' The timing was perfect for me beause my head is getting ready to implode with info overload, so I say thanks, Nathan, for caring. Even the most simple reminder or pat on the shoulder means a lot. Take care, all.