Query Response Round-Up: Week of 9/15/23

It’s been another twenty days or so of sending queries and waiting for responses. Things have slowed down a bit–I’m kinda running out of agents to query–but let’s take a look and see how the last three weeks have panned out.

First, here’s my overall query stats as of today.

• Total Queries: 34
• Rejections: 11
• Full Requests: 3
• CNR: 3
• Pending Queries: 17
• Pending Requests: 3

As I said earlier, I’m running out of agents to query. There are some good reasons for this, and those reasons are almost worthy of blog posts of their own, but let me give you a quick rundown.

1. I write horror. The simple fact is that there are fewer agents that represent horror than any other (major) genre besides westerns. When I last ran the numbers on QueryTracker, there were 93 agents who repped horror and were currently open to queries. So why haven’t I repped 93 agents? Well, see below.
2. One agent per agency. Many agents work at a literary agency that can include dozens of agents. Most of those agencies do not want you to simultaneously query two or more of their agents with the same project. So, for example, there might be five agents at ABC Literary Agency that rep horror, but I can only query one at a time, and the others are basically off-limits until that first agent passes. BUT some agencies operate under the assumption that an agent who passes on your manuscript shared it with all the other agents they work with who might be a good fit, and those agents passed as well, so they ask you not to query any of their agents with that project. Whether or not that actually happens, I have no idea, but since I follow submission guidelines to the letter, that’s more agents are off limits for my current novel.
3. Do you really want horror? Sometimes, I’ll find an agent on QueryTracker that lists horror as one of the genres they rep, but when I do a little more research at MWL or Publishers Marketplace, turns out they aren’t looking for horror at all. They want memoirs or YA fantasy or something that is absolutely not horror. So, you know, I don’t query those agents. 🙂

As you can see above, there’s a pretty good reason I’ve only queried 34 agents out of that 93. I do keep an eye on QT’s New & Updated Agents list to see if any agents have recently opened to queries or if a promising new agents has opened up shop.

Rejections

I received two more rejections since last I posted one of these updates. Let’s take a look at them.

Rejection #1 – 9/9/23

This is not right for me, but thank you for the look.

They don’t get much shorter and more-to-the-point than that. I honestly have no problems with rejections like this. Boilerplate platitudes are nice, but I don’t really need them, and a simple no is perfectly fine in my book. This agents only asked for a query letter via email and responded in four days.

Rejection #2 – 9/12/23

I’m sorry, but your project does not sound like a fit for me at this time, and so I will have to pass. Thank you for considering me and best of luck with your future queries.

This is a typical form rejection, and it took 36 days to arrive. Other than that, there’s not much to talk about. Here’s what the agent wanted in the query package.

• Query letter
• Synopsis
• First three chapters of the novel
• Pitch
• Separate bio
• Target audience
• Similar books

That’s a pretty complete query package, and though it’s a small sample size, I’ve done better with agents that ask for more materials rather then less. Not this time, though.

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I did CNR two more queries, but other than that, the two rejections I covered above are all the activity I’ve seen in the last three weeks. I’m hoping I’ll hear back on one of the full manuscript requests soon, but it could still be a while. Of course, I’ll let you all know as soon as the blessed news/crushing rejection arrives. 🙂

Thoughts or questions about queries or these responses? Tell me about it in the comments.