How cautious do I need to be with a new query + new name + new first chapters?

OK, I'm paranoid. I need a sanity check.

A year ago, I queried about 30 agents. I got some responses, but no representation. I realized that I was not as ready as I could be. I got 4 new betas, went through 2 comprehensive edits, and changed a ton.

Now it has a new title, the first 1/4 of the novel is new, and the query is completely different. I stopped querying in October 2013, so I queried most of these people a year ago.

I don't intend to query the exact same people. I've got 30 other folks on my list and could probably get more. The problem is that some of them are different agents at agencies I queried before, and some of those agencies explicitly say that if you've queried one of them, you've queried them all. Can I query them? Or is it rude, since a coworker might remember a query with a similar concept?

I'm particularly worried about the agency I got a personalized rejection from. There's someone else in that agency who's looking for books very much like mine. But can I do it?

I only got one request for a partial during my first run, and I have no intention of approaching that agency with the same project, even if I've improved it. It's the rest of them that I'm unclear on.

I'm assuming that since every single thing but the underlying concept is new, it should be OK... But I really, desperately don't want to commit a faux pas.

Thank you all! This is very helpful. It sounds like I'm totally fine to query the agencies that just rejected the query a year ago, and probably OK to query the new agent at the agency that sent me a personalized rejection. Maybe. That's a huge relief.

They only rejected your query, right? They hadn't read the work? If it's really different, I'd probably go for it, sent addressed to the specific agent looking for similar stuff. If it's not drastically different, I wouldn't.

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The original agent's submission guidelines asked for the query, a synopsis, and the first 5 pages, and her personalized email implied the synopsis was confusing (and probably the query, too.) But only one place requested a partial, so no one else read much of the story.

But "drastically different" is subjective, and that's what drives me bonkers. I mean, the underlying plot is the same. I haven't written the new synopsis yet, and I'm planning to rewrite it from scratch, without looking at the original. But the plot is mostly the same, except for the first 1/4 of the novel. A synopsis is a much more detailed piece of work, and I'm afraid that it might be slightly more memorable than a query (which, yes, probably fell right out of the agent's mind the moment they filed it.)

heza said:

Or you could just tell that particular agency that you queried a year ago and have made significant revisions based on their feedback if you're really worried about it.

The worst they'll do is delete the email. At least, I can't imagine a reasonable agency putting you on a blacklist for requerying a significantly revised manuscript a whole year later.

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I could, definitely! But I feel like saying "Hi, I queried this last year, but it's totally different now" might disadvantage me. I want to be ethical--and I'd be glad to include that if it'd be the best thing to do--but I don't want to hurt my chances because I'm being paranoid, either. What if all they see is "oh, she queried before!" and they toss it, because there are lots of amateurs who send the same thing to an agency again and again?

I mean, if it's no big deal, then it's no big deal. I don't know if it is, though.

Siri Kirpal said:

Sat Nam! (literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

It's got a new title, right? Well, then, as long as the query is different and the first few chapters are different, for query purposes, it's a new book.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal

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This is very reassuring. Thank you!

waylander said:

Go ahead and query. What's the worst they can do? Reject you?

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Yes! And that'd be awful!

But I understand what you mean. The agent submission process is just already so arcane. I don't want to get my stuff tossed out for a reason that's unrelated to my actual writing.

But I think I'll probably be OK. Thanks for your advice, everyone!

Old Hack said:

What do you think is arcane about it? And how would you improve it?

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"Arcane" wasn't the word I should have used. I'm sorry. I do understand the querying process, how it works, and why it is the way it is. I don't have an issue with the process.

Mostly, I was trying to casually bow out of the thread. "Great! Stuff's complicated, huh? Thanks, everyone!" I wasn't trying to make a bold statement.

I was trying to acknowledge that getting an agent was... More complex than the process implies, perhaps? I know it's more than just solid writing and a good query. You can get tossed out for reasons unrelated to your query or your ability to follow submission rules. (Although I wasn't trying to say anything profound. It was more in the spirit of "There are lots of things to keep track of! I am aware of this and am trying to be educated and careful.")

I mean, that's why I asked this question--some agencies say you get one shot with one agent per story, and that's it. But there are also guidelines on when a story has been "changed enough" that you can requery. (And then there are other people who say that querying a story too long implies you aren't making anything new, so it counts against you anyway!) So the rules say I can't, but maybe I can because of the changes I've made, and maybe I shouldn't regardless. And hey, what about agencies that don't explicitly say you can only query one person at an agency with one story? Does it still come off as clumsy and amateurish? Would it seem in poor taste?

None of that is arcane, but it's certainly a complex question.

Everyone in this thread has said exactly the same thing, though. Which is great! I appreciate the advice and suggestions. This makes it very easy for me to put this particular worry behind me.