Question About Querying

Kitty27 · May 3, 2012

I got a full request from an agent and while he passed on the book,he did give nice and detailed feedback,which is always a plus.

Now I see he also wants books in another genre that I write. My question is how long do you wait to re-query an agent with a new book after they rejected a previous project?

A month? Six months? A year?

Any answers/advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance.

JSSchley · May 3, 2012

How different are the genres?

I recall Sara Megibow of Nelson Lit writing a blog post about this maybe three months ago, where she said it was fine to query another project right away, but it always makes her raise her eyebrows when manuscript A was contemporary YA and manuscript B is a erotic romance. She said it makes her wonder about the author's career trajectory and if s/he will write books in one genre long enough to build an audience.

But I certainly don't think from what I've read that you'd need to wait a year. Especially not if the agent was interested enough in the first manuscript to give good feedback. A few months, tops, if that. Sounds like many authors do it the next day without raising too too many eyebrows. I mean, the expectation is that we're all continuing to write while we're querying any given book because we're professionals. It shouldn't be too surprising that you've got more than one in the pipeline.

Kitty27 · May 3, 2012

JSSchley said:
How different are the genres?

I recall Sara Megibow of Nelson Lit writing a blog post about this maybe three months ago, where she said it was fine to query another project right away, but it always makes her raise her eyebrows when manuscript A was contemporary YA and manuscript B is a erotic romance. She said it makes her wonder about the author's career trajectory and if s/he will write books in one genre long enough to build an audience.

But I certainly don't think from what I've read that you'd need to wait a year. Especially not if the agent was interested enough in the first manuscript to give good feedback. A few months, tops, if that. Sounds like many authors do it the next day without raising too too many eyebrows. I mean, the expectation is that we're all continuing to write while we're querying any given book because we're professionals. It shouldn't be too surprising that you've got more than one in the pipeline.

Hi,JSSchley!

Thanks for responding. The first was YA paranormal and the second is horror. I write in quite a few genres,lol.

I'll go with a few months as my guideline. I'd think an agent would like a client who won't be writing in one genre as that means more books but everyone's taste is different.

BethS · May 3, 2012

If the agent basically said, "I'm passing on this one, but would like to see what else you've written," then why wait? Strike while the iron is hot.

JSSchley · May 3, 2012

I think paranormal and horror are close enough that you wouldn't look like you're going in different directions. I'm pretty sure Sara M. was talking about writers who are HUGELY divergent, where it makes the agent wonder if the author would be able to stay in one genre or closely-related genres if s/he got a multi-book deal.

I say go for it!

Undercover · May 3, 2012

I don't think it would hurt to ask the agent you were dealing with, simply say "Thank you for reading and the feedback, can I query you with other works?" Type of thing.

I mean, if you got good responses with this one, I wouldn't wait. If the ms. is ready to go, then go for it.

Oh, and I had a similar situation, mine are all YAs though, but I had three queries. I showed the first one, first...then asked if I could show the other two and one Kevan from Marsal Lyon, although declined them, she was great to talk with.

cate townsend · May 4, 2012

Send the query now, while it's fresh in the agent's mind that he saw enough promise in your first work to request a full, and especially that he took the time to provide feedback. If you wait, he may not remember. His memory is sort of your foot in the door at this point. Good luck!

Miss Plum · May 4, 2012

Query now!

wampuscat · May 4, 2012

Undercover said:
I don't think it would hurt to ask the agent you were dealing with, simply say "Thank you for reading and the feedback, can I query you with other works?" Type of thing.

Rather than this, I would probably just include a line in the new query that says how helpful his/her feedback on previous project was. But I'm new to querying, so I may be wrong.

MJRevell · May 5, 2012

I'd say query right away.

This way they'll remember you, and they'll know you can come up with more than one idea.

Kitty27 · May 5, 2012

Thank you all for your advice!

I'm going to query him right now!

kaitie · May 5, 2012

Undercover said:
I don't think it would hurt to ask the agent you were dealing with, simply say "Thank you for reading and the feedback, can I query you with other works?" Type of thing.
.

I just wanted to clarify that you should never write an agent asking if it's okay to query. This is the sort of thing that tends to annoy them as it's just a wasted email. If your story fits the genres they're looking for, then just send the query. The worst that happens is you get a rejection. If you email first asking if it's okay, then all you're going to do is risk annoying them and then you don't want them remembering you as annoying while they're reading your query.

In this case, I would mention in the query that the agent had read the full manuscript for the previous work and you had a new one for them to look at, perhaps thanking them for the feedback from before. But really, when in doubt just send the query.

Sage · May 5, 2012

BethS said:
If the agent basically said, "I'm passing on this one, but would like to see what else you've written," then why wait? Strike while the iron is hot.

This is my feeling, and I would include the thanks as well.

kathleea · May 5, 2012

I have done something similar and I did not wait. I am waiting to hear on the second query.

Sage · May 5, 2012

I have waited, and I regretted doing so.

dmickey · May 5, 2012

It makes sense to just send a new query, and it's a good idea to remind them they were interested in your other work.

Let us know how it goes!

Question About Querying

Kitty27

So Goth That I Was Born Black

JSSchley

Have Harp Will Travel

Kitty27

So Goth That I Was Born Black

BethS

JSSchley

Have Harp Will Travel

Undercover

I got it covered

cate townsend

Miss Plum

wampuscat

Recovering adjective addict

MJRevell

www.mikerevell.com

Kitty27

So Goth That I Was Born Black

kaitie

With great power comes

Sage

Supreme Guessinator

kathleea

Card-carrying Geek

Sage

Supreme Guessinator

dmickey