On Queries and Agents: Information Sources

BarbaraSheridan

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I made a little tweak. You really want someone who does more than rep Genre X. If you're their first attempt at selling YA or romance or thriller, even though it's on their list, then you may only be hoping they have the contacts in place.

Oops. Thank you for the tweak. My mistake for not adding that in.
 

tulugaq

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up-to-date links with query advice

Not a big surprise when the post and its links are six-and-a-half years old.

I just rechecked all the cross-links on my own 'query advice' page, and they're all working (for now). Maybe you'll find some of these useful:

http://www.charleypearson.com/QueryPage.php

FinePrint Literary is updating their website, so sub-links to their pages may not work in the future. (I imagine the main FinePrint web address will remain the same, tho, and hopefully you can find their material from there.)

Good luck!
 
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CaoPaux

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M'kay, I've gone through and updated links where possible. Let me know if I missed any.
 

Steven Hutson

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My fav source for info on agents, is Jeff Herman's Guide. It gives an extensive bio for each agent, with insights you won't find anywhere else I've seen.

Also a great source of info on publishers, more informative than Writer's Market. WM might have more listings, but Herman has more and better info on the ones they do list.
 

Mathion

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I'm just wondering how I can get an agent to respond positively to my letter when I have no prior publishing credits :Huh:

Help!! haha
 

CAWriter

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I'm just wondering how I can get an agent to respond positively to my letter when I have no prior publishing credits :Huh:

Help!! haha

They care more about the project you are pitching and your ability to do it justice than they do prior credits.
 

Siri Kirpal

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I'm just wondering how I can get an agent to respond positively to my letter when I have no prior publishing credits :Huh:

Help!! haha

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

By writing a striking query letter and sending it only to agents who rep your genre. And adhering to their querying rules. Oh, and have a beautifully polished manuscript to submit. You may need to include sample chapters/pages.

In case you haven't found it yet, the place to look at successful queries here is Query Letter Hell in Share Your Work. Password is vista. Read the stickies (but also use your own judgment). Read some thread, especially in your genre, all the way through. Once you reach 50 posts, you can post your own query for mauling...er, critique. You can critique other people's queries now.

Once you reach 50 posts, you can also post short sections of your ms in the relevant section of SYW (same password).

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal
 

Mathion

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

By writing a striking query letter and sending it only to agents who rep your genre. And adhering to their querying rules. Oh, and have a beautifully polished manuscript to submit. You may need to include sample chapters/pages.

In case you haven't found it yet, the place to look at successful queries here is Query Letter Hell in Share Your Work. Password is vista. Read the stickies (but also use your own judgment). Read some thread, especially in your genre, all the way through. Once you reach 50 posts, you can post your own query for mauling...er, critique. You can critique other people's queries now.

Once you reach 50 posts, you can also post short sections of your ms in the relevant section of SYW (same password).

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal

Haha I'll do my best! I'm eager to share my work (and even more eager to get it published) so I'll do my best to get to 50 without spamming :D
 

waylander

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You might also want to look at the archives of Queryshark (queryshark.blogspot.com)
 

Thedrellum

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By the way, Mathion, Waylander is not being facetious. Just start from the earliest post on Queryshark and read forward until your eyes start to bleed or you get what you need.
 

Dysnomia

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Hi there! This might be a really dumb question, but I was just wondering if you've written a series, should you state upfront in a query letter that the novel is part of a series? Or is that info not needed to be known as of yet?

Also, should you choose an agent who specifically states he/she's interested in a series or does that not matter?
 

Old Hack

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You query one book at a time. So only query the first book, but you would be fine to mention that it has series potential.

Don't look for agents who state they're interested in a series: it's not a pertinent point.
 

Dysnomia

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You query one book at a time. So only query the first book, but you would be fine to mention that it has series potential.

Don't look for agents who state they're interested in a series: it's not a pertinent point.

Thank you for your reply!
 

aus10phile

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FYI - the Victoria Strauss links under "on getting an agent" in the initial post don't seem to be working.
 

mommaareaux

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Literary Agents

Anyone know of literary agents who are actively seeking new writers for the YA fiction genres? I had two contracts from publishing houses, but after many discussions through various threads, it seems to be in my best interest to find a literary agent rather than go through a small publishing company.
If anyone has advice or comments, please share. I had one agent interested, and she asked for my full manuscript and a few weeks to review, but when I e-mailed her to let her know I had a publishing house interested, she asked for more time. I still have not heard back from her and I am not sure how much "bugging" I want to do.
Lots of information I just purged, any help is obviously needed.
 

Maramoser

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mommaareaux, try Querytracker.net. You can sort the agents by which genre/categories they're interested in and you will find many, many agents that are looking for YA. (and be aware that not every agent is listed on there, so you can also use AgentQuery, which is linked in the original post). Be sure you are ready to query first though, and that you've read all the articles linked in the original post!

Also keep in mind that, like publishers, some agents are more reputable than others--the forums here are a great resource for that.
 
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PhelanLutze

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As a new fish who has just finished primary editing on my manuscript, this entire thread is perfect. Thank you all! The longer I trek through the many threads of this site, the more apparent it becomes that this site is invaluable to any aspiring writer. ( it also doesn't hurt that there are so many wonderfully unique people to talk to )
 
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