Query Recap & Query Announcement

I’m getting ready to close for queries for a time, and given the state of my inbox, I think it’s probably a good idea. At the time I sat down to do this recap I had over 500 unanswered queries to get to. There’s no doubt that once I reach the 400 mark I’m overwhelmed, so when answering these queries there wasn’t much of a system to my approach. I started with the newer queries because that gives me the opportunity to weed out the easy rejections, things like children’s books, unrequested attachments, and other types of submissions that are nowhere near the type of book I represent; from there I randomly went from query to query.

In 45 minutes, early one morning, here’s what I got through:

• Total Answered: 47
• Of those total number that were nonfiction (the rest were fiction): 11
• Total Rejected: 47
• Requested Partials: 0
• Number who attached the query instead of placing it in the body of the email: 1
• Rejections in which I supplied more detailed information of why I was rejecting: 11 (Note that the reasons for these are usually because there are obvious problems: the book is a novella, the author has no idea how to write a query, the author’s platform isn’t enough for the subject matter, etc.)
• Number of pre-queries: 1
• Number of queries with too many (one is usually too many) exclamation points: 2
• Letters deleted without being read: 2 (In one case it was because the author had submitted twice in a row, and yes, I realize this could have been computer/server error so I deleted one and responded to the other. In the other case the author’s query was obviously sent to 50+ agents).

Random thoughts:

• I get a lot of “pre-queries” asking if we accept international submissions. We do, but even if you aren’t sure, just query. Let us be so wowed by your book that even if we didn’t, we will now.
• I get a lot of submissions with fancy “letterhead”-looking paper. Made to look like a spiral notebook or resume paper. Don’t do this. It often makes the query hard to read. Remember the golden rule of queries: KISS—Keep It Simple Stupid (although I hate that word).
• I know I’ve said this before, but I think it bears repeating. I am not interested in what your novel does. I am only interested in what your book is. In other words, I don’t care what mysteries it explores or what it will teach readers. That’s nonfiction. No one picks up fiction because they want to be taught a lesson. They want to read a story. I also don’t care how your book is written (first person narrative, etc.). Again, I want the story.

When finished I still have 450+ queries in my inbox, the oldest dating back to June 16. As I mentioned, I am closing for queries as of Monday. In other words, this is the last weekend to get your query in before Labor Day. My plan is to reopen September 7. During this time I will work to catch up on all reading, which includes queries, proposals, client work, and some books that don’t have anything to do with work at all.

If you receive an offer from another agent or publisher between July 19 and September 6 and you want me to participate in that offer, please email me with the word “offer” in the subject line. Whatever you do, do not include “query” or “submission,” since those subjects will automatically be deleted. And don’t try to trick me by putting anything other than “query” or “submission” in an email query. I am not taking queries no matter how you try to get around the system.

Jessica

Oh, and one final word, five authors replied to my rejection letters. Most were to thank me, one was to supply information that wasn't included in the letter in the hopes of swaying me, and one was to tell me that it wasn't a query, just a note to ask if I wanted to see the proposal.


***Did you really think I would have only one final word? Silly people.

Janet Reid just posted an interesting blog asking readers their opinions of the practice of agents closing for submissions. If you have a moment pop on over and give your opinion. I did put something up myself, but if any of you are worried let me fill you in on a few things.

Anyone who queries during the time I'm "away" will receive an automatic reply letting them know that I am not accepting queries, that their query will be deleted, and asking them to resubmit in September. I'm very aware that being closed to queries might mean a few missed opportunities and for years I've been afraid to close for that very reason. The truth though is that I need a break. Summer is upon us and I would like the time to hit the pool with my family, lose myself in a good beach read and prepare my desk for a fresh start in September. I want to be enthusiastic about queries and new authors and sometimes the best way to do that is to reboot myself and take time to recharge. This is my time to recharge.

Someone on Janet's blog thought it was very European or very French. I like that. It means I can pretend I'm sitting on the Riveria instead of the concrete of my neighbor's pool.

Query Don'ts

While reading through some queries I very quickly developed a list of things that turn me off immediately. The book might be great, but these are signs that it’s a relationship that just won’t work:

• Don’t rant about how readers are no longer buying books in your particular genre because they all stink, but then tell me how you’re determined to change that. In case you’ve forgotten, I represent the authors you’ve just dissed.
• Don’t go on and on about your shortcomings. I don’t care that you’ve never been published before, that you have no real writing history, or that this is your first book. Of course, now that it’s all I know about you, I care.
• Don’t spend more time telling me every detail about how long it took you to write the book than you do telling me about the book itself. I don’t care, but now I worry that it will also take you six years to write your next book.
• I will not sign any sort of confidentiality clause, especially when you won’t even tell me what I’m signing it about.
• Don’t use the term “chick lit.” This term is dead and, at least at this time, is a turn-off to agents and editors.

Jessica

Avery Aames on Perseverance

Avery Aames
The Long Quiche Goodbye
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime
Pub date: June 2010
Agent: Kim Lionetti


(Click to Buy)


A Writer’s Journey: Say Cheese!


Getting published is hard work. It takes tenacity. It takes passion. It takes friends who won’t let you give up. J. A. Konrath says: "What do you call a writer with perseverance? PUBLISHED!"

Are you just about to give up? Don’t!

Over the course of fifteen years, I wrote a number of books, both traditional mystery and suspense thrillers. I submitted these books to agent after agent and received a number of comments, like “This is so close, but it’s just not for me.” [Sound familiar?]

Two years ago, when I was ready to give up, my critique partner, Krista Davis (who writes The Domestic Diva Mystery series), suggested I write to the market. "Cozies are selling," she said. With nothing to lose, I decided to give it a whirl.

But before I wrote another full book, I wanted to make sure that the cozy hook that I’d chosen was a good hook. I approached agent Jessica Faust at Bookends, whom I had met at a writers’ conference. She had given me encouragement on previous work. I asked if I could submit cozy ideas to her to see if they would fly with a publisher. She agreed. I submitted professionally crafted bibles [my bibles included sample chapters, an overview of the series, character sketches, and a basic outline], but none captured her fancy. After a few tries, we agreed that maybe we weren’t of like mind, so I asked if she’d be upset if I approached her fellow agent, Jacky Sach, whom I had also met at a conference. Jessica gave her blessing.

I approached Jacky with the same request. Jacky agreed. I tried three, but she didn’t think any would appeal to a publisher, so I tried three more. Mind you, each of these took me a while to write, and mind you, Jacky was such a good sport! Again, I received encouragement from Jacky, but none of the ideas were “just right.” Because I knew of people who had been “hired” to write books based on a bible created by the publisher, I asked Jacky if she would keep me in mind if she heard of an opportunity. [Note: I used to write in Hollywood. I created the format for a series on TV called Out of This World. I had no qualms about writing somebody else’s idea.] Jacky said she would.

I didn’t waste another moment thinking about the possibility, and I returned to what I had been writing before I changed track – a suspense thriller. Note: I was still considering giving up writing, but I hadn’t decided what I would do next with my life, and sitting on the couch day in, day out was out of the question (for me). I polished my new novel and started the quest again to find an agent who would think it was the most brilliant piece of writing ever. I received requests for full manuscripts and was feeling pretty sure that something was going to break for me this time . . . soon. [Perseverance requires that you see the rainbow behind the clouds!] At the same time, I took a cozy writing class and a suspense writing class. I polished new chapters and ideas through my critique group. And, yes, I had the occasional mini-pity party. [Note: Don’t let pity parties last longer than twenty-four hours. It takes grit to stop a pity party, but you can do it.]

And then one day, out of the blue, I received an email from Jacky. She had a work-for-hire possibility. Would I be interested in auditioning for A Cheese Shop Mystery series? Of course I would! A cheese shop sounded tasty, fun, and felt like a perfect fit for me. I loved to cook. I used to cater. I almost sold wine and The Cheese Shop, per the publisher’s bible, had a wine annex. Last but not least, the grandmother who raised the protagonist was a sassy character who managed the local theater. It just so happened that I had acted in local theaters and on television and in film.

To audition for the job, I was asked to provide three chapters. I set to work, researching, tasting, and writing. Working within the publisher’s parameters provided a freedom I’d never felt before. I was writing something that had a strong hook and was already “wanted” by the publisher. In a matter of weeks, I turned in the chapters.

But I didn’t kid myself that I would be hired. I’d been rejected before. So I returned to my regular job of writing the next book.

When I was offered a three-book deal, I just about fell off my chair. I was going to be published, writing something I truly enjoyed!

In the future, I hope to sell one of my own stories, but for now, I write as Avery Aames, author of A Cheese Shop Mystery series for Berkley Prime Crime, and I’m thrilled and proud.

My advice: If opportunity knocks on your door, open it and: Say Cheese!

*

Avery Aames, the author of A Cheese Shop Mystery series for Berkley Prime Crime, is the pseudonym for Daryl Wood Gerber. Daryl created the format for the popular sitcom Out of This World and has won awards for her screenplays. She also writes short stories and suspense novels. Both Avery and Daryl like to read, cook, garden, and do amateur photography. Avery blogs at Mystery Lovers Kitchen, www.mysteryloverskitchen, a blog for foodies who love mysteries, as well as at Killer Characters, www.killercharacters.com. You can visit Avery at www.averyaames.com.

LOL

Another fun round of things that make us laugh in the office.

After querying Kim and getting a message (I suspect) that she’s not accepting queries, the author simply forwarded the entire email to me, “Dear Ms. Lionetti” and all.

As per our guidelines we don’t accept unrequested attachments. In other words, we prefer the query to be in the body of the email, and if we request the material we’ll ask for it to be attached. Of course there are times when authors miss this, so I will reply with an email explaining the procedure and reminding authors that most agents don’t accept attachments and that reviewing guidelines before submitting is helpful. In response to one of these emails I received this, and trust me, with an email like this there is nothing you can do but laugh. Oh, and by the way, the expletives were modified by me, not by the author.

I suggest you open the attachments that are sent to you. Then you won't miss great material from great authors!!!

This message means (F**k You!) Maybe you can read that since it's some of my best writing! (emphasis added!)

Well it's not in the attachment... You did not ask for this either!!! It makes me feel better to express my thoughts and use some Freedom of Speech!

I'm sure many writer's want to say it! While you're at it kiss my a** also!!! Take as long as you need to for that!!!

I take the road that is less traveled by!!!!

I suppose I should be flattered by this response to a rejection:

I'm not too surprised at your lack of interest in my manuscript. I believe you to be "much too young" to grasp the full meaning, let alone the appreciation of the time and the setting for which this story took place in

This one should really be a ROFL. It’s a follow-up to a query:

DEAR JESSICA - I SEEM NOT TO HAVE A REPLY TO MY EMAIL OF YESTERDAY - ?

Jessica

Where Do You Get Ideas

This might seem like a silly question but is it ok to use a news story for the basis of a novel? The story in question is about 3 particular non-celebrity teenagers. I'm fascinated by what happened and would like to write a fictional account of the events that might have led to the incident but I don't want to infringe on anyone's rights obviously.

Never a silly question! There are no silly questions, just questions that aggravate me. This, however, is not a question that aggravates me. It’s a great question.

You can get your ideas from anywhere you want. I think news stories are probably the basis of more novels than I can count, just like other novels are the basis for novels. As are music lyrics, actual life events, dreams, brilliant agents, and your mom’s bedtime stories.

To be honest with you, when it comes to a great idea, it’s not the idea or where it came from that really matters, it’s what you do with it. I wish I knew how many times I read an article, saw a news story or read a book and had an “aha” moment. Ask my authors. I’m regularly taking notes on “brilliant” (I use that word loosely) ideas and shipping them off to my clients for execution.

Being fascinated is the first step to creating a great story. As long as you’re not using actual names, details, etc. In other words, as long as you’re fictionalizing the story you can do whatever you want with it. That’s the beauty of fiction.

Jessica

BookEnds Pet Peeves

We’ve done a lot on pet peeves on queries and everyday agent life, but I don’t think we’ve done anything yet that focuses solely on the blog, and I’m sure that some of these will hit home for our regular readers as well. So, as usual with pet peeves, in the grand scheme of life none of these are really that big of a deal, but they drive us crazy nonetheless . . .

Blog comments that exist solely to promote the commenter's book -- for example, "Great post. My new book blah blah blah is just out, and I wish I'd had this info before I sold it/published it/whatever."

Similarly, the ones who post a comment saying something like, "Great post. Check out my blog on a similar subject."

Comments that seem to exist solely for the purpose of criticizing agents and the entire publishing process. Usually the author in these cases picks out one sentence of the original post to harp on.

Authors who read all the comments and then harp on something someone said as if it came from the original post.

Jessica

A World of Ebooks

I would love to hear your perspective on the topic of e-readers and their impact on us as social creatures. Growing up, I was surrounded by books, and to this day I love to touch, feel, and read them . I gauged whether a man was "date-worthy" depending on not only whether he had a library of books but more important, whether he read the classics. Have you ever spied on someone at the grocery store and painted a fairly quick picture of them based on what they purchased? The same goes with personal libraries.

My son was born last year and I try to envision what the world will be like when he's my age (41) and everyone's library is stored in a small electronic device. If you want to draw a New Yorker-style cartoon in your head, the future home libraries will still have the overstuffed leather chair and the tasteful red Persian carpet. The bookshelves stand empty and in one stands a lone Kindle.

Respecting your thoughts and opinions, I would love to hear what you think about e-books and the inevitable death of the paper book and hope to read a blog one day on this topic.

The strangest thing about this question is that on the same morning this landed in my inbox I had been thinking the same thing. I was walking down the stairs in my house eyeing the bookshelf overflowing with books and wondering if my children and their children and their children’s children would love books a little less because they won’t be surrounded by them?

As a child I too was surrounded by books and was often encouraged to read based on the books in the bookshelves around me. In other words, the books themselves inspired me to read. I remember sitting at friends’ houses and scouring their bookshelves, and like this reader, I remember gauging my interest in other people based on what they read. In fact, I remember meeting people and talking to strangers on the subway all because one of us was reading a certain book.

I do think that a world of e-readers will change that and I hope it doesn’t change things for the worse. Will children, will people, be less inspired to read because they don’t have walls of books to grab their interest? Will strangers avoid spontaneous conversation because an e-reader has no cover and there’s no way to know what someone is reading, there’s no opening for an offhand comment about the book one is reading?

I guess, when you think about it, it’s a little like the loss of the front porch. There was a time when the front porch was the heart of a neighborhood. People didn’t drive everywhere, they walked. People didn’t sit inside, in the air-conditioning, in front of TVs, they sat on the front porch to keep cool and talked to neighbors as they passed by. In fact, they sat on the front porch and read books.

I like my e-book. I still really like paper books. I certainly think e-books are the wave of the future, but I’m not entirely convinced they are going to fully replace paper books any time soon. I don’t know what’s going to happen to readers and to “the love of books.” But it certainly does give one much to think about.


Jessica

The End of an Era

As many of you surely know by now, Law & Order, after 20 years, was canceled. I know many were sad to see it go. I was not a die-hard fan, but like most I've seen my share of episodes in reruns. How could you miss it? Every time you turn on the TV there is an episode of Law & Order somewhere.

Actually, though, Law & Order has very little to do with today’s post. What got me thinking about today’s post was a radio interview I was listening to where they discussed that with the end of Law & Order there is no series finale. Like many shows, Law & Order was canceled, and since there wasn’t a decision on the producer’s end to finish out the show, no series finale was filmed. It just ended.

This happens to authors all the time. I can’t begin to tell you how many authors discover, in the middle of their series, that a contract won’t be renewed, and they fret that they didn’t have time to wrap up the series the way they would have liked. Let me explain for those who have never been in such a situation. Let’s say you sign a three-book contract for a series, a series you can see writing for the rest of your life. You deliver the third book and then wait, and hope, that the publisher will want to buy three more. Sometimes they do, and sometimes they don’t. If they don’t, you typically won’t find out until well after you’ve completed that third book, and at that point there’s no going back. You’ve left storylines unfinished and fear that you’ve left your readers hanging. This happens all the time. It happens in TV and it happens in books. In fact, it happens in life. We can’t always wrap things up neat and tidy like we would prefer.

When I thought about Law & Order ending without a finale, it felt right to me. This is a series where you didn’t become that invested in the characters and you can easily imagine them simply continuing on as they left off, solving and prosecuting crimes. But does the same hold true for books? Can you be equally satisfied without a series ending wrapping things up neat and tight? Can you imagine the characters simply going on as they have been, or are you (and have you been) upset to discover that the reason you can’t find the next book in the series is because it doesn’t exist, and now you’ll never really know if the protagonist got what you hope she wanted?

I wonder because authors are always so upset when they don’t feel they can wrap things up, and certainly I understand that, but do they really need to?

Jessica

Settle Down

I don’t know if it’s the warm weather, but I seem to be getting a rash of panicky query emails lately, authors who seem to be especially concerned about whether or not their emails/queries have been received.

Relax, slow down, and do not, ever, check in on your query after only two weeks. I have to admit, it’s driving me crazy. Lately I seem to be spending more time responding to authors checking in after two weeks, checking in to ask if I got the query just days after they sent it, or sending 13 variations of the same query because the wrong name was used or there was a misspelling.

In fact, not too long ago, my assistant got an email from a querier who had received an out-of-office message from me (I was out for one day) and felt the need to follow up with her, to respond to the out-of-office note, to say thank you and she would wait patiently for my response. I’m also amazed at how many people, in general, feel the need to respond to out-of-office messages. Responding to an out-of-office message, any out-of-office message, is not being patient.

I give regular query updates on the blog and through my Twitter address. If you haven’t heard in six weeks' time I probably have not received the queries. Patience, people, please have patience.

Jessica

Does It Get Any Better?

I’m not sure if you can answer this, but I thought maybe some of your readers could. I’m just curious if you ever get past the rejection part of the query process.

I sent my first queries recently, and I have received four rejections so far. I know that’s not a lot (yet anyway), but those four have had an overwhelming negative effect on me. I’m really surprised it affected me so negative, because I read hundreds of post that informed me prior to sending the queries that the majority will be rejections.

My dilemma is this; I seem to have lost the joy to write anything. When I was writing my novel, I was divinely engrossed in doing so. I was so eager to see what was going to happen myself that I stayed up till 4am almost every morning writing (even though I had to wake up with my 2 year old and go to work). I continuously did research on writing, querying, etc. I loved it. After I sent my queries, I was excited every time I saw the light flashing on my blackberry. Then with each passing rejection, it felt like someone was twisting a knife in my gut a little more each time. Now, I literally hate opening my e-mail. I still have several more responses I’m waiting on, and I’m dreading them. It's like these rejections are pretty much a slap in the face. That I need to wake up and realize that I’ve never been any good. I feel like one of those singers on American Idol; you know the ones who sing ok, but still don’t make it to Hollywood. Because no matter how good they sound to themselves and their loved ones, to the world they just weren’t good enough to win.

So is this normal? Does every writer go through this when they are trying to get published? I just don’t understand why I literally can’t find the enthusiasm to write anything. I think I need the electronic form of Zoloft to bring me out of this writing depression. I would assume that electronic form would be an e-mail from an agent, in which they would tell me how much they loved my work. Something tells me though that FDA hasn’t approved that OTC yet, so until then, I’m in rejection hell.

I’m so sorry to hear about what you’re going through. No one said this business was easy and I think that in publishing there is definitely something to the saying “only the strong survive.” You’re right. I don’t know if I can really give you the answer to this. As an agent I have seen my share of rejections and I have definitely had days, weeks, and months where I wondered if I would ever sell anything again, if all editors were laughing at me and my submissions, or if I was better suited to vacuum sales instead of book sales. That being said, the work I was submitting wasn’t a work of my heart. Sure I loved it, but I wasn’t the one who wrote it. There’s no doubt that there’s a distinct difference between what an agent feels when getting a rejection and what an author feels.

I hope that a lot of our readers, both published and unpublished, pipe in today to lend their advice and support. What I can tell you is hang in there. Try to find a way to separate yourself from the submission and find the joy in writing again. Rejection is inevitably a part of this business and you’ll experience it at all stages of your career. You’ll get rejected before you ever find an agent, you’ll get rejected again before you find a publisher, and almost every author gets rejected once again, in some way or another, after publication. What you need to remind yourself is that these rejection letters have absolutely nothing to do with you. Heck, they might not even have anything to do with your writing. Instead of thinking of these letters as letters of rejection, think of them as part of your journey to publication. Each rejection is one step closer to achieving your dream. Go on to your next book and find that joy in writing again. Focus on your writing, not on what others are saying.

Jessica