Six weeks have passed since I started querying my middle-grade time travel fantasy. So far, here are the stats:
43 queries sent
9 passes
1 full request (agent ultimately passed)
And I still have 30+ agents on my list who I haven’t queried yet either because (a) they’re closed to submissions for now, or (b) I’ve already queried someone else at the agency and have to wait on that person’s decision.
The query trenches are tough. This is my third time to ever be there. Middle-grade is also a tough sell. Not many agents represent the genre, and the list gets smaller if you aren’t pitching a graphic novel. But even with those obstacles, my mind has remained in a really positive place, thanks to 5 resources that I recommend to every querying author:
For $30/month, Publishers Marketplace helps you identify the top deal dealmakers in the biz, from acquisitions editors to the top agents for your genre.
If you want a crash course in using PM to reverse-engineer the query process, go watch my YouTube video about it.
“Get Signed” covers both fiction and nonfiction querying, but I found it especially helpful for nonfiction. Aspiring nonfiction authors often feel left out of online querying advice, which skews strongly towards the fiction crowd.
But I love how this book gives so much practical advice, written by a literary agent who has had success in the traditional market and is pulling back the curtain on how the industry works. Make sure you grab a copy at bookshop.org so that your favorite local indie bookstore can get credit for the sale.
If you’re an indie or self-pub author, then Publisher Rocket is an absolute MUST. The $199 one-time price tag is worth it.
But even if you’re shooting for traditional publishing, Publisher Rocket is a great way to find your comp titles, identify the keywords that are helping them drive sales, and honing your book’s description around what’s actually working.
I know everything else on this list has had a cost so far, which is why I’ve saved the two free resources for last. But QueryTracker is another must for aspiring authors.
Many agents only use QueryTracker for assessing queries, so…yeah. You need it. But if you don’t want to spend the money on Publishers Marketplace, you can also use QT to filter agents by genre. They have a paid version too that comes in handy if you’re querying multiple projects, but otherwise, you can do a ton with the free version.
The advice on this podcast is literary gold. It is the best source of info for any aspiriting author.
But they also have a great newsletter here on Substack that gives you a BTS view of publishing and second-to-none insights from authors and agents alike. I can’t recommend it enough.
If you’ve got your own query resource to recommend that’s not here, I’d love to hear about it. Always on the hunt for anything that helps authors succeed.
Best of luck out there, fellow members of the Query Trenches. How is your current query going? Let me know!
[P.S. Whether you’re working on a book or need to get more visibility with your already-published book, I’d love to give you a free 30-day marketing plan through ForWord.io]
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