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So, I'm trying to get a book published. Which means I'm looking at agents and copyeditors and reading dozens of articles about how to write query letters. But I have a lot of questions that seem to have conflicting answers, so I figure I'll ask for goon insights. How important is it to have your manuscript professionally edited before querying agents? I know that it is a must if I end up going the self-published route, but I have no idea how the industry works in that regard. Some articles say it's not vital but nice, others say that its an absolute must. Does it depend on the agent? Am I safer just getting it done regardless? And query letters. Is there a formula or format that works best? I went the self-publishing route a few years back and learned that I'm terrible at self-promotion. Really, any advice on writing queries is helpful. That's probably the most daunting part of the process for me. Any advice in this department? What your experiences? And apologies if there's already a traditional publishing thread I overlooked.
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Feb 1, 2020 01:42
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| # ? Apr 26, 2024 10:06 |
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You (probably) don't need a professional copyedit before querying - you should certainly have beta readers/critique partners help you polish the manuscript as much as possible and grammatical mistakes won't endear you to anyone, but agents are looking for voicing/characterisation etc. more than technical perfection. It depends on the agent, but many will work with you to edit further before submitting to publishers, and fixing a few typos is straightforward while fixing boring characters and a saggy plot is not. The preferred format for queries will vary from agent to agent, but there are a few basics. Don't be cute, don't waffle, explain who the main character is, what they want, and what's keeping them from getting it. Don't misuse industry terms or say poo poo like 'fiction novel' that make it clear you've not done your research. Understand what genre your book is - don't make one up - and the expected norms e.g. if you're trying to pitch a 130,000-word romance, you're going to have an extremely hard time with it. Comparison titles are useful but they should have been published within the last few years. https://queryshark.blogspot.com/ is a useful resource - an agent picks apart reader-submitted queries and explains why they suck. Source: Have an agent.
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Feb 1, 2020 14:08
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That query blog is very useful, thank you. I usually learn faster by seeing what not to do. Also good to know that I need to research genres to be double sure. I've been thinking of my book as urban fantasy, kind of a Dresden Files kind of thing, but I should look into what terms most accurately describe it. Is there a good database for finding agents open to queries or am I fine just googling "*genre* literary agents"?
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Feb 2, 2020 01:12
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https://www.manuscriptwishlist.com/ isn't always entirely up to date but will let you search agents by the genre they represent. https://querytracker.net/ expects you to make an account before you can do anything useful with it but also lets you search agents by the genre they represent, and many agents use it as a submission portal so you can see typical response time/whether they gave personalised rejections etc.
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Feb 2, 2020 12:01
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Sally Forth posted:https://www.manuscriptwishlist.com/ isn't always entirely up to date but will let you search agents by the genre they represent. Thank you so much. Those are basically exactly the kind of thing I was hoping for.
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Feb 3, 2020 04:05
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Nothing to do with the getting-published process per se, but one thing I really wished had been impressed on me before I started: the smaller the publisher your book lands with and the less money they have to market it, the greater the effort you'll be expected to put in pushing the book yourself through social media. Depending on your talent and comfort with that kind of thing, the experience can range from tedious to excruciating--Twitter is barely tolerable for low-effort shitposting, imagine having to care about it. It certainly made me desperately unhappy at times. Some people seem to thrive in it, so ymmv of course.
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Feb 3, 2020 06:16
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| # ? Apr 26, 2024 10:06 |
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Clipperton posted:Nothing to do with the getting-published process per se, but one thing I really wished had been impressed on me before I started: the smaller the publisher your book lands with and the less money they have to market it, the greater the effort you'll be expected to put in pushing the book yourself through social media. Depending on your talent and comfort with that kind of thing, the experience can range from tedious to excruciating--Twitter is barely tolerable for low-effort shitposting, imagine having to care about it. It certainly made me desperately unhappy at times. Yeah, I went the self-publishing route with my previous and first book. Aside from learning a lot about the huge importance of beta readers, I also learned that self-marketing is not one of my talents. That's largely why I want to get an agent and let someone who knows that side of the business guide me through it.
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Feb 3, 2020 06:34
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