If You Want a Literary Agent - Stop Doing These 5 Things in Your Query Letter!
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- čas přidán 17. 01. 2024
- Landing a literary agent can seem like an impossible feat - but it doesn't have to be. Make sure you're not making one of these mistakes with your query letter! I have worked with so many writers with absolutely amazing books - who haven't had any luck with landing a literary agent. Literary agents have limited time, and any one of these mistakes could land your query letter in their trash bin. I'm going to go over what these mistakes are - and how to avoid them.
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That analogy of dropping a painting on an agents desk was so perfect! Its like because you can’t just show them your whole book at once to where they can see the whole thing right away, for these paintings we have to give a description of them that makes the agent want to see the painting, and that has nothing to do with how good the painting is!!
So glad that landed well for you!!
Thank you! This was so very helpful, especially the part about series books-"submit the book as a stand-alone with series potential." I now have lots of editing to do, but I'm thankful I stumbled across your video to get me pointed in the right direction. Many, many thanks!
Absolutely!
My very first writers conference, my first "meet an agent" session, I recall her saying something about your point of "comp to best selling" -- specifically HP, because the HP franchise was blowing up at the time. Consequently, I shot my hand up first to ask a question and started with "Hi, I'm Stephen King -- not that one, of course -- and I HAVE written the next Harry Potter." She of course never bothered offering me a representation..... That said, your comments were all things I've heard elsewhere, but I really appreciate your attention to specifics. "A book is not a painting" is probably my favorite comment for this week.
Excellent tips! This is the sort of practical advice that will help me put together a great query letter.
Thanks so much for watching! Good luck with your letter!
Came across your video just now. I nearly, nearly got a representation from an agent but bowed out saying after I've done rewrites, that the story didn't draw her in. I was very upset about it. Others mainly give me a generic rejection.
Thankfully I have avoided all these mistakes you have mentioned (thanks to some good people) but all of them I make it personal because various ones do not even say anything about them besides what they like.
"Book with series potential" instead of "first in a series". THANK YOU for pointing this out! ❤ I've been pitching my books as first in a series for too long...
You're so welcome!
Thank you for these tips, Lauren! ❤ The tip # 2 was actually a bit surprising for me but it totally makes sense. Thank you for explaining it! I’ve been having my internal debates about it for a while now. 😅 I’m currently writing a YA gothic fantasy novel set in a quirky, whimsical world. It works as a standalone story but has a lot of potential to become a series. 🙈 I was wondering what’s the right way to pitch it, and your video actually answers my question! Thank you! ❤
It's definitely beneficial in terms of marketability for the first novel to truly stand alone. But if you build a beautiful world (and it seems like you have!), there's nothing wrong with hinting that that could be more explored! Good luck!
Wonderfully valuable tips!
If a fantasy manuscript has 200k words, would you suggest moving on to a shorter, more commercially viable project?
Absolutely. I do feel that concision sells right now. I don't often see on sites like QueryTracker books selling that are 200K+. However, this is for traditional publishing. You could very well self-publish yourself, just to get your story out there if that's very important to you, and pursue a second project that's shorter with trad-publishing.
Lauren, I'm a South African and wrote a story about the Anglo Boer war, (a family saga), and have received a few rejections so far, and wondering if it's because I am not a US citizen? Do you know if literary agents are not interested in debut authors from different countries? Its a unique story, and one of the main characters is from England, but as the story progresses over time it becomes a family saga in South Africa. 😮 Thanks, love your great advice. 😊
Hi! Agents definitely accept submissions from writers from other countries, but rejections are the norm for all writers :) Make sure to get lots of feedback on the draft!
Is 50,000 an acceptable word count for memoir when querying?
Most memoirs are usually 50-80,000 words. But memoir and nonfiction typically sell on proposal, not on the full manuscript :)
@@laurenkaywrites I appreciate it!
Can u please make a video on third person perspective novel. Like an example for third person perspective novel, because I am stuck not knowing if my novel is third person perspective novel or no. Can u please tell me😊.
Third person would be using [Name], he/she, etc. "John looked up. Above him was a huge dragon!"
@@laurenkaywrites thank u ☺️
Promise I’m not trying to incite, but have you covered how the Publishing industry is just as interested in the demographics of writers as they are the diversity of work submitted? Looking at some publishing stats, it can seem that it doesnt matter what is submitted if the writer doesnt check a box for them. Seems like a huge hurtle these days, was wondering if this has been your experience at all.