Writing is Hell...if you don't query right

How to query a literary agent. Winning query attached. Be kind!

Photo by Vlad Patana on Unsplash

I get SO many questions about query letters because querying is a minefield, and the competition to get a literary agent to represent you is tough. Recent stats suggest there is a 1 in 6000 chance of getting a literary agent. This is because there are so many people writing, more than ever before, and most publishers will not accept authors who are not represented by a literary agent.

Although I am just one person, I am sharing my querying journey here because I get so many questions, and it might help someone else.

My querying journey

I finished revising my novel at the end of 2021 and planned to begin querying in January 2022. I understood that I had to prepare a spreadsheet and be ready to query 20 agents in round one, then another 30 agents in round two, and so on. I had been tracking agents using Twitter lists and researching these agents, as well as using recommendations from other writer friends. I had met some agents at literary speed-dating events that pair you with agents about six months earlier and also attended some agent talks. I didn’t have any relationships with agents or specific referrals. I was cold querying for the most part. Like most writers, I was prepared for the long haul, many months of querying with no response. As it happens, I received a couple of firm, exciting offers within a month and was happy to go with my current agent of Inkwell Management, a top New York literary agency. My agent was lovely, experienced, very professional, and full of enthusiasm for my manuscript. I could not have made a better choice. She surpassed my wildest dreams for my novel, selling it to Simon & Schuster’s Atria imprint and working with other agents to sell my book in the UK and to HBO. She is also a great person and always there to talk through things - neither of which is guaranteed in this industry.

I did not query many agents, definitely less than 15. I had a few who never got back to me. Most did. I had several full manuscript requests, where they ask for your entire novel. At least six. All in all, I would say my querying journey was pretty successful. I was happily not in the querying trenches for long, about a month. For most people, querying takes many months and doesn’t have a happy ending. But it isn’t completely a crapshoot.

How to query (novels only)

In most cases, you have to send a query letter to an agent that pitches your book (and you) and includes a writing sample. Sounds straightforward enough, but it is so easy to get this wrong.

One of the main problems I have noticed with query letters is that people prepare one sample query that they plan to send to all agents. I strongly advise against this. Your letter should be written for a specific agent, as many times as is necessary. Why?

Well, because…

1. Different agents often have subtly different formatting requests

2. No two agents are the same. Even within the same agency. They have different career paths, represent different authors, have different industry relationships, and are looking for different books. Believe it or not, they even have different personalities. Pay attention to these differences. Your letter should be personalized as much as possible.

3. Each query you write should be an improvement on the last query you sent out. We all learn something in the process of writing a query letter. We gain distance. Get new eyes on new letters and edit your letters accordingly.

My query letter below may appear generic, but I promise you, I wrote very different query letters to all the agents I queried depending on the agent.

The way you address an older agent, may not be the same as a younger agent. The same goes for a big dawg versus a new agent building their roster. It isn’t an exact science. Just know your letters must be different and individually tailored like a Saville Row suit.

Paragraph 1 - Why are you emailing me?

My agent had been tweeting about a particular book, which was a comp of mine, so I queried her straight away - like within an hour of seeing her tweet. I referenced her tweet in my email, and I pitched my book in a couple of sentences, including the word count.

Why are you emailing a particular agent? Did you meet them somewhere? Did you get a referral? Do you have a mutual friend? What did you like about them? Why is this book something they would like? Pitch the book in a sentence or two, depending on the requested format, which you can find on the agent’s website. Include at least one comp here.

Paragraph 2 - Who am I? And why did I write this book?

Agents are interested in you. They want a sense of if you’re their kind of person or someone interesting. This is the place to sell yourself, talk about your relevant inspirations and why you wrote the book. A full resume isn’t required. More details can be added later - depending on the required format.

Paragraph 3/4 - More about the book or you

Depending on the required format, you may need to provide a quick synopsis or plot summary (all very confusing), add a few more strings to your bow (Do you have any writing achievements, or an interesting background, or relevant work experience? Do you have a platform of at least 30K followers? Do you have any famous friends who have already read your book and are prepared to blurb it? Don’t go overboard, but say everything that feels important.

As you can see, my letter is quite effusive and chatty. That is how I read my agent at the time. Don’t forget she was tweeting somewhat informally. I took the risk to be more conversational, and it paid off. Also, because she had already mentioned the comp title she wanted, I only added one more. My letters to other agents were different. Agents often request 3-5 comp titles.

Your query letter does not have to be perfect. I can see some flaws with this letter. I used ‘it’s’ too much, and it lacks some necessary punctuation. The language could be more elegant, and my paragraphs trimmed. I cringe at ‘wanting an agent I can talk all day with’. Yikes. But it did what it needed to do. I got a full manuscript request the same day. She read my manuscript overnight and made me an offer of representation the following day. I did not accept straight away as other agents were still reading. I gave them some more time to read, but for the reasons explained above, I did not doubt that she was the one for me, so two weeks later, I accepted her offer. The rest is history.

If you query my agent, do not copy my letter. She is not the same person of three years ago. None of us are. She has different priorities. She may not be in the same playful mood as when she tweeted back then. Her requirements may have changed. Do your own research and tailor your letter accordingly.

Dear C---

Happy New Year! Thanks for tweeting your MSWL. I believe my novel The Nigerwife (90K) is the comp to My Sister The Serial Killer that you've been looking for. It's a very suspenseful book ostensibly about the mysterious disappearance of a woman in Lagos, Nigeria. I remember being quite inspired by Sharp Objects when I wrote it. It's not a conventional thriller. It's actually more about my obsession with a long line of crabby Jamaican women and the trauma we carry.

I've had so much praise for this manuscript already and am considering a couple of early offers of representation but Inkwell is such an amazing agency and I'm hoping for a really great fit with someone I can grow with long-term. Seeing your MSWL and knowing that my next novel is a murder mystery set in Bedstuy (first draft already done) makes me want to talk more. I want an agent I can talk all day with, theoretically.

It hurt to write this. I was a Nigerwife for over seven years. My real-life experiences and those of other Nigerwives in Lagos, Nigeria, inspired the story. I had to deal with marital strife, loneliness, and feeling like I too had disappeared in my own way. I wrote myself out of a depression that sought to overwhelm me for the sake of my children. I think my story takes the ongoing conversation women are having about patriarchy, marriage and expectations of women generally a step forward. The context may be unique, but the struggle is universal.

This year, the Nigerwife was a finalist for The Craft Literary First Chapters contest and earned me various fellowships (Tin House, Millay Colony, etc.). It inspired a short story selected for a 2022 Harper Collins anthology. Rakesh Satyal at Harper Collins is interested in receiving my manuscript with representation, and Tin House and Akashic Press are also interested in the manuscript.

I've previously published YA: Rude Girls, Best Things in Life (PanMacmillan, UK), Smoke! Othello! (chapbook) and had several short plays staged, including Michael X (Almeida Theatre, London, 2021).

The Nigerwife is my first adult novel. A book club specializing in black diaspora read it in October this year as anonymous, loved, and debated it for over two hours while I hid in the Zoom!

Please find my writing sample below. If you are open to receiving my manuscript, it is ready to go.

Best regards and thanks for tweeting!

Vanessa

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanessa_Walters (sorry no website yet)