Q & A for Writers
Updated: 2023
I frequently get asked about contracts, agents, queries, etc., so I wanted to list some answers here. Remember, this Q&A reflects my opinion only, and shouldn’t be the only source of information you utilize.
I’m writing a novel and I want to get an agent. When should I start querying?
After you’ve finished your novel, polished it, and sent it out to at least one trusted person for feedback (preferably more.) It’s amazing how many things you can miss, like grammar errors that spellcheck won’t catch or places where your plot has holes. A critique reader is invaluable for catching many of these mistakes.
All right, I’ve done all that, now where do I begin to look for an agent?
There are many ways to find reputable agents. One is looking in the Acknowledgements page of a recent, traditionally-published book in your genre. Authors will frequently thank their agents there. You can also get an online membership to Publishers Marketplace. Browse through their “deals” and “dealmakers” listings to see which agents are currently selling in the genre that you write. Or, get the latest edition of Writers Market to see which agents are open to new clients. Query Tracker is another resource that might be useful. Remember that rejection is a normal part of the submissions process, but there’s no need to depress yourself with rejections simply because you’re sending queries to agencies that only sell true crime if you write fantasy, for examples. Or agents that are currently not accepting new clients.
What is a query letter, anyway?
It’s a one-page description of your book’s title, genre, length, and content. Another way to look at query letters is by using a Hollywood example – your query letter is your book’s movie trailer. It doesn’t explain every character, subplot, motivation and resolution – it gives a broad, brief overview of your novel meant to make an agent excited about reading it. Some sites give examples of what should to be in a query letter, and what’s telling too much. I highly recommend agent Janet Reid’s Query Shark examples. Browse through, and you will see tons of good query letters versus bad ones. Make your own query letter professional and to the point, be polite (NO ONE will sign you if you add nasty notes like “You’re a loser if you pass on this book!”), FOLLOW EACH AGENT’S GUIDELINES (some agents will want you to submit sample pages, and some won’t) and finally, thank the agent for their time. Good manners are never a bad idea.
But do I really need an agent? Can’t I just submit to publishing houses without one?
Yes and no. Many of the larger publishing houses will only consider agented work. So, not having an agent limits where you can send your manuscript. Another advantage to having an agent – knowledge. Know a lot about book contracts? Foreign, audio, and ancillary rights? Average advances? Which editors are looking for the genre you wrote? A good agent does, and they can usually get you a better deal than one you’d broker on your own. Plus, a good agent helps you plan for your future as well, so they really can make a tremendous amount of difference. Don’t just take my word for it. Here’s another good article on literary agents.
Okay, so now I know that I want an agent. But how to tell a good one from a bad one?
Writers swim in shark-filled waters, so before you sign a contract with an agent, check them out! You’ve worked way too hard on your book to let it be taken on by someone who isn’t going to do their best to sell it, and some scammer agencies look a lot like the real deal.
First thing to check:
Do they charge any up-front fees? ANY agency who charges an editing/representation/reading/retainer fee is a scam. Don’t believe me? Check out the Association of Authors Representatives (AAR) and they’ll tell you the same. It’s unethical, and worse than that, it means that agency is most likely not going to even try to sell your book. Why should they? They’re already making money without having to spend time earning it. Reputable agencies charge 15% commission, period (except for overseas book sales or film rights). Don’t be fooled into believing otherwise. Some sites will even warn you about scammer agencies, like Writer Beware , so it’s good to check there, too, before signing any contracts.
Second thing to check:
Do they charge any ‘administrative’ fees? This is a tricky one. If the agency deducts these fees AFTER they’ve sold your novel, then yes, that’s probably legit. If they make you pay in advance, BEFORE your book has sold, then you’re probably getting ripped off. Check out Writer’s Beware and The Truth About Literary Fees to read all the ways authors have paid anywhere from $500 all the way up to a couple grand these ‘administrative’ fees. Know that jingle about the difference between the poisonous Coral Snake and its non-deadly cousin? “Red touches yellow, kill a fellow. Red touches black, good for Jack”? Well, I’d like to offer my own little jingle about telling the difference between a good agency or a scam agency: “Green before sellin’? Agent’s a felon!”
Say it a few times, it’s catchy. More importantly, it’s a warning. If you have to cough up ANY money before you get an advance check from a publisher, be afraid. Be very afraid. That agency probably isn’t a legitimate one, or if they are legitimate, then they must not be very good, or they could afford to wait for your advance check before they deducted their ‘administrative’ fees.
Third thing to check:
Do they have verifiable sales? Okay, they don’t charge an up-front fee of any kind, hooray. But you can’t find a client list or a list of recent sales. Well, if you’ve been offered representation – ASK. You have a right to do this. They should be able to tell you names of other clients, even give you references, or rattle off some sales that you can look up yourself. If you have a membership with Publishers Marketplace, you can enter the agency’s name and pull up recent sales yourself. But if an agency doesn’t give you a straight answer about recent sales, or dances around giving you client references, take it as a big red flag. Sure, an agent/agency can be new, but then they should be up front about that and talk about some connections they have in the pub industry, like “I used to be an editor for such-and-such house, but now I’ve opened my own agency and I’m building a client list.” If they don’t have any sales or connections that you can verify … well, it’s your call, but I wouldn’t do it.
But so what if they’re new without connections yet? Isn’t having any agent better than no agent at all, since most big pub houses won’t look at unagented work?
Here’s the problem. You get a well-intentioned, non-scamming agent with no connections to the Powers That Be, and they shop your manuscript around, but it gets rejected. Maybe they just weren’t sending it to the right editors, since they’re not familiar with editor likes/dislikes yet. Maybe they hadn’t helped you trim the bloat from your book, because they’re not experienced with editing yet. Maybe they’re just so new, the editor’s thrown their submission into the Slush Pile because they’ve never heard of them, and they have so many books from agents they do know that yours went to the bottom of the heap.
Then where are you? Well, you’re a bit screwed, to put it bluntly. If you fire this agent and try to get another one, you’ve got all the usual problems of snagging a good agent, PLUS the fact that you now have to admit that all the Big Houses have already passed on your book. And maybe your book was great, but just needed a little tweaking. Still, you’re going to have a hard time convincing a top agent of that, since you’re competing against other writers with good books and NO history of publisher rejects.
So to summarize … in the soul-crushing world of finding a good agent, be your own best friend. No one else is going to look out for you as well as you are, and without crossing the line into paranoia, be savvy about who you chose to represent you.
Can’t I just send my novel to you so you can read it and refer me to your agent?
No. First, there are legal and ethical constraints prohibiting me from reading unpublished work. The short version is, if a writer has something in their novel that I also have in a not-yet-published book, my publisher doesn’t want to get a letter from anyone stating, “Jeaniene stole my plot!” Neither do I. Yes, this is uncommon, but it’s happened in the past. Not to me, certainly, but enough that publishers discourage authors from reading unpublished manuscripts (or fanfiction) to avoid that potential “you stole my plot!” issue. And even if no legal fight occurs, I never want someone to feel like I ripped him/her off, if there’s a plot coincidence between their book and mine (and in the same genre, plot coincidences can be rampant).
Furthermore, I have several deadlines right now that are keeping me quite busy. My time gets divided up between writing, family, blogging, reading novels for blurb purposes, and my own personal reading. This doesn’t leave much left. Furthermore, I have no idea what’s marketable, what’s cliché, what’s the hottest new trend, and what’s so yesterday. An agent knows these things. A writer? Not so much.
How did you get published?
I wrote a blog detailing my publishing journey here.
I hear self-publishing is the way to go, so why should I bother trying to get an agent/publisher?
Self-publishing has indeed grown by leaps and bounds. But, before you jump into self-publishing, be very clear about the reasons WHY you’re doing it. If you’re self-publishing because you’ve already done all the necessary research, market study, weighed the pros and cons, and decided this approach best suits your career goals, then it may be the best choice for you. especially if you’re an established author with an existing reader base. However, what I’ve heard from a disturbing number of aspiring authors regarding self-publishing versus traditional sounds like this:
“It’s too hard to get an agent/publisher! I don’t have months or years to invest in revising and querying. I’ll just throw my stories up on the internet and skip all that ridiculous work!”
If that sounds like the reason you want to self-publish, please, think again. Don’t get me wrong, self-publishing does have some advantages. You get to control your novel’s release date, cover, and price, plus you keep a far higher percentage of royalties. But, it is not necessarily the “easier, quicker” way to publishing success. There are millions of self-published titles on Amazon (and growing!), so your book could easily get lost in the glut.
So, again, there’s nothing wrong with choosing to self-publish if you’re doing it for the RIGHT reasons, and you understand exactly the size of the task you’re taking on. Doing it because you think it’s the express lane to fame and riches? Well, chances are, you will be in for a rude awakening.
“I still want more information!”
Author Ilona Andrews has written a slew of excellent posts about publishing, self-publishing, querying, and more. You can find them under the “Business of Writing” tab on her website here.
Best of luck to you, writers!