When Natalie does a Midnight Ritual with the witchy guy from school, she doesn’t really think it’ll help her find her missing friend.
But the ritual is real.
And Natalie walks away a different person.
Literally
Why do You Need a Literary Agent
- If You Want to be Traditionally Published
- Help You Navigate the Publishing World
Get You the Best Deal
Contracts, Audio and Film Rights, Foreign Rights, Legal Issues, etc
- Help You Shape/Improve This and Future Projects
- 15% Commission
How to Find an Agent
- Mentor or Acquaintance
Mentoring Programs: Author Mentor Match, Rogue Mentor, Write Mentor, We Need Diverse Books, etc
- Cold Querying
- Pitch Contest (Followed by a Query Letter)
Twitter Pitch Contests #SFFPit, #DVPit, #PitchDis, #PitchDark, #MoodPitch, etc
Conference
Pitch Session
Schmoosing
How to Research Agents
- Manuscript Wishlist
- Reading the Acknowledgements Page in Books
- Read Agent Bios on Agency Websites
- Read or Listen to Agent Reviews
Podcasts: The Manuscript Academy, The Good Story Podcast, etc
- Create a Spreadsheet
Querying Strategy
Don’t Query too Soon
Polish Your Submission Package
Get Beta Readers
Do a Query Workshop
Query in Batches
Follow Directions and Keep Track of Responses
Consider a Manuscript Academy One-on-One
Don’t Give Up – But Also Take a Hard Look at Your Query Letter and First Pages
How to Write a Query Letter
First Paragraph: Personalize and What You’re Selling
Personalize for Particular Agent
Give Genre and Word Count plus Super-Short Hook/Description
I am querying my sci-fi romance THE COLONIES (85,000 words), which has the steamy drama of Bridgerton, but set in a futuristic space colony.
Middle Paragraphs: (brief summary 100-200 words)
Introduce Character, Conflict, and Stakes, DON’T give away the ending
Comp titles if helpful
Last Paragraph: Bio & closing
Keep Query under 1 Page (12-poin font, single spaced)
Use Real Examples of Query Letters (Query Shark)
What I Learned from 90 Queries
Keep Query Short and Sweet
(My summary went from four paragraphs and 234 words to two paragraphs and 146 words)
Don’t be afraid to give away the “big twist”
Be as SPECIFIC as possible
Research comp titles (use #AskALibrarian)
REALLY polish those first few pages
Beta and sensitivity readers
Hook the reader right away; sensory details, a mystery, a character doing something, etc
How to Survive the Query Trenches
Don’t Give Up!
Podcast: Query, Qualms, and Quirks
Try to Let Go of the Outcome and focus on what you CAN control
Find Support (#writingcommunity … ot not!)
Celebrate small successes
Encouraging rejections (“like it, … but” or “send me your next”)
Full or Partial Requests
Agent “likes” on Twitter Pitches
Start Work on Something New