Well, that was fast! Why can't all agencies switch to e-mail submissions, again?
Robert Kirby's assistant said he doesn't do fiction anymore. Too bad, I liked Kirby's set of clients.
Marjacq managed to assess my query in half a day and deem it unsuitable. Fair enough, they only had one young adult fantasy book on the clients list, and it doesn't seem to sell well.
Monday, 30 January 2012
Sunday, 29 January 2012
Sending queries, day 1
Today I'm starting sending out the queries. First on the list are the e-mail ones, starting with the UK-based agents.
1. AP Watt agency
A commercial fiction offering. Query letter and synopsis sent to Mr Jon Elek
2. Ariella Feiner of United Agents
A young adult offering. Query letter, synopsis and 10,000 words excerpt.
3. Darley Anderson
A young adult offering. Query letter, brief synopsis and three chapters, sent to Ms Madeleine Buston
4. Greene & Heaton
A young adult offering. Query letter, synopsis and three chapters, sent to submissions department
5. Anthony Harwood
A commercial fiction offering. Query letter mentioning Alison Goodman, sent to submissions department
6. John Jarrold
A fantasy offering. Query letter mentioning Temeraire and Havemercy and 6 chapters.
7. Marjacq agency
A commercial fiction offering. Query letter, synopsis and three chapters, sent to Mr Philip Patterson
8. Marsh agency
A commercial fiction offering. Query letter, synopsis and three chapters, sent to Ms Hannah Ferguson via online form.
9. MBA agency
A fantasy offering. Query letter, synopsis and three chapters, sent to submissions department
10. Robert Kirby of United Agents
A commercial fiction offering. Query letter, synopsis and three chapters. Note: Kirby is Rob Brydon's agent. Use it somehow? ;)
11. Rogers, Coleridge & White
A young adult offering. Query letter, synopsis and three chapters, sent to Claire Wilson
12. Toby Eady Associates
A commercial fiction offering. Query letter, synopsis and three chapters, sent to submissions department
13. Wade & Doherty
A fantasy offering. Query letter mentioning David Gemmell, synopsis and 10,000 words excerpt sent to Ms Broo Doherty
Next are US-based agencies accepting e-mail:
1. Inkwell Management
A commercial fiction offering. Query letter and two chapters in the body of e-mail sent to submissions department
2. Jill Grinberg
A young adult offering. Query letter mentioning Westerfeld and Goodman, and 50 pages excerpt
3. Laura Dail agency
A young adult offering. Query letter, brief synopsis and 5 page excerpt sent to submissions department
4. Maas Agency
A fantasy offering. Query letter, brief synopsis and 5 page excerpt in the body of e-mail sent to Ms Jennifer Jackson
5. Matt Bialer
A fantasy offering. Query letter, bio, synopsis and three chapters.
6. Kristen Wolf agency
A commercial fiction offering. Query letter and three chapters sent to Kristen Wolf
Phew. That's a lot of work. Over the week I'll be sending out the snail-mails - 10 agents altogether.
Edit: 7. Scott Hoffman of Folio Lit
A fantasy offering. Query letter sent via website form.
Tuesday, 24 January 2012
The Sample Curse
You pick up a book from the shelf. Or download a sample from the Amazon. It starts great. There's break-neck action from the start, the characters are sketched roughly but believable, the setting is hinted at but not disappointing. You're convinced. You pay for the book and start reading.
And then, after the first few chapters, it stalls. The plot sags, the characters wander about aimlessly, the scenery overburdens you with too much piled-on detail. You have fallen the victim of the Sample Curse. A book written with the sole purpose of enticing an agent.
In this competitive market, it seems, a Sample is everything. The first few chapters, the first few thousand words. It's the ultimate lure, a honey trap set for the reader. The publisher - whether a corporate giant or a small indie - is only interested in you until the moment you part with your money. It doesn't matter what happens next. You've been trapped.
Not every agent, editor or publisher is blind-folded like that, but many are, or at least they like to make themselves out to be. And they like to claim this is what the market demands. Perhaps they're right - for now.
In evolutionary terms, this is equivalent to what fish, amphibians and reptiles do with their young: put all your effort into spawning a lot of eggs, and not worry about the outcome. Perhaps even perish in the process. Some of the eggs will hatch, some of the young will survive - a certain amount of the books will sell and maybe even grow up into bestsellers.
But the amphibians and reptiles do not rule the world. Mammals and birds do, because they take care for their young, nurture them, allow them to develop at their own pace. The really popular books, the 'cult classics' are like that: they start off slowly and then grow in a peaceful, nutritious environment into a beautiful rare rhinoceros.
I'd like to hope that the rhinoceroses of the book world will one day prevail over the frogs and that at some point we will be rid of the Sample Curse.
And then, after the first few chapters, it stalls. The plot sags, the characters wander about aimlessly, the scenery overburdens you with too much piled-on detail. You have fallen the victim of the Sample Curse. A book written with the sole purpose of enticing an agent.
In this competitive market, it seems, a Sample is everything. The first few chapters, the first few thousand words. It's the ultimate lure, a honey trap set for the reader. The publisher - whether a corporate giant or a small indie - is only interested in you until the moment you part with your money. It doesn't matter what happens next. You've been trapped.
Not every agent, editor or publisher is blind-folded like that, but many are, or at least they like to make themselves out to be. And they like to claim this is what the market demands. Perhaps they're right - for now.
In evolutionary terms, this is equivalent to what fish, amphibians and reptiles do with their young: put all your effort into spawning a lot of eggs, and not worry about the outcome. Perhaps even perish in the process. Some of the eggs will hatch, some of the young will survive - a certain amount of the books will sell and maybe even grow up into bestsellers.
But the amphibians and reptiles do not rule the world. Mammals and birds do, because they take care for their young, nurture them, allow them to develop at their own pace. The really popular books, the 'cult classics' are like that: they start off slowly and then grow in a peaceful, nutritious environment into a beautiful rare rhinoceros.
I'd like to hope that the rhinoceroses of the book world will one day prevail over the frogs and that at some point we will be rid of the Sample Curse.
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