Writing
Querying Authors: Don’t Give Up
Treat the road to publication like a business to find success
I work with authors who are querying agents for representation, and right now on social media it seems like everybody is querying.
For those not familiar, querying agents can often feel like a large dark void full of industry gatekeepers and rejection. And we’re not talking a handful of rejections, I know authors who received more than 100 rejections before getting representation. The process can take months — even years — to find the right business partner.
When faced with seemingly impossible odds, it can be so tempting to quit.
Lately I’ve seen authors on social media declaring they’ve given up on querying after a few rejections. They give up after six weeks of querying. Six weeks! Some really busy agents can’t even get to new queries in that time.
A few of those authors who are quitting left feedback on how souless agents are. (Pro tip: don’t blast this sort of thing on social media. Also, hard truth: industry professionals like agents are the experts on what gets published, whether you like the rules of the game or not.)
For those wanting to pursue traditional publishing, there’s only one way to publication: persistence.
And as a freelancing professional in the writing industry, I can confidently say you’re going to need every bit of persistence you’ve got. Rely on your writing friends, because this process takes time.
Treat writing like a business
Yes, the creative side of writing is important. It’s what gets the words on the page, and keeps readers turning those pages. But to have a career as an author, it’s necessary to treat it like a career. It’s a business.
Building something from scratch is hard work. Ask any freelancer. But there are methods to break through and find success, and many lessons from starting a business can be applied to the querying (and submissions) process.
Here are lessons I’ve learned in building my freelance editing business.
Keep shouting into the dark
When I was setting up my business, getting clients seemed impossible. I had the skills, the years of experience, but how did I get anyone to listen?
Facing that empty void isn’t that different from sending out batches of queries to agents and hearing nothing back. It feels like shouting into the dark.
Day in and day out I tried marketing techniques, feeling like a fraud.
How could people know I was available for editing services? How did I reach people, and more importantly, reach the right one? How do I tell people how awesome I am to work with?
No matter how silly it feels, there are only two choices: Shout into that dark until someone listens, or quit.
I can’t quit. I love my business. And hopefully writers feel the same way about their writing futures. We can’t quit.
So, we must continue on. But how?
Stay Consistent
Even though I felt like nobody was listening, I kept putting myself out there. I eventually landed a client. And by word of mouth I gained more. I’m actively building my reputation, but not in fits and spurts.
Every single day I do something that benefits my business and gets the word out there so people can find me.
Regular, frequent bouts of dipping my toe in and making honest connections works so much better than a blast saying “hey, hire me!” That’s not my style anyway.
And it’s the same with the querying process.
Rather than blasting out a desperate call for representation to all available agents, keep working through the list of agents specific to your genre. Send them out in batches so you can learn from responses and make adjustments before sending out more batches.
And most of all, while querying, work on something new. Keep working on your craft, because you might need those improved skills sooner than you think.
Be honest with yourself
This is the hard part.
If something isn’t working, it’s time to evaluate why.
When I hit a lull in finding new clients, I needed to evaluate my strategy. What was working before no longer worked.
It was so tempting to try different platforms, and keep trying new things until that flow of clients opened up again.
But when I was completely honest with myself, I realized I’d relied too heavily on social media marketing at the detriment of other types of marketing.
I did the initial work to get my marketing platform, and then relied on that success without revisiting my strategy.
Facing the fact that I had much more work to do was daunting, but it paid off. That’s what freelancers do. We constantly evaluate our business and processes to see where we can optimize, and where we might be falling short.
For querying authors, this is where the hard work comes in. Because querying isn’t just about sitting back and hoping for replies. It’s a process, and it requires as much self-evaluation as running a business.
Too much silence
If you’re hearing nothing back from agents after a few months, something isn’t working. It’s time to evaluate whether the query sells the manuscript. Is it as polished as it could be? Are the stakes clear? If you’re hearing nothing at all, this is when it can be worth having a professional critique. To us writers, everything is clear, but only a fresh pair of eyes can tell you whether it’s fully communicated.
Nobody wants to read pages
Your queries go out and you do get replies, but they’re all rejections, without any requests for pages. Nobody seems interested in reading a partial manuscript, let alone a full. Or, they read the partial and say “no, thanks.” Both of these situations tell you that your first pages aren’t as strong as they need to be to capture a reader’s full attention. They need work. So as painful as it is, it’s time to revisit those first few chapters, hopefully with the help of some critique partners or beta readers.
Rejected full manuscripts
Possibly one of the most painful outcomes, because it can feel like you are so close.
You are.
If an agent asks for a full manuscript, there’s real interest there. They think they might have found a book they can believe in as much as the author does, so they can form a partnership to get it sold.
That’s huge — and for that to happen the agent has to love it. Not like it, not enjoy the reading, but truly love the work and believe it has a chance.
Unfortunately, that’s completely subjective and unpredictable. But if you’re at this stage, the longer you keep going the better your chances for finding the right fit.
Don’t give up
You may want to, but don’t. It takes time to build something from scratch.
As a querying author, you’re building your writing career from scratch. Nobody started writing and became an overnight success. And if you need reassurance, search for “how I found my agent” stories. Most times you’ll see how many queries, and how many years it took those authors to find success.
The only common factor: they didn’t give up.
Just like any successful freelancer.
Taking control of the query process, like taking responsibility for a business, is all about patience and persistence.
If you want something, you have to do the work to get it. There’s no shortcut. No matter how long it takes, or how many tries to get right, every step in the right direction will get you there eventually.
Do nothing, and you’re left with nothing.
So don’t give up. If it’s worth dreaming about, it’s worth taking the time to get it right.
