Sent out five query letters to literary agents this week in
the latest round of “Represent My Novel, Why Don’t You?” The first round involved 20 queries fired off
in Tommy gun fashion at any agency that moved within my field of vision. Big
surprise: Not a one of them managed to
bag the game. This go-round, I took a
breath and did significantly more research into which agents and agencies might
be most interested in – and best suited for – my manuscript.
An agent put a call out for submissions? Great, but
which writers does this agent already represent? Does any of their work fall
within the same genre as my book? What about the agency as a whole? A literary firm with a hundred clients but
only one science-fiction writer among the bunch isn’t likely to jump at the
next space opera that comes its way. Instead
of firing blindly, I zeroed my weapon, chose my targets carefully, and only
then did I squeeze the trigger. OK, I may have driven this hunting metaphor
into creepyland -- suffice it to say I did much more homework this time. Whether that gets me anywhere, we shall see.
