Having received my first rejection, I have some decisions to make. The first decision, to revise my query letter, is an easy one - it obviously needs to be revised. The second decision, who to query (agent(s)), is not an easy one. I'll deal with each issue separately.
Query revision:
I have read multiple books and websites and they all give different guidelines regarding the number of paragraphs and what to say in your query letter. Most agree that a query should be one page. Some say to use a standard three paragraph query, while others give examples of winning queries that were longer than, and more detailed than, the standard three paragraph query. Confusion abounds here. I recently read a query letter in the 2010 edition of Writer's Market - their example of a good query letter was one page, but consisted of eight paragraphs. So my trying to force everything I had to say into three paragraphs could have been my undoing (may have led to my first rejection).
Query to agents:
Some agents require exclusive submission while others state that they accept simultaneous submissions. Much as I would like to increase the statistical likelihood that an agent might want to see my entire manuscript by sending out multiple submissions, I must say I'm a one agent/one relationship-type. Which leads back to the first question: with each rejection, do you continue to revise your query letter?
UPDATE: Just created a submission tracker in excel so that I can keep track of submissions, rejections, and form rejection vs. rejection with comments.
Showing posts with label submission tracker. Show all posts
Showing posts with label submission tracker. Show all posts
Posts
