One problem with this industry is trying to work around all the dead periods. For me, I can't submit anything after mid-November, because so many industry people are on vacation that emails return out of office messages, and even if you break through and reach someone, they wouldn't be able to get together an ed board meeting for an offer anyway.*
But that's me. What about you? Should you stop submitting the last six weeks or so of the year?
My query inbox has been really quiet the last few days, and it will remain quiet until after the first of the year, when the dam will break, and everyone will send out the stuff they've been working on the past couple of weeks.
And how will I read them? First in, first out, of course, with the occasional exception for the queries I need to think about a little harder, or those that merit a personal response because I've met the author or read her work before.
So it doesn't do you any good to hold off on queries. I'm not going to read them on Christmas Day, of course, or other days where I'm busy with holiday stuff, but I otherwise go through a lot of queries and manuscripts over the holidays, in part because there's often not much else to do. This year I'm preparing to go on submission with one project in January and do some followup work on another, but I'm still doing a lot of reading.
You'll notice a theme from me over time, and that is that as an aspiring writer you should be continually working and never waiting for the industry wheels to turn. Submit your queries when they're ready, and not according to the calendar.
*My colleague at Veritas, Katherine Boyle, got an offer for a project just a couple of days before Christmas, which left her surprised. It's by far the latest offer the agency has ever received before the holidays.
That makes sense, thanks. First in first out.
ReplyDeleteBut what if an agent specifically says they're closed during the holidays? Do you think we should hold off?
You should always respect the agency's guidelines, of course. Having said that, it's hard to imagine an agency mass deleting all the queries that came in during the last two weeks of December.
DeleteWhen you say "queries I need to think about a little harder".. I was under the impression that when an agent reads a query they almost immediately decide if they'd like to pass or read a partial/full manuscript. What aspects of a query would result in the need for further thinking? If a agent does need more time to think, is that necessarily a good thing? What can we do, as writers, to make our queries better, so that an agent might not need to think about it longer?
ReplyDeleteThank you
Hi Barbara,
ReplyDeleteMost queries garner a quick pass. It's the wrong category, or the subject doesn't personally interest me, or it's clear that the writing isn't very good. Others take longer evaluation, including reading through the sample pages when my mind is a little more focused.
Think of it like buying a book at the bookstore. You can reject almost everything out of hand (how long do you spend in the Russian language section looking for a book?), but picking among the stuff that does appeal to you takes longer.
Would you say that most agents are this way? That, after they weed out the definite passes, they sort their queries into somewhat interested, fairly interested, and very interested groups, and that's the order in which they respond.
ReplyDeleteI don't mean to sound like an interrogator. I understand you're a busy agent and I appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions. I'm really trying to get a better understanding of the business.
Plus, I have a few queries I'm anxiously awaiting responses to and research helps me refrain from drowning in self-doubt.
Thanks again!
No worries, I'm glad to help. To be honest, I really have no idea how most work, but my hunch would be that yes, this is common. It's easiest to work on queries when you can move through them in a hurry.
ReplyDeleteDon't sit around gnawing on yourself while waiting. Keep querying, and when you've submitted to all the likely agents, put your nose to the grindstone on a new project to distract yourself.