How many book queries does it take to land a literary agent?
More than you might think - here's what my journey looked like.
Ah, querying.
The daily-recurring hellish torture chamber for hopeful authors everywhere.
(Just kidding… sort of… not really)
I think it’s probably fair to say that every writer who’s ever completed a novel dreams of seeing said novel on the New Fiction shelf of their local big-chain bookstore.
But in order to make that happen, they need to get a foot in the door at the kind of publishing house that big-chain bookstores take notice of, and in order to do that, they need a literary agent.
That’s how it works, right?
The “trad” approach
Well, if you choose the traditional publishing route for your book, then yes.
The top publishing houses don’t take unsolicited manuscript submissions (most of the time), so you’ll need representation. And the best way to gain representation is to reach out to professional literary agents by querying them.
This usually involves submitting a digital query letter with a sample of your manuscript. If the agent’s interested in seeing more, he or she will ask for the full script (or sometimes a partial version of it); if they like what they see, they may offer to represent you in your quest to see your book come to life.
Like I said, that’s the traditional publishing route. There are several other options available, but that’s the one most aspiring authors will try at least once.
And of course, I was one of them.
The David McIlroy Method
I completed my debut novel in early 2022. It’s called The Soulburn Talisman, and if you’re into big sweeping fantasy adventures packed with magic, sword-fighting and benevolent trolls, you’ll like it.
Ok, it’s really aimed at young people, but adults can enjoy that kind of stuff as well, right?
Anyway, I finished my first book, had a bunch of beta readers take it for a test drive, edited it into oblivion, and finally concluded it was ready for submission.
I started querying literary agents on May 18, 2022. It was a drizzly Wednesday (jokes, I can’t even remember what the weather was like last week - this is Northern Ireland though, so probably drizzly).
Most querying authors will tell you it’s a good idea to send submissions out in small batches. Usually less than 10 at a time, just to test how effective your query package is. And they’re spot on.
That’s how I started, but as soon as my first Full Request came rolling in, I just blasted it. Yes, it was probably not the best idea I’d ever had, but I’m not one for hanging around. Plus I had another book to query too, so there was no time to waste.
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