Query Quest: Agent Query Checklist Part 1

I recently started querying literary agents for my novel SECOND DAWN, and I’m going to start posting about that experience. Now, for those of you who have followed my blog for a while, I should make it clear that unlike submitting short stories to lit magazines and anthologies, I am NOT an expert in this arena. So this post is less advice and more me recounting my experience (which may or may not be useful to you). In other words, don’t judge me too harshly if my experience differs from your own.

In this post, I want to talk about three things I think you should have ready to go before you start querying agents. The first two are absolutes, in my mind, but there’s some wiggle room on the third. Let’s dive in.

1) Finished manuscript. Finished. Complete. Ready to go. Don’t query agents unless you are ready to turn over a complete manuscript. Why? Well, here’s generally how the query process works. You send a query letter and a portion of the manuscript, anywhere from five pages to three whole chapters. If the agent likes what they see, they are going to ask you for MORE of the manuscript, maybe the whole thing. See the problem? Don’t put yourself in a situation where you have to tell an agent who likes your first three chapters that you don’t have a finished manuscript to send them.

Now, what does finished actually mean? Well, it doesn’t mean perfect. In my opinion, it means as close as you can get it to publishable, which is, honestly, not that close for most folks (me included). An agent is certainly going to ask for revisions based on their experience of what sells, and then the publisher is definitely going to ask for further revisions based on their needs and what they think will sell. Ultimately, it needs to be your best effort, but I’m not stressing about typos and dropped words and whatnot. Not that I’m not trying to fix those, just that I think an agent is less worried about that stuff than the story as a whole, my writing style, and whether both are a good fit.

2) Query letter. I’ve yet to see an agent that doesn’t want a query letter. The construction of the query letter is one of those things you’re gonna see a lot of differing advice on, and it seems to vary a little by genre. I’m on the second iteration of my query letter, and the one I’m going with now consists of the following: an introduction with the project details (genre, length, and comps), a short description of the book (this is not a synopsis, but it describes the plot, characters, and themes), and a bio with a little personal info and relevant publication credits. I feel more confident with this one than my first one, which may have been a little short on details. But, again, I’ve seen successful query letters that are similar to both my current one and the one I’ve abandoned.

3) Synopsis. Not every agent asks for a synopsis, but I’ve found more than half of the agents I researched (around 50 at this point) DO ask for one. Like the query letter, there are a lot of opinions on how to write a synopsis, but in general, most folks tend to agree on a few things. It should be in the 500- to 1000-word range (though I’ve seen some folks say as long as two pages) and summarize the whole story, from beginning to end. It’s not back cover text trying to hook a reader with mysterious details; it’s more like Cliffs notes. You want the agent to read about the big twist at the end and that surprise romantic relationship between two of your characters or whatever.

I’m not gonna lie; these are not easy to write, and I struggled with mine. I’m still not in love with it, but I think it works. Mine is a little over 500 words and fits on one page. I think the brevity helps rather than hinders me in this case, but check back in a month. My synopsis will probably have doubled in size. 🙂

You can start querying without a synopsis, as there are a fair amount of agents that don’t ask for one, but you might find yourself having to skip a potentially good agent because you don’t have all the necessary materials. By the time you get back to them, their submission window may have closed. So, yes, you can query without a synopsis, but you close off some of your options if you do.

Now this short list is only the things I think you absolutely need to start querying. It’s NOT the only things an agent might ask for. You might be asked for a one-paragraph pitch or more comps or a separate bio. I’ve even seen agents ask for fairly unique things like why you believe you’re the right person to tell the story. I’ll cover some of these other materials in later posts, as they come up in my own querying journey.

Thoughts on my must-haves? Tell me about it in the comments.