Query Tips & Useful links – Part Two: Links! Links! Links!, Resources for Querying Writers
Dec 26, 2024
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Querying is hard. I think this is a universal truth we can all agree on. You’re supposed to email complete strangers (email! Strangers! Of your own free will!) and ask them to please love your book enough to work on it for free—at least until there’s a deal. And to make it even harder, no one actually tells you how to do it. There’s no official handy guide to follow.
The only way I survived my querying process was through the incredibly kind help of strangers on the internet: agents who wrote guides, ran query critique blogs, and posted advice on YouTube; and writers who shared their own querying journeys, along with all the tips and tricks they’d picked up. These people were the reason I went from staring helplessly at my screen, thinking, what the hell is a query? to having my debut officially headed into copy edits today.
So I guess now, it’s my turn to be the stranger on the internet, and try to help the next writer staring at their screen, mumbling, querywhatnow?
The internet is brimming with of query tips and synopsis-creating manuals. And since you’re reading on of them right now (at least I hope someone is reading it, at some point), you probably know how to find them. So instead of linking all the various advice I found and used, I’m linking the seminal texts of our field (can you tell this is the exam period, and that I should absolutely be writing papers instead of writing this?) – the basic resources every querying writer should probably know and build on.
The Basics, Or: Resources You Really Should Know
In a recent conversation, a writer described QueryTracker as its own microcosmos, and this is pretty spot-on. QueryTracker is a platform designed specifically for querying writers, with tons of helpful features, and if you pay for the pro version, you get even more stats and tools, plus a handy obsessive addiction to tide you over until you find an agent (have you ever spent an afternoon refreshing a query queue? Fun times).
But beyond all the neat features, QueryTracker is, first and foremost, an agent database. Every agent listed undergoes some level of vetting. How much vetting? I don’t know. I wouldn’t blindly query every agent that appears there. And not appearing there is not an automatic black mark - especially for agents from the UK. But it is a very good place to start looking, and most (though not all) legit agents and agencies are there, together with a lot of helpful statistics about response times, request rates, and genres they work with.
Tips:
It’s always worth checking out agents’ comment sections. Sometimes you discover useful info about genres, wish lists, or warning signs.
Checking out the New & Updated Agents section is a great way to find out who recently opened for queries and discover newer agents.
Success Story Interviews is a great place for finding query examples and some advice from writers who recently signed with agents.
Another agent database, this one centered around agents' wish lists - what genres, tropes, and age groups they represent, and what are their dream projects right now. And with Twitter, well… anyway, this is really the best place to find agents’ MSWL right now. It has an option to filter by genre, which is extremely helpful in finding agents that represent, well, your genre.
Tip: while this is a great place to start, it’s always worth double-checking the agent’s website for an updated list. Sometimes, agents completely change their wish list and forget to update their page. This is especially important regarding the submission guidelines - it’s always worth taking the time to double-check.
Janet Reid, the amazing agent who ran this blog, passed away earlier this year. I don’t know how long it’s going to stay up, but I truly hope it will, because this is truly an invaluable resource. Janet Reid, aka the Query Shark, critiqued queries sent to the blog by querying writers, telling them what they are doing wrong, sometimes, critiquing four or five versions of the same query.
This is the closest to a query school we as a community have. I filtered by genre, and then sat down and read queries until I felt I had a grasp on what works and what doesn’t, what are the pitfalls I should try and avoid and what structures really work. Remember the learning curve? It applies to queries as well. And reading through the Query Shark archives is the best way I know to get through it.
I talked about Publishers Marketplace in the first part of this dubious querying advice series, so I won’t repeat the whole spiel. The short version is: it costs money, but it’s worth it (for one month! Not forever!) since this is the best tool I know for vetting agents.
Quick note 1: For a newer agent, not having announced deals doesn’t mean they haven’t made any. Sometimes it can take over a year for deals to be announced.
Quick note 2: This might be slightly more relevant for US-based agents. Stress on the might. While I know the UK agent market has its own ways, as someone who lives in North America and is represented by a North American agent, I know little about the specifics.
Very Useful Blogs, Or, Advice of the Less Dubious Kind
Useful Miscellaneous, Or: Bits and bobs, but good ones.
And… that’s it. For now. If you’ve made it all the way here and have a great resource I missed, some querying advice to share, or just want to say hi—I’d love to hear from you! The easiest way is to send me a message on Instagram at @barfridmantell, or you can use the Contact Me form here on the site. I’d absolutely love to hear your thoughts, discover your favorite resources, and share your advice (with a link to your website or profile, of course).
And in the meantime - good luck in the query trenches!