Agent research

How many of you have researched agents? How did you begin? Did you have someone help you start? Or did you just open Google and start searching?

Lizzy wrote:How many of you have researched agents? How did you begin? Did you have someone help you start? Or did you just open Google and start searching?

I've been researching agents! I started googling stuff and I went through authors blogs and searched for times that they mentioned their agents. I looked for websites that those authors recommended. I found a really good one that has lists and lists of agents so I started going through that and finding the ones I liked, and once I had that list I started doing more research on those specific agents. I've been research agents by myself, no ones been helping me and I kind of like that because it's proving that I really want it and I'm going to push myself

That's so cool! You have to let us know when you start querying.

Lizzy wrote:That's so cool! You have to let us know when you start querying.

Will do! I have my query letter finished and I'm just going to tweak it a little over the weekend and then I think I'm going to start sending it out

Oooh, really? *excited and nervous for you*

Yes, I soo excited and nervous too! I really hope that someone likes my novel!

I hope so too!! I'm rooting for you.

Thank you!!!

Amanda (and I) went through the querying process 2-3 years ago by ourselves. This was soon after one of the Twilight books came out, so we queried her agent, Jodi Reamer first via mail. Then, we googled agents and came up with [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], and promptly joined.

It's the best site ever for querying writers! It has a list of reputable agents, helps you keep track of who you've sent to, what their responses were, statistics, and what other writers have said about them. And their forum has critique places for first five, queries, and synopses.

Yep, we got a query whipped into shape, and then sent out little batches via email. We got mostly rejections, because we needed to rewrite and hadn't realized it yet. Good luck, Sarah!

Renee wrote:Amanda (and I) went through the querying process 2-3 years ago by ourselves. This was soon after one of the Twilight books came out, so we queried her agent, Jodi Reamer first via mail. Then, we googled agents and came up with [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], and promptly joined.

It's the best site ever for querying writers! It has a list of reputable agents, helps you keep track of who you've sent to, what their responses were, statistics, and what other writers have said about them. And their forum has critique places for first five, queries, and synopses.

Yep, we got a query whipped into shape, and then sent out little batches via email. We got mostly rejections, because we needed to rewrite and hadn't realized it yet. Good luck, Sarah!

I'm going to check that website out! Is it free to join? Have you queried again since then? Did you fix up that WIP or did you guys end up shelving it? I wish I had a twin that loved reading and writing as much as I do! And, thank you

Sarah wrote:

Lizzy wrote:That's so cool! You have to let us know when you start querying.

Will do! I have my query letter finished and I'm just going to tweak it a little over the weekend and then I think I'm going to start sending it out

Hey Sarah, I'm in need of people to read my query. Would you be interested? I'll read yours as well. I love reading queries! Good luck!

Rarely do I get their names from their client's books; I Google a lot. Generally, I type in, "lit agent thriller," since thriller is my genre.

Renee wrote:Amanda (and I) went through the querying process 2-3 years ago by ourselves. This was soon after one of the Twilight books came out, so we queried her agent, Jodi Reamer first via mail. Then, we googled agents and came up with [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], and promptly joined.

It's the best site ever for querying writers! It has a list of reputable agents, helps you keep track of who you've sent to, what their responses were, statistics, and what other writers have said about them. And their forum has critique places for first five, queries, and synopses.

Yep, we got a query whipped into shape, and then sent out little batches via email. We got mostly rejections, because we needed to rewrite and hadn't realized it yet. Good luck, Sarah!

QueryTracker is awesome! :O I sooo know what I'm using when I'm ready.

Sarah wrote:
I'm going to check that website out! Is it free to join? Have you queried again since then? Did you fix up that WIP or did you guys end up shelving it? I wish I had a twin that loved reading and writing as much as I do! And, thank you

It's free, and a tremendous resource! We haven't queried again because the WIP isn't done being rewritten(it's the one that'll end up being 110k when it's done). School and life in general got in the way, and it was for the best, really, because it gave the new ideas I was planning on implementing a chance to stew and form even better ideas. It totally wasn't ready to be sent out that first time, so when agents requested material, it didn't live up to the query. Now, the query isn't as good as the book, because I'm not all that great at writing queries, despite the help of many. It's the first in a series, so it would take a lot of rejection after all this work for me to shelve it.

Amanda wrote:

Sarah wrote:
I'm going to check that website out! Is it free to join? Have you queried again since then? Did you fix up that WIP or did you guys end up shelving it? I wish I had a twin that loved reading and writing as much as I do! And, thank you

It's free, and a tremendous resource! We haven't queried again because the WIP isn't done being rewritten(it's the one that'll end up being 110k when it's done). School and life in general got in the way, and it was for the best, really, because it gave the new ideas I was planning on implementing a chance to stew and form even better ideas. It totally wasn't ready to be sent out that first time, so when agents requested material, it didn't live up to the query. Now, the query isn't as good as the book, because I'm not all that great at writing queries, despite the help of many. It's the first in a series, so it would take a lot of rejection after all this work for me to shelve it.

That's great that you decided not to give up on your novel! Queries are harder to write than they look aren't they??? It took me a whole day to make it sound perfect, and even now it needs some tweaking. I have no clue how they expect us to fit what our books are about in less than two paragraph - I'm still amazed by how I did it!

AWriterGoneMad wrote:

Sarah wrote:

Lizzy wrote:That's so cool! You have to let us know when you start querying.

Will do! I have my query letter finished and I'm just going to tweak it a little over the weekend and then I think I'm going to start sending it out

Hey Sarah, I'm in need of people to read my query. Would you be interested? I'll read yours as well. I love reading queries! Good luck!

Yeah, I would love you read your query! How do you want to send it to me? And how should I send mine to you?

Sarah wrote:

AWriterGoneMad wrote:

Sarah wrote:

Lizzy wrote:That's so cool! You have to let us know when you start querying.

Will do! I have my query letter finished and I'm just going to tweak it a little over the weekend and then I think I'm going to start sending it out

Hey Sarah, I'm in need of people to read my query. Would you be interested? I'll read yours as well. I love reading queries! Good luck!

Yeah, I would love you read your query! How do you want to send it to me? And how should I send mine to you?

Yay! How about just email. You can send yours to [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and I'll just reply with my query.

Gah. Forgot the "?" *facepalm*

AWriterGoneMad wrote:Gah. Forgot the "?" *facepalm*

lol, thats alright, I sent my query letter to you so you can send yours to me once you get it