Dear Lit Loves,
Greetings fellow literary lovies! I have a major announcement. And no, I did not secure a literary agent. If that had happened you would have heard me screaming and doing somersaults in the parking lot of my apartment complex here in North Carolina. My major news is that I have now surpassed 4,000 views of my blog! Okay, it's not on par with Lady Gaga's number of Twitter followers, but I'll take it. My number of blog views is actually 4,124! AND HEY! IF YOU REALLY WANT TO SEE ME IMITATE ELECTRIC GUITAR PLAYING TO THE ROLLING STONES TUNE, "START ME UP", THEN PLEASE FOLLOW ME ON THIS BLOG'S HOME PAGE. I'LL TRY AND GET MY TECH GURU HUSBAND TO VIDEO RECORD IT AND POST IT SO YOU CAN SEE MY EXCITEMENT.
So today I decided to peruse QueryTracker, a website where new writers log their queries (aka book pitches) to literary agents and then have the option of letting the rest of us (writer minions) know what kind of response they received. Well, I decided to evaluate a few of the "alleged" responses noted from literary agents in reply to writer queries. I say "alleged" because I am assuming that the writers are telling the truth about the responses they report from literary agents. I don't want to get sued either.
Evaluations of Literary Agent Responses To Writer Queries Via QueryTracker
For July 16th, 2015:
1) Writer #1 noted that she sent a query via postal mail to a literary agent regarding a political thriller manuscript she had written. She mailed this in March of 2015. After four and a half months, this writer has still not received a response to her query. Personally, I thought it was shameful on the part of the literary agent. And then when I looked to see the identity of the literary agent, I wanted to tell the query writer not to worry, this literary agent did not get back to me on four different occasions so I struck her off my potential literary agent list for untimely behavior and poor time management skills. I am a former inner-city teacher. I have responsibilities you know.
2) Writer #2 queried a literary agent on July 6th, 2015 with a query for contemporary romance. That writer received a full request from the literary agent on July 12th, 2015. This means the agent wants to see your entire manuscript, book proposal or sometimes both. The literary agent offered the writer representation on July 15th, 2015 and the writer accepted the invitation. Good for you! I've never had any luck whatsoever with this literary agency. I think it's because they do not like serious subject matter or memoirs written by non-celebrities, but that's just my assumption from the rejections I have received from them as a writer. And I am also very intuitive.
3) Writer #3 queried a romantic thriller to a literary agent on July 14th, 2015. The writer received a rejection or pass on the book pitch on July 15th, 2015 because the literary agent felt he/she was not a good fit for this book. I took this to mean maybe it wasn't his/her style or maybe this is not a genre in which heshe specializes. Anyway, it was a timely and professional rejection. This literary agent remains on my potential literary agent list. Being prompt is always beneficial in my opinion.
4) Writer #4 emailed a query letter to a literary agent in June 2015 regarding a time travel novel. She received a response from the literary agent a month later saying that it was essentially well-written, but he/she could not connect with the voice of the main character. This literary agent invited the writer to query her again with future projects. I thought this was courteous and professional. And it's certainly nicer than any rejection or pass I have received from any literary agent at this particular agency. I no longer query any of the literary agents at this agency because I just didn't feel they were willing to make the time and effort to guide a new writer through the publishing process. This agency was banished from my query list.
5) Writer #5 sent a pitch letter and first ten pages of her manuscript to a literary agent on June 22nd, 2015 and received a courteous email rejection a week later. This agent said the manuscript is wonderful, but the main character's voice is just not her style; however, he/she recommended the writer not change a thing about the manuscript and to just keep querying because some agent will fall in love with it and choose to offer representation. Folks, I actually stood up from my chair in my home office after reading this and applauded. What a genuinely pleasant and personalble response by a literary agent. I just queried this same literary agent and I have not heard back which means either she is quite busy, has placed my query in a "maybe" pile, or is horrified by my content and writing style. Fingers crossed though.
6) Writer #6 queried a quite busy and popular literary agent on July 14th, 2015 even though the literary agent's website noted he/she was closed to queries. The writer received a full request on July 16th, 2015. This means the literary agent wanted to read her entire manuscript and evaluate it. I was impressed. I have queried this literary agent with at least two manuscripts and he/she has rejected them. Recently, when I had four editors who expressed interest in perusing a manuscript of mine once I landed a literary agent, I queried this same literary agent asking if he/she could consider any material of mine now. Crickets. No response. And it was just a simple question too. I guess neither me or my question warranted a response. Finders Keepers, Losers Weepers. Onward!!
Okay folks! That's it for today's blog post. I'm still reading the memoir entitled "The Mad Woman in the Volvo: My Year of Raging Hormones" by Sandra Tsing Loh; however, I am no longer laughing hysterically. I'm now beginning to wonder if she is going to need a prescription for Paxil, Wellbutrin, Xanax, or possibly Prozac. And I'm beginning to wonder how she and I grew up both belonging to Generation X. Will get back to you on this once I conclude my reading.
Cheers!
Grace
(Amy)
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