Let me preface this by saying that this is ridiculously over-simplified.
I could write on my blog for a year just on number one...
ONE - Write a kickass book ;-) Something that shows off your strengths as a writer, and hides your weaknesses. For example - I’m not fab at world-building, so my first few books were all contemporary. Also with this idea comes my whole post from Friday...
TWO - Find books that have sold well, that are similar to your book in feel/genre/content. Learn about those authors and who reps them. There’s no point in sending your MS to an agent who won’t like it based on the premise alone. This will give you a starting point. Also. Do not be afraid to stalk agents. They will be working for you and you need to make sure you'll get along.
THREE - Learn how to write a query letter. Nathan Bransford did this really cool “query madlib” that I love. Query shark is a brilliant resource, and Elana Johnson has a free ebook on how to write a query that is absolutely amazing. IF you cannot get your book to “fit” into a query, then you have to go back to number one, because your book needs to be tweaked. I KNOW this seems backward, but it’s not. I have more than once done major re-writes when I realized there was no way to summarize my story into a tantalizing bite-sized chunk ;-)
And this answer feels a little like “I know best” and I don’t. This is just MY experience and what worked for me. And instead of writing this to just you, and making it more personal, I wrote it for my blog, which is less personal…
And I bet a ton of you want to throw something at my head right now.
Also. And I say this a lot - it's the right story, for the right agent, AT THE RIGHT TIME. And that's something you just might not know right away...
And I bet a ton of you want to throw something at my head right now.
Also. And I say this a lot - it's the right story, for the right agent, AT THE RIGHT TIME. And that's something you just might not know right away...
Wanna add any steps??
Like banging your head against your desk?
Or hitting refresh on your email inbox a few too many times to be healthy...within five minutes?
~ Jolene
11 comments:
GREAT POST. It makes things so nice and simple, although there is still tons of hard work involved.
Here is the problem I've run in to with querying. I think I've got a pretty good snippet as far as a plot summary. I think the story boils down nicely into an intriguing summary. However, it's definitely not easily pinned in one genre. I would say its contemporary, but there is also a fantasy or paranormal thread. My strategy so far has been to mostly target agents who represent both contemporary literary fiction and fantasy. I've gotten a few near-hits with that, but I could use more and I want to make sure I'm doing this the best way I can. Anyway, all this is to say, if you ever had thoughts on that aspect of querying I know of a reader who would be interested in a blog post on that :)
Hahaha. I hope I never have to query ever again. *crosses fingers*
Three simple steps. You know how many writers are throwing their coffee, shoe, or whatever at you right now. :)
Haven't heard of Elana, but I downloaded her pdf and will see if my query follows her directions.
I love Query Shark. I haven't referenced it in a while, I should go back.
This is all so true. Sometimes the hardest things are simple. People want some magic pill or deep secret, but there just isn't any. Write well. Query well...and appropriately. That's about it.
If only those things were easy to do! :)
I'm with Suzi, you should probably duck. Lol. But this is all great advice!
I keep singing Special Agent Oso... Three special steps, that's all you need. Three special steps, and you'll succeed.
I think I watch too much Disney Jr.
Great advice ...
Thanks for the "simple" advice :D
I will definitely check out that E-Book!
Those were three simple but kick ass steps Jolene. Thank you.
I seriously 100% believe in the power of comparisons. If you can't nail down your genre and style enough to offer a relevant comp, then I'd say start researching! Just my two cents!
Email me, I want to know the whole convoluted story. ;) Well, after the 3-year-long heartwrenching failure of an agent search that was The Moongate, I'm not sure if I want to go through that again. I have a feeling Cobalt is a better story, so I don't know...I might just want to go for a small publisher without an agent (Xchyler looks awesome right now), because I don't think I'm disciplined enough for self-pubbing. But your three simple steps really are the boiled-down basics that I think every writer who wants an agent MUST have before even thinking about querying.
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