11 Mistakes to Avoid When Querying a Literary Agent

Congratulations! You’ve completed and polished your manuscript. You’ve written your three-part query letter. Now, here are a few things not to do—no matter how tempted you are. Why? Because publishing is a business, and you want to showcase yourself as a professional.

 

11 Mistakes to Avoid When Query a Literary Agent by Kim Tomsic

 

1.     Don’t tell the agent that your mom, sister, classroom, and neighbor LOVED your book.

2.     Don’t call your manuscript a fiction novel (that’s like calling it a story story or a book story).

3.     Don’t submit to multiple agents WITHIN the same agency (but do send to your top five or ten agents at one time. Almost nobody expects an exclusive submission unless you’ve had that conversation).

4.     Don’t forget to ask your critique group to review it.

5.     Don’t pack your letter in an envelope and mail a query to a "green" office (and certainly don’t include rainbows and glitter!). Most agents only accept emailed submissions or online forms. Read their agency guidelines.

6.     Don’t skip the submission guidelines – notice if you are supposed to paste your manuscript pages within the body of the email, or if you are supposed to attach it as a Word Document. Don’t add attachments UNLESS the agent says they prefer to receive submissions that way.

7.     Don’t send a “Dear Sir or Madam” email and then email ten agents on the same outgoing message. Not only is it unprofessional and lacks the personal touch, but your email might also filter to their trash as spam. Avoid getting filtered as spam by refraining from adding special do-dads and gifs.

8.     Don’t misspell a name and please don't say "Dear Agent." Remember, address the letter to their name, spell it correctly, and let them know why you personally selected them.

9.     Don’t query an agent with a picture book manuscript if they only accept YA. Read their #MSWL

10.  Don’t query if they are closed to queries.

11.  Don’t query too soon. Slow down and make sure your manuscript is polished.

12.  Don’t worry! Be professional and let your writing do the talking.

5 Quick Reasons Why Reading Connects You with Literary Agents, Authors, and Editors

If you’re planning to attend a local event, regional gathering, or even an international publishing conference, I strongly urge you to READ! Reading the faculty members’ books prior to the event will give you more bang for your buck!

Connecting with Authors and Attendees: Reading select books in advance is a great way to connect with what is said in the keynote speeches and breakout sessions, and it provides a common ground with fellow attendees. 

Connecting with Agents: Read books written by the agents' clients - especially the agents whom you'd like to connect with. Reading an agent's clients' books is a great starting point to vet if an agent might be a good fit for you. You'll get a sense of their taste, and you might see the agent acknowledged in the back of the book. Furthermore, reading an agent's clients book offers material for nice conversation starters. If you like the agent, another step to vet them is by checking out what they're looking for on their manuscript wish list at #MSWL. 

Connecting with Editors: Furthermore, read books the editors on the faculty have worked on. Get to know an editor's taste and style. When you land in an elevator or bump into an editor at a conference-sponsored coffee or cocktail party, you'll have something authentic to talk about that is "them" focused.

I’ve been to dozens of SCBWI conferences. Every year, I’m thankful I did my self-imposed homework—it's worth the effort. 

Here are the top five reasons reading books written/edited/or agented by conference faculty will give you a RICHER, MORE TEXTURED conference experience:

Mem Fox reading to the audience! 

1.      You'll enjoy keynotes on a deeper level, because you’ve already crawled inside the author’s

head. Instead of looking at a stranger standing at the podium, you’ll feel like you’re listening to a friend. When a speaker refers to their book in a keynote or break-out session, you’ll be connected and understand the “inside” jokes and references. Do you have to read books before coming—No. Do the speeches feel more engaging and meaningful if you do—Absolutely, yes!

2.      You have conversation starters and a better opportunity to connect with the faculty, not to mention connecting with fellow attendees. I can't tell you how many times I've turned a stranger into a friend, because we both gushed over a faculty member's book. 

Reading your way to lasting friendships!

3.      You look like a professional. Reading the work of relevant speakers shows that you care about what’s happening in the publishing industry. You show that you are a good literary citizen. Furthermore, it’s a great way to vet which publishing professionals might be a good fit for you. Other ways to stay on top of what's happening in the publishing industry is subscribing to a free weekly update in Publisher's Lunch (by Publisher's Marketplace).

4.      You get exposed to books and genres you may not have considered—this helps rev-up the creative juices. Who knows - perhaps your own work will benefit.

5.      Great writers are readers first! 

6 Golden Rules - Advice From Top Agents and Editors in the Publishing Industry - What Publishers Say About Your First Page Behind Closed Doors

DREAM TEAM:  Nick Healy, Caryn Wiseman, Andrea Brown, Jennifer Mattson, Melissa Manlove

Writers want to know the secret sauce that makes editors, agents and readers turn a first page in a book. Some say authors must get the inciting incident on page one. 

Screenwriting books advise the inciting incident should land on page ten (or for books, the first 10% of a novel). Wendy Loggia of Delacorte Press/Random House once told me it’s hard to care about an inciting incident until we care about the character. She went on to say that many writers want to get to the good stuff first, but it all has to be good.

To further understand the art of the first page, I asked Andrea Brown, president of the

Andrea Brown Literary Agency (ABLA), to host a panel session during the Big Sur in the Rockies writing workshop held in Boulder, Colorado. On a rainy Saturday afternoon, participants submitted the first page of their work-in-progress and gathered to hear feedback from a dream-team of publishing professionals—Melissa Manlove from Chronicle  Books, Nick Healy from Capstone Publishing, and three ABLA agents: Andrea Brown, Caryn Wiseman and Jennifer Mattson.  The panel provided insight on what works and what doesn’t on the first page of manuscripts, everything from picture books to YA novels. 

Here’s what I heard:

1.  Don’t rob readers of experiencing the emotional state of the character. This is another reason agents and editors (and readers) want you to SHOW DON’T TELL. For example, writers should not write George was upset about his report card—that TELLS the emotional state. Write something along the lines of George wadded up his report card and shoved it to the bottom of his backpack. 

2.  Picture Book Writers—WATCH OUT for subjective-clause filled sentence structure. Instead, choose an appropriate sentence structure for your audience. Let sentences end so readers land on an idea. Simplify your language and let the art carry a good portion of the story's weight. (And on a sidenote, it’s a good idea to keep emotional conflict out of bedtime stories).

3.  All Manuscripts—

·        Avoid over choreography.

·        Read your pages out loud and listen for repeating words or repeating a character’s name—fix if you’re over using it and it doesn't sound natural.

·        Choose active verbs. Instead of using “to be” verbs, choose verbs powerful enough to eliminate adjective and adverbs.

·        Remember that books set in the 1980’s and 90's are now considered historical fiction.

·        Don’t lead with generic circumstances that stay generic, stay away from common storylines and add something fresh and original.

·        Don’t write a book with didactic intentions and please don’t write with a didactic tone; kids will see right through this. “We don’t go to stories for lessons,” says Melissa Manlove  (though please see Melissa’s additional feedback listed at the end of this article).

·        Be careful so that you’re not long and heavy on details. Readers don’t want to wade through the mundane to get to the good.

·        “Many editors dislike prologues and we want you to be as rejection-proof as possible so don’t use them unless you really must.” Andrea Brown

·        Some panel members are not fans of mixing anthropomorphized animals with talking humans. That’s not a rule, just a note of preferences when querying this panel.

·        The Picture Book industry is currently hot on having character-driven picture books, but characters still needs to have a motivation.   

·       

4.  Using illustration notes in picture books. Please know this varies between editors (for example, never (never ever) send an illustration note to Beach Lane Books). Per the members on this panel, illustration notes are fine, but only if it is necessary for the editor or agent to get an inside joke or a something that is not relayed in the words. Do not use illustration notes to describe your character or provide unnecessary art direction.

5.  Writing in Rhyme. If you are writing in rhyme, please take a look at any book that’s won a Geisel Award (p.s. fun fact—Andrea Brown worked with Theodore Geisel long ago!).

I’ve attended dozens upon dozens of conferences, and though many agents and editors say they don’t like rhyme, many also say it’s because they don’t like bad and forced rhyme. Furthermore, if a story rhymes in English, that doesn’t mean it’s going to rhyme in French or Spanish, so rhyming books are difficult to sell beyond the U.S.  

6.  Author/Illustrators—if you work as both an author and illustrator, you should submit a sketch dummy for your full picture book along with only a couple of pieces of finished art.

**Post workshop Melissa and I chatted, and she states there’s another side to this list of advice. To learn more, I suggest you read her interview titled “Noir and Horror for your Kindergartner” by Maggie Tokuda-Hall posted on the Boing Boing blog 

Preparing for a Writing Conference

Don't wear your regular "uniform"!😅

1.      How to Dress:  Dress for a conference in business casual. You want to be relaxed, but yoga clothing isn't the right outfit for this event.Conferences are packed with long days and exciting classes and sessions. You’ll want to feel comfortable, confident, and professional. Sometimes rooms are hot and sometimes they’re over air-conditioned, so be  dressed for all options. Specifically, I like to wear casual dress pants or even a nice pair of jeans and a shirt/blouse that I feel good in, plus I bring a light jacket or sweater. If you didn’t break the bank paying for the conference, buy yourself something cute, so you can add to your confidence quotient!

2.     Question Two:  What three things I wish I knew before going to my first conference:  

• Make Authentic Connections:  Do investigative homework on people with whom you'd like to connect (the faculty), so you can have authentic conversations—that means something deeper than "please love my work". For example, you may research the faculty on the internet and find out that Mr. Blue loves yoga and so do you—Awesome! There’s a connection! Mrs. Green grew up on Mars and so did you—Bingo! Another connection. Mrs. Orange’s favorite show is "My Cat from Hell" and what? So is yours!  The faculty members are humans (shocker, right 😊), and at conference events where everyone wants a piece of them, they are craving real conversation. It's nice for both you and them. Plus, when you follow up with a query, it makes it easy for that faculty member to remember you. You’ll open your letter with a reminder, “Dear Mrs. Green. It was fun meeting you at XYZ conference and discovering we both attended Rocket Middle School on Mars.”
  
• Be prepared with questions: If you've signed up for a one-on-one critique, go into it like a business meeting rather than a hope for an offer of representation. That sort of hope leaves you nervous and jittery, so instead, approach the meeting like you would with anyone else who you’d hire to consult. THAT MEANS show up prepared with a list of questions about your work—for example, questions I’ve asked in the past (since I write kid-lit) included "Can these words be used in a middle grade novel?" and "Is this skewing middle grade or young adult?"  or "Am I achieving the inciting incident quickly enough?" or questions on voice or plot points or  "Can you recommend any comparable titles?" For me, it helps to know which current books my project would be shelved next to; for you it might be which books you could look at as mentor texts. Other questions could include, "What do you recommend as next steps" and—the biggie—"Would you be interested in seeing more?" Why not go for that question—but save it for last so it doesn’t mess with your brain. It’s okay if they say no.
  
• Remind Yourself: a “Pass” from an individual is not a Rejection from the Entire Industry   Every book is not everyone’s cup of tea. J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter was rejected by 12 publishers before it was picked up. Kwame Alexander’s book, The Crossover, was shopped for almost seven years before it was published. It ended up winning the Newbery Award and easily became a New York Times Bestseller! Bruce Cameron’s novel, A Dog’s Purpose, was rejected by one publisher after the next because the year before, Marley and Me was released, and so since Marley and Me was a smashing success, publishers thought they couldn’t compete. Publishers rejected A Dog’s Purpose with a note saying it was “too similar”—but then a new and naïve assistant editor found the manuscript in the slush pile and championed it to publication. The novel soared to the top of the New York Times Bestseller’s list. So there you have it. A “pass” from one person is not a rejection from the entire publishing industry. You must be diligent in reminding yourself that taste is subjective. The PARADOX: it’s also important to listen to what the critiquer has to say. They are industry professions and have solid and sound advice—it’s why you sign up for a one-on-one critique. Here is the guidance I received from two brilliant ladies, Anna-Maria Crum and Hilari Bell: If one unbiased critiquer gives you advice, you can consider it and then keep it or toss it if the advice speaks to you; if two unbiased critiquers who are not speaking to one another give you the same advice, you must seriously consider; if three unbiased critiquers who are not speaking to one another give you the same advice, you must make the change in your manuscript.     
• Come Prepared:
  
  Buy a special notebook and pens/markers—I’m a paper nerd and love doing this before a conference! Bring these items to your critique and write down key points. You think you'll remember what you're critiquer says, but the time flies by and you'll wish you took notes. I promise! Also, take notes during conference sessions—your brain is going to tell you that everything you hear is so life-changing that of course you'll remember it, but trust me when I say you won’t! Not only do I take notes at every conference, but I took fantastic notes at my first event and still enjoy referring back to those tidbits today.  
• CONFESSION—And why I give you this advice: I didn’t take notes at my first one-on-one critique, because I was so star struck and hopeful that the editor would want to publish my manuscript. I stayed in a daze the entire critique time, and so I didn't walk away with ways to improve my manuscript. Prepare for your critique like you would any business meeting. Accept that it is highly unusual for an offer to be made on the spot—not because your writing and projects isn’t brilliant, but because so much more goes into an agent’s decision to represent than just the single project.
  
• More on Agents:  Finding the right agent/author (or agent/illustrator) relationship is critical, because essentially, it’s a life-long match. As such, the agent needs to vet you and it’s important that you vet them. The vetting process can be like dating, both parties are considering the working relationship and an offer of representation is the marriage proposal. New authors tend to want “someone—anyone” to get their work out there, but you should consider that agents come in all forms. Take time at a conference to meet and talk to agents to discover their style and determine if that is the right style for you. For example, some agents are editorial and they'll work to help you edit the manuscript prior to submitting to publishers—I personally wanted and needed that kind of agent (shout out and mad-love for my agent, Jen Rofé!). Some agents are not editorial—that works better for many of my friends. Some agents are new and energetic but have not fully established their reputation. How do you feel about that? Some agents have HUGE names because they have major clients. You’ll need to decide if that’s important to you. As a newbie, if you land with that type of agent, it might mean you end up as their lowest priority, or it might mean the agent has tons of experience and big-time clout and can take you and your work far (I’ve seen both happen to authors).  For me, as I attended conferences and met agents or listened to them on agent panels, I discovered who would be right for me and who would be a horrible match.

3.     Have I participated in seminars/intensives offered at conferences, and what seminar/intensive was the most helpful?

YES! I’ve participated in a few after-conference intensives (usually a three-hour seminar) and I’ve chosen different ones led by all levels of professionals—agents, editors, and authors. For me, the most useful intensives have been the author-led workshops. What is best for you depends on what stage you’re at in your writing and publishing process. Early in my process, I attended a three-hour roundtable where participants read the first five pages of their manuscript and received instant feedback from the agent. That was extremely informative —not because of the feedback I received on my work, but because hearing feedback on fifteen different projects helped me grow my own writing. At that point in my writing career, I found it easier to discover or recognize mistakes when it didn’t feel personal, and then I used that knowledge to fix my own writing problems. Another seminar I attended was “How to do School Visits” with Suzanne Morgan Williams and Bruce Hale—Wow! That was fantastic and so helpful since The 11:11 Wish was due to release soon, and I had no idea how to handle school visits. Another workshop I attended was with award-winning author Linda Sue Parks. It truly helped me dig into my work and improve my craft.  My favorite thing about seminars/intensives is how they small and personal feeling, since they are usually limited to a small handful of participants.

4.      How did you refine your pitch 

Time to SHARE YOUR PITCH

Practice with people. Practice with strangers. Practice with your barista. Say, “I’m writing a book, can I tell you about it?” And then be prepared to talk for thirty seconds, saying something substantial that will hook the listener’s interest. It’s tough. You write a 50,000 word manuscript, and then you need to be able to cull it down to something meaningful and with meat in a few short sentences. The book Save the Cat by Blake Snyder has an entire section about pitches. Read it! He says to read current movie pitches and he says pitching to strangers while you’re in line at a coffee shop or grocery store can be your best gauge of true interest. It can also help you become less nervous when it really matters. If you practice your pitch to a stranger and their eyes glaze over, you’re not ready, but nothing is lost. If you say it and the person asks you questions, awesome! You’ve captured their interest. I might get this quote wrong, but Andrea Brown, founder of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency, likes to say a pitch should be like a skirt: long enough to cover everything, but short enough to keep it interesting. Keep the listener engaged and curious. For fiction, I love to start crafting my pitch with the Save the Cat formula: On the verge of a Stasis=Death moment, a flawed protagonist Breaks into Two; but when the Midpoint happens, he/she must learn the Theme Stated, before All Is Lost.

5.       Is there anything else?

Yes! Read the faculty members’ work (their books, their clients’ books) prior to attending a conference. Here’s my article on WHY this is so important: http://kimscritiquingcorner.blogspot.com/2016/07/top-five-reasons-reading-prepares-you.html

Carry a water bottle,  bring healthy snacks to keep your energy up, and treat yourself with kind words, a grateful heart, and believe you are deserving of good things to come!

  

Publishing 101

Hello, Authors!

If you are visiting this page, you may have attended my Publishing 101 session at the Rocky Mountain SCBWI regional conference. Thank you for stopping by to pick up additional resources. It shows you're serious about your publishing career!  If you landed on this page by accident and you're interested in writing children's books, stop what you're doing and join SCBWI www.scbwi.org!

Before reading further, here's the most important thing you need to know: to be a good children's book writer, you need to be a avid kid lit reader first. What's on your bookshelf?

FORMATTING YOUR MANUSCRIPT: A properly formatted manuscript is an important step in the submissions process. From Keyboard to Printed Page on the SCBWI website https://www.scbwi.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/From-Keyboard_2014.pdf

Craft Tips:  

Interview with Richard Peck:  Here he talks about his writing process.

Dream Team: Nick Healy, Caryn Wiseman, Andrea Brown, Jennifer Mattson, Melissa Manlove

Craft tips from agents and editors:  Great advice from a writing workshop weekend offered by a panel of Agents and Editors who served on faculty at Big Sur in the Rockies. Article title: "What Agents and Editors Think When Reading Your First Page". The highlights from this article include (1)Don’t rob readers of experiencing the emotional state of a character.

SHOW don’t TELL: Don’t write, “George was upset about his report card.” Write, “George wadded up his report card and shoved it to the bottom of his backpack.”

(2)PB writers: Watch out for clause-filled sentence structure

(3)Avoid over choreography, didactic intentions, and characters with stuff happening to them rather than the protagonist making stuff happen. For the full article, click Craft tips from agents and editors

You can find more craft tips in my 2011 Interview with Matt de la Pena:  The interview begins with me gushing over one of his novels. Dig in further, because within the interview, you will find some gems and inspirational writing and working tips. My favorite piece of advice, "I think voice is WAY easier if you’re 100% honest."  And "Don’t fake it. Don’t chase trends. Be real. If it hurts, it’s gold. If it embarrasses you, it has to go in. If it shames you, it’s the most important ingredient."

Querying Tips beyond my regular tip of sticking with three paragraphs (the hook, the book, and the cook), I advise you visit ASK DAPHNE at KT Literary: KT Literary allows authors to submit to "Ask Daphne" for query feedback. Learn from one another's mistakes!

Agent Interviews:  Reading interviews with agents is one key step to discovering if he/she is the right agent for you. When querying agents, open with why you chose to query them. here are a handful of interviews for your review (you'll find more at Writer's Digest, Absolute Write, and other blogs):

Interviw with Hilary Harwell

Interview with Kristin Nelson

Interview with Shannon Hassan

Interview with Deborah Warren

Interview with Tricia Lawrence

An upcoming webinar Query Workshop:

Professionally Personal: How to Compel Agents in One Page or Less. (Webinar) October 10, 2017 7:30-9:00 PM Eastern time, Hosted by MD/DE/WV SCBWI. ADDITIONAL QUERY CRITIQUE SLOTS NOW AVAILABLE. Agent Hannah Mann of Writers House discusses what to stress for success when it comes to querying agents, including how to stay brief and be heard without coming off as generic, how to strike a balance between broad appeal and agent-specific, and choosing the perfect comp titles. A recording of the webinar will be available for one month after the live event. The recording will be for registered attendees only, so if you can't make the live event, you can register to view the recording. Cost: SCBWI Members: $15 for webinar only; $30 for webinar + query letter critique with Hannah Mann of Writers House or Carrie Howland of Empire Literary; Non-members: $25 for webinar. https://mddewv.scbwi.org/events/webinar-with-agent-hannah-mann-professionally-personal-how-to-compel-agents-in-one-page-or-less/

Important places to turn for information:

KiteTales:  this is the quarterly publication put out by editor Shelly Steig with the RMC SCBWI. To access KiteTales, you must be logged in to your SCBWI account. Here you will find agent interviews and writing and/or illustrating tips.  To enjoy current and past issues of Kite Tales, visit RMC.SCBWI.ORG ( https://rmc.scbwi.org/ ) Log in to your account first (access denied until you log in) and click on the side bar items called "FOR OUR MEMBERS" and then select KiteTales.

EVENTS:  Also under FOR OUR MEMBERS (log into your SCBWI account first) you can follow the Good News, Contests, and Upcoming events link to find out about free events as well as fee-based workshops. 

Insights:  This is an online publication put out by SCBWI headquarters. Every issue of Insights features an agent or editor interview.

The Bulletin:  This is a quartly publication put out by the SCBWI, you can choose to receive it via email or snail mail.

Writer’s Digest:  sign up for their free email newsletter. They regularly feature new agents who are hungry for submissions.

Publisher’s Weekly: stay informed with this publication and agent deals.

Publisher’s Lunch: Free newsletter and a great place to read about new deals. Here you will see one-liners (log lines) about recently aquired books. When reading the one-line logged lines, you might find inspiration for how to word your "hook".

Agent Query:  good place read about agents and possibly vet them. Keep in mind, this is not a fool-proof vetting source, but it's a great place to get started. Here's how they describe themself: "AgentQuery.com offers one of the largest searchable database of literary agents on the web—a treasure trove of reputable, established literary agents seeking writers just like you. And it's free (not because there's a catch, but simply because not enough things in this world are free)."

Preditors and Editors: Another online forum to vet which agents are following best practices.

Follow RMC SCBWI on our closed Facebook page (members only page, so you'll request to join when you first arrive. Here, we post regularly about industry news and upcoming webinars and events.

Follow RMC or me on Twitter:

@SCBWIRockyMtn  this is the RMC SCBWI account

@Bkshelfdetectiv (this is me, Kim Tomsic)