February 27

It's Friday and I promised to update you on the great agent query. To give you all some background, I have been writing seriously for 15 years. During that time I've signed with two very different agents-neither sold a single book for me. I sold all nine books, myself. So, why still agent hunt? Because editors take you far more seriously if you have someone else pitching you. Sad but true. This particular book is a new genre for me-thriller vs. romance. So I am hoping to find representation to launch me into the genre. Note the word-hoping- if no agent has the time or inclination to represent this venture. Then I will send off queries myself. To be honest at this point I trust myself to rep me far more than I trust an agent. Both of my ex-agents were well researched- no fee charging and NY based-one was with a very big agency. One was with a boutique agency. So, I'm a little jaded. *shrug*

Here's the key- keep plugging. So far I've sent out five e-queries and received one answer..."Sorry, this is not the right project for me at this time."

Today I'm mailing out eight queries- some with five pages, some with twenty- one with fifty per their submission guidelines. I expect to hear back by June-yes, June is reasonable in this crazy business. In the meantime, I've got another book to work on. Cheers!

February 16-Agent query

I have done my research on agents- I googled agents. Then went to Agent Query which lists agents to find ones that are looking for thrillers. I found seven good candidates. Then I went to preditors and editors-a website that rates agents and lets you know when someone is phony or has a bad reputation. I also look for an agent to be a AAR member as this association has a set code of conduct that I appreciate.

Now I have a starting list of four- these four represent my "ideal" agent for this book. There are more but I'm going to start with my ideal. I've already written and revised the book, written and revised the synopsis, written a sell sheet. Now I will sit down and write a query letter and send a letter to each of my four candidates. Their replies can come as early as today-if they do e-mail- or in the next few weeks. Here's hoping they want to read more.