The Best Time of Year to Query Literary Agents

The Best Time of Year to Query Literary Agents by Jeff Rivera, founder of HowtoWriteaQueryLetter.com

As any book publishing professional will tell you, now is the time when the industry goes on hiatus. But guess what? This is one of the best times of the year to pitch agents. Why? Because agents may slow down during the hiatus period but they cannot help but sneak a peak at their email.

I know because I deal with literally hundreds of literary agencies every year.

They're constantly searching for the next hot thing to represent. And if it's sent to them now, they will have enough time to spit polish it before the industry starts back up again in January.

What's so special about January? Editors come back from the holidays with a fresh new perspective. They're also loaded up with their expense accounts all over again so they'll be ready to rock n' roll when they use those accounts to lunch with your new agent.

Expense accounts are often on a "use it or lose it" basis. If the editor didn't use all their lunch money last year, they'll receive an even less amount this year. It's also around the time when editors and editorial directors have set or are about to set their editorial schedules. So, what better time to submit to agents!

If you have something solid and ready, get your query letter together. And it better be good because you only have one shot with these agents. What are agents looking for right now more than ever?

1) Middle grade - If you've written the next Diary of a Wimpy Kid, especially a funny book for boys now's the time to pitch it.

2) Young Adult fiction - Hot, Hot, Hot! If you have a YA book, nothing's hotter in the industry. It's the one genre that has not dipped in sales tremendously. In fact, agencies are adding more agents to their rosters, specifically looking for this genre. More agents means more opportunities for you.

3) Graphic novels - If you're an author who has had a difficult time selling your novel, think about adapting it as a graphic novel. The great thing is, you don't have to be able to draw. Simply align yourself with a great artist. Create a 5-page sample of your work, a detailed summary and presto! That's all you need. 100% of the clients we've done this for have gotten agents.

4) Celebrity Memoirs - If you've got connections to celebrities, even D-List Reality TV star celebrities, this is a sure bet. Submit a solid book proposal co-written or ghost written by you and your hot celebrity and two things will happen: 1) The sun will rise tomorrow 2) An agent will request to read your proposal.

5) High Platform Nonfiction - If you have a huge opt-in mailing list, are the president of a large charity or organization, own your own PR firm, or have strong media connections, now's the time to write a book. Remember, if it's a nonfiction book, you only need write a book proposal, not the entire manuscript. With a strong platform, you'll have agents chasing after you instead of the other way around. 100% of the clients we created book proposals for have landed agents and damn good ones within a week or two.

Remember, you only have one shot with these agents, so make sure your query letter is as solid as possible. If you need help writing a winning query letter, email John@GumboWriters.com and we'll help you. 100% of the query letters we've ghost-written have received requests from at least 10 top agents to read the manuscripts or proposals.



-- Jeff Rivera, author of Forever My Lady (on Kindle): http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000QRIGYE/bookmarketingupd

You Know Your Query Letter Sucks When You CC It to a Dozen Agents at the Same Time

I wanted to vomit when I saw this. It was just so sad to see a perfectly skilled writer ruin their chances of landing an agent. They actually CC'd the same query letter to a bunch of agents all at the same time.

Now, come on now! Seriously. Don't you hate it when you get those FWD's and chain letters warning you that you'll have 500 years of bad luck and eternal damnation if you don't forward their email to 3000 of your closest friends?

It's the same way with agents. They know you're simultaneously querying other agents but why rub it in their face? It's not necessary.

You need to make each query letter unique and make the agent feel that you understand exactly what their needs and desires are when receiving submissions. You can see some great examples of personalized queries here: http://tinyurl.com/25t2mkj.

Yes, they know you're querying other agents. They're not stupid, but they don't want to hear about it. It's kind of like when you're first dating someone. You know you're not exclusive yet but you don't want to hear them talk about the passionate hot steamy sex they had with someone else the night before. No, and the same goes for an agent. They want to be treated as special.

If you send a bulk email out to them and 30 other agents, no one is going to respond to you other than to ask you to take them off the list. That's not what you want.

Write a unique query letter tailored for each potential agent and you'll be one step closer to landing an agent. If you would like to see an example of query letters that worked, visit: http://www.HowtoWriteaQueryLetter.com.

Remember, you only have one shot with these agents, so make sure your query letter is as solid as possible. If you need help writing a winning query letter, email John@GumboWriters.com and we'll help you. 100% of the query letters we've ghost-written have received requests from at least 10 top agents to read the manuscripts or proposals.



Jeff Rivera is the founder of HowtoWriteaQueryLetter.com. He and his works have been featured or mentioned in Publishers Weekly, GalleyCat, Mediabistro, Los Angeles Times, New York Observer, NPR and many other media outlets.

Another Debut Novel Success Story

Johanna Skibsrud's debut novel The Sentimentalists has just won Canada's most prestigious fiction award, the $50,000 Scotiabank Giller Prize for 2010. Her publisher Gaspereau Press, because of its commitment to artisanal quality, will have a hard time keeping up with demand. And, as most book publishers, Gaspereau will enjoy having that problem.

For more stories of successful debut novelists, see http://www.bookmarket.com/debutnovels.htm.

Another Viral T-Mobile YouTube Video

The following video has had 2.5 million views in two weeks. No instruments were used or harmed in the making of this video:

Is This Short Enough? - Book Blurbs and Elevator Speeches

One of the people I met at the recent 21st Century Book Marketing Conference was Beth Green, author of Memoirs of the New Age. As an author who feels the need to promote her book but finds it very time-consuming, she found the conference a little frustrating (because it was overwhelming).

In response, she blogged about her effort to create a 30-second pitch (http://www.bethsplace.org/?p=572). Here is her first pitch attempt:

Hi. I’m Beth Green, and I’m a spiritual teacher. I’ve written a book called ‘Memoirs of the New Age,’ and it’s a magical book of fables, poems, prayers and stories, which bring you into a world of special charm.

As she noted in her blog, the above pitch doesn't solve a problem. So she tried again:

Do you wake up every morning wondering if your relationship with your Higher Power is authentic? Do you have hidden resentments toward God? If you do, read ‘Memoirs of the New Age,’ a book of fables, poems, prayers and stories, which illuminate the way we are and bring us through our anguish and anger, until we achieve reconciliation with the divine.

Then, of course, she heard people saying you can't talk about God in today's world. So she rewrote the pitch as follows:

Hi, I’m Beth Green. Do you wake up every morning wondering if your relationship with your Higher Power is authentic? Do you have hidden resentments toward divine consciousness?

Well, I like the pitch with God in it, but I'd make it shorter. Here's my pitch for her:

Do you wake up every morning wondering if your relationship with your Higher Power is authentic? Do you have hidden resentments toward God? If you do, read ‘Memoirs of the New Age.’ It will change your relationship with God.

At the end of her blog post, she featured a prayer from her book. I liked it. I thought it summarized her book very well: God - Let's be friends. Amen.