A war has begun in the streets of the internet(s).
And it is not pretty. As all terrible wars become.
Last month, several agents and editors put together a Twitter event called #queryfail. Twitter, another in a long line of social networking sites designed to move information quickly through the internet(s), hosted agents and a few editors to post what did not work with query letters they received. It began as a harmless helpful tool for both sides of the publishing coin. Writers got a rare opportunity to see what not to do while querying; agents got an opportunity to use a new possible marketing tool and educate writers who are sorely in need of it.
A couple thousand anonymous queries were rejected and told how they needed to improve.
For a month, nothing happened during the war.
Until now.
Writers have been given a forum called Agentfail to strike back at the agents who rejected their queries, in some cases with outright scorn. It is a natural reaction, I must admit. When I opened up the first three agent rejections I received for my first novel, Song of the Fell Hammer, my reaction was anger. It had no basis in logic. Given the internet(s) though, these people have the ability to respond to their perceived “attackers” in just as anonymous ways as Queryfail worked.
So, being in between both worlds and a writer trying to break into the business, where do I stand in this war?
I sit firmly on the side of the agents!
Now where’s my broadsword?
Being Terry Brooks's webmaster means I receive a great deal of email. Fans write in asking about story elements and what Terry is planning or currently writing, but many of them are aspiring writers just trying to learn how to get published. I help these people as much as I can if it is a question I know the answer to, most of them dealing with how to get one's book into the hands of an agent or editor. I share what knowledge I have gleaned over the last decade.
And sometimes that advice requires work from the prospective writer.
They need to work in bookstores. They need to attend author events and ask questions. They need to attend writer conferences and build relationships with agents and editors—and no, I don't want to hear "I don't have enough money" or "I don't have the time." They need to read multiple informative websites devoted to helping them. They need to find these answers out on their own because they are out there just waiting to be found with an easy Google search!
In other words, they need to become powerful sponges.
They need to become the Borg.
Resistance is futile, right?
There is a whole new education that takes place when one finishes a book, that information readily available online or in the writing sections of bookstores. When I finished writing my first novel, Song of the Fell Hammer, I had no idea what I had gotten myself into—but I took the time to learn it. Without a doubt, the hardest part of the publishing process comes after a book is written and edited—the query letter.
Yes, I said it.
The query letter is easily the hardest part of the entire process to produce—even the writing of the actual book—because it must be utterly perfect.
Perfect to intrigue the agent or editor.
Over the years, I've discovered 95% of querying writers do not understand the query letter needs to be perfect. Why do they not know this?
Well, two things really.
As someone who has finished two books, I understand that after spending months and months writing a book that the writer just wants the process over with. Writing a book is time consuming, energy consuming and emotionally consuming and sometimes after a book is finished the writer has nothing left to give.
And the second aspect is straight up ignorance and laziness. Yes, I said it again. I have responded to thousands of hopeful writers surprised at the things they do not know, things that a simple book on the craft of writing or website search would remedy. The knowledge the query letter must be perfect—that there are things you simply do not do as a querying writer—escapes most writers.
So how can something like Angentfail exist?
When the writers are at fault for their own failures?
Bring this full circle.
Agents and editors offered up their time for #Queryfail. They had no need to do so as they are inundated with thousands of manuscripts every year. Every agent I have met or corresponded with during my own work has been devoted, aiding writers nearly every moment of their lives. The sarcasm many of them display is inevitable. For years agents like Miss Snark have fought against the ignorance many writers display when it comes to pitching their work, ignorance that seriously should not exist due to the massive amount of information out there pertaining to publishing.
Writers, and especially those on Agentfail, need to realize something—and this is coming from a fellow writer.
The sarcasm, whether it be professional or not professional, is a direct rebuttal to laziness, laziness from hopeful clients the agent must deal with every second of their professional lives.
Stop being lazy, writers, and the sarcasm will cease.
Fairly simple, really.
My advice: Spend a month, every day, reading agent websites or websites devoted to writing. Read Miss Snark from beginning to end; that will take you a month at least! Research until every question you could ever have is answered by you.
Then write your query letter. Then rewrite it. Then rewrite it again. And then pitch your book.
Your chances will be greatly improved.
And if you are rejected, don't blame the agent and learn something from it.
Let the war begin.
Leave a comment