Look, send pages will ya??
You write these horrible query letters that are all bravado about how great the novel is, and you don't include pages.
Worse, you send me query letters that sound pretty good and STILL don't send pages.
What am I missing here? How is it that you have my name and address and email and you don't see SEND PAGES.
Perhaps some of you on the other end of the query rope can advise me on this.
Meanwhile, send the fucking pages. Sheesh.
7 comments:
Most of us have had that beaten out of us ages ago. Agents who want pages up front are the exception, not the rule. The default is query-only. So, if one is going to query widely, as you advise, then it's most likely going to be one page.
The one-page worked for me, but it was slow going. (One page, then partial, then full, then signing.)
I wish that all agents wanted pages up front. It would be like skipping a step in an otherwise long process.
It seems to be standard that agents want the query before the pages. Still, when querying, you should research the agent enough to know if they're an exception.
What Margaret and Kristin said, but also...
I hate to say this, but I know that sometimes people deliberately don't send pages the as part of the long, arduous, unreliable testing process to see if the query letter works at all.
I hope they don't do this to you, but who knows.
I did. You still didn't like it.
Haha, I started out with just sending a Q with as little info as possible to see if I got a nibble, then increased the info with the next one.
With you, I included about 18 pages because I thought it would improve my chances. I'll understand if it's not a project you want to get involved with. I'm considering self publishing as well, as I haven't had much luck with the publishing industry. But, I have only just started with the agent search on this project, so I'll try at least a few more.
Well, because we don't read, Janet, obviously. If we read things like what you want in a query then we'd be readers, not writers.
Oh I was quite careful not to! I read and reread your submission guidelines on the FinePrint website, saw no indication the agency wanted pages. So much for being a compulsively good girl.
But I didn't know about your blog and didn't you then at all.
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