| Defeat The “un’s”: How to elicit interest in your first novel |
| Unpublished, unsolicited, unread. All of these words have something in common besides a prefix: they’re what happens to first time novelists who don’t read this article before trying to get published. Ha ha ha, now that we’ ve all had a good laugh, or groan, or fight with the person who forced us to read this in the first place, let’s get down to business. An unpublished writer WILL NOT get a novel published by the “machine gun” method—that is, by firing off a full manuscript to every publishing house whose address they can find. This is called an unsolicited submission, and editors don’t read them. Hold on, you may be saying. I’ve heard of a few Great American Novels that were picked from the slush pile of unsolicited manuscripts. Sure, there are always exceptions. With over a hundred thousand books published annually in America, there’s always going to be that smug motherfucker who managed to get lucky and make everyone else think it can be done. Numbers-wise, you’ve got a better chance of getting into Harvard with a 1200 SAT than having your unsolicited manuscript plucked from the slush pile and offered a contract. Editors have enough manuscripts to look at that are given to them by literary agents and established authors. They don’t ever need to dig through the slush. Besides, they reason, agents find all the good manuscripts anyway. This means that editors expect all un-agented manuscripts by first-time authors to be bad, and you know what, they’re usually right. So what it comes down to is that you need an agent if you want to stop being unpublished, unsolicited and unread. An agent is how you defeat the “un’s.” Great, but how do I get an agent, you might ask. Well, here’s the big industry secret to securing one of the best literary agents: write a superb query letter. A query letter is a one-page pitch, an introduction to your project and why you’re the perfect person to write it. Oh, and no cutting corners—query letters are for finished manuscripts ONLY. Why waste an agent’s time by whetting their appetite for a manuscript that’s a 10,000 word work-in-progress? It’s unprofessional, and furthermore, the best agents receive hundreds of queries a week; they expect any interest they show to pan out with a manuscript—immediately. So, back to the query itself. How do you write a good one? First of all, don’t be stilted—this is a business letter as much as it’s a way to show the agent your stuff. Make it interesting and fun. Use active voice, make them laugh. Avoid weak verbs and clichés. The query should represent you, so don’t be afraid to make it your own. Start with a hook. If you’re trying to sell a mystery/thriller, “How many times can a roller coaster run smoothly before breaking down? Sarah Protagonist is the safety inspector for Big Theme Park, but in her book, the numbers aren’t adding up. Someone is deliberately tinkering with the rides, and Sarah’s determined to capture the culprit before the owner of Big Theme Park is left dangling upside down over SugarLand—again.” After the hook, transition into a brief description of the main characters and their problems. DON’T summarize plot. How many times has a friend asked you what you were reading, and, halfway through explaining the plot, you realized that your friend had already lost interest? Give a brief idea of what the book’s about, and then move on to describing the characters. It’s easier to interest an agent in a novel because they want to read about the characters you’ve described, rather than because they want to find out who killed Jose the gardener with a drainpipe. Don’t try to describe every character and their background, but focus on the main players and some interesting facts that make them unique. “Sarah Protagonist has never had a steady boyfriend, a good hair day, or three dead bodies to explain. Just as she’s gotten back from her high school reunion, just as she’s about to go on her first date in five years with the former Drum Major, her dreary, stay-safe life shatters. Rides are being sabotaged, and it’s up to Sarah to make the problems stop. Aided by her awkward and bumbling computer programmer boyfriend, Arnold Hots, Sarah investigates park ‘accidents,’ and trails ‘suspects.’” Next, compare the story to a combination of TV shows, novels, or movies the agent will recognize, and then explain why your story is different. “Part Bridget Jones, part Nancy Drew, part Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Great Thriller Novel follows Sarah Protagonist as a disaster at her job manages to set her life in motion: who knew that investigating a leaky Tunnel of Love boat would lead to Sarah and Arnold’s first kiss? Great Thriller Novel is an unconventional mystery/thriller that sets the stage for an unlikely romance between two awkward acquaintances.” Give the stats on your story: how long is it? Can there be a sequel? Are you working on one? “Great Thriller Novel is complete at 70,000 words, and I am working on a sequel that features Sarah and Arnold, newly married, spending their honeymoon in the hotel—trying to nab the third-floor thief who mysteriously knows the combinations to every safe. Now, here comes the fun part for all first time novelists: The bio. If you don’t have any writing credits, keep this part short—list your degrees and familiarity with the subject of the story. Don’t over do it, and NEVER say that this is your first novel. “I received my bachelors in English and Creative Writing from XXX University and spent five years working for XXX Theme Park in their planning and ride safety department. Although Great Thriller Novel is not based on actual events, I’ve used my knowledge of the inner workings of XXX Theme Park to add a sense of realism to the novel.” After you’ve written enough of a bio to convince the agent that you are a suitable novelist and not a homeless twelve-year-old prostitute (although that sometimes sells, see Confessions of a Bad Girl), let them know that you’re not just “machine gun querying,” and that you genuinely believe they are the right agent to represent this novel. End by asking if they would like to see a partial or a full manuscript, and NEVER thank them for their time. If the query is gold, they should be thanking you for letting them read it. “I came across your name in my search for an agent, and feel that you could represent this novel well. Would you be interested in seeing a full manuscript?” Well, that’s done! You’ve written the perfect query letter, emphasized character and conflict rather than summarized plot, created a concise bio and a final paragraph that doesn’t grovel and prostrate itself at the agent’s feet. Now, how are you going to send this puppy out? Who are the lucky agents going to be, and how do you find them? One way to find agents who represent books in your genre would be to read the acknowledgements in books similar to yours. A lot of the time authors will mention their agents, and then you can Google them to find contact information. A good resource is Writers Market, a hulking paperback database, updated annually, of agents, agencies, what they represent, how to query, and where to send your hot little letters. It’s always a good idea to check out the agents and agencies you find in Writers Market on the Preditors and Editors website, which rates agents based on recent sales and whether or not they charge a fee—ANY AGENT WHO CHARGES A FEE IS A SCAMMER, because agents work on a standard 15% commission, which means they don’t get any money until your book sells. If you can’t find the contact information for a specific agent, check Gerard Jones’ Everyone Who’s Anyone in Adult Trade Publishing website, which has hard-to-find email addresses for top agents with William Morris, Janklow and Nesbit, and others. If you have no idea where to start, a good place is Publishers Marketplace. If you subscribe to their website for about $12 a month, you can search their online database to find agents that fit your specifications, or you can search their deal listings for “debut novels”, or first novels in your genre, which should yield recent deals made by agents who represented unpublished writers. Typically, agents respond to email queries within a week if they’re interested, and to “snail mail” queries within four to six weeks. With snail mail queries, always make sure to include a SASE, or self-addressed stamped envelope. Agents can receive a couple hundred queries a week. If they paid for postage to reject all of the hopeful query-writers, it would add up quickly, and cost a couple thousand dollars a year. Ouch! When you are querying, I hate to say it, you have to be prepared for rejection. Receiving a “form rejection letter,” or “dear author” letter is a right of passage. If an agent requests a manuscript, only to reject it two months later with a few sentences of explanation, jump for joy! You’ve received a personal rejection letter, and those are as good as gold. Dozens of rejections don’t matter—just keep at it. The Perfect Agent is out there, and you’ll be glad when you find them that you didn’t have to deal with an agent who wasn’t too crazy about the manuscript, or didn’t have quite enough experience to sell it through industry contacts. The Perfect Agent is worth any amount of rejections. An unpublished author can land one of the best with a solid query letter. How do I know this? Well, because it happened to me, and you can read all about it at Correspondences With YA Fiction Agents. |
by Robyn Schneider