Exclusive, Selective, Targeted, or Gunshot!

[Eugenio Salvato]

Having recently submitted queries to Agents, this is what I have learnt:

A few agents insist on exclusivity, citing: "We prefer exclusive submissions, and if you are submitting your work to every agent in the handbook then we ask that you pass us by." Is this reasonable?

Some agents urge: "Be selective, check out our agents, understand their tastes, have a look at the books they represent." This can be very time consuming as a lot of the websites fail to categorize anything, which means you have to drill down each individual bio to get a better feel for an agent´s tastes. Even then, in a lot of cases, you get a better feel for an agent´s credentials than their tastes. As for delving deeper, it means sifting through reams of books with obscure covers and even more obscure titles. Even then, when you seemingly find a perfect fit, it doesn't guarantee the agent will like your idea or style of writing?

Then there´s the targeted approach: selecting only agents who specialize in a particular genre. Surely, this only serves to narrow down your chances? Or does it?

Finally, there´s the gunshot approach, tempting, but surely in nobody´s interest.

My question to the colony is, what approach have you used? Do you have a standard cover letter, or do you try to personalize each and every query? (And by personalizing I mean beyond including the agent´s name.) If you have tried all of the above, which approach have you found most successful?

My question to @AgentPete is, do you care if a person goes to the trouble of personalizing his or her query? And in your experience which approach is most likely to lead to success?

 

[Katie-Ellen]

I'd say, targeted and personalised every time. You need to know, and show that you know who else that agent represents, who the publishers are, and where in amongst those your title might fit.

 

[Carol Rose]

What @Katie-Ellen Hazeldine said up there. ^^^^^^^^

 

[AngryPI]

As someone with zero experience but a suspicious nature, I think that it is fair to be not just another agent in a long list of queries. However, if they are expecting that you query their agency alone, then I begin to wonder if they just want to have less competition when they are making an offer.

Either way, those 'exclusive' agencies are cutting down the number of queries they have to attend to--which makes absolute sense if they usually have a never-ending pile in front of them.

Batches of ten I would think.

 

[Charles Ott]

I personalize every query, but with agents taking eight weeks to never to reply, it's not at all reasonable to ask for exclusivity. If I ever found an agent who promised to reply within a week, then sure, I'd give that one an exclusive shot. But I've got a fairly long s--tlist of agents who handle queries they don't like by not replying at all -- I won't give them a chance on any other book I write.

 

[AgentPete]

My question to @AgentPete is, do you care if a person goes to the trouble of personalizing his or her query? And in your experience which approach is most likely to lead to success?

This is a BIG topic, and something I’d prefer to discuss live rather than in abbreviated form here (maybe we could look at it in Pop-Ups or similar). But some quick notes:

• DEpersonalising the submission renders it fairly weak. “Dear Agent...” or even worse, “To whoever this concerns...” is a turn-off. It’s simply human nature.
• The opposite is also true… “I read about your deal for XXX last week...” or even better, “your client Jane Smith suggested I get in touch with you...” guarantees attention.
• I’d take no notice of agencies who go on about “exclusivity”… submit it to them in any case, they will never know you’re sending it elsewhere! Life is too short to wait for every agent to get back to you. Gotta keep movin’…!

Much more to say but it will have to wait for another time...

 

[David Weller]

I agree with AgentPete that life is too short to wait for every agent to get back to you. One agent took eleven months to reject my query letter and five page writing sample.

 

[Tim James]

If they want exclusivity, then they should reply quickly and enthusiastically.

 

[Bradley Horner]

It's really funny, I've been reading up on every single agent and tweak each one of my queries appropriately, but I always tend to keep at as ultra-professional as I possibly can... and yet, three novels in, I feel like ultra-professionalism is killing my chances. I'm half tempted to drop the remoteness and get real the way I do when I write thousands of reviews.

In effect, I've been shotgunning even when I'm not, really. Every agent has different levels of what they'd respect on a personal level and *almost* every single one of them refuses to hint at what level of personalization they'd accept. Am I thinking too much about this?

Perhaps.

But then, the rule is: Short, Professional, and Targeted. To target, it almost feels like I have to lie about what my novel *IS* versus what an agent *wants*. So what do I do? Skip whole swaths of agents because of a hint they may not fully appreciate what I do well? So at that point, I'm stuck sending the original query anyway out of lacking any other option. lol

Does anyone else think this is a catch-22?

 

[ChrisLewando]

I have been sending a typescript out recently, and decided to always personalise the letter, but also to target those who are new to the agency and suggest in their online bios that they are still looking to 'expand their lists'. If the agency itself is established, the new agent will hopefully be part of an already proficient team.

Yesterday I had a great response: the agent didn't feel excited enough about the present work, blah-de-blah, but they like my writing and would be pleased to look at anything I wrote in the future. This was a personalised response, clearly she had read part of the novel and discussed its with her colleagues. So, despite the fact that, as Agent Pete said in Pop-Ups, 'a miss is still a miss', that counted as a little milestone in what can be a very depressing occupation. This lucky agent will get my WIP when its done, but unfortunately by then she will have forgotten all about me.

 

[Kitty]

This lucky agent will get my WIP when its done, but unfortunately by then she will have forgotten all about me.

You'd be surprised! If an agent likes your writing enough to as you to send them further work then they know it will be a while, but they really do remember!