Well, after months of procrastination, and thinking to myself “I can’t do this anymore!” I have finally made the decision to get back into querying with literary agents.
Maybe I’m a glutton for punishment, having been rejected on my first attempt, but giving up at the first hurdle is hardly the key to success.
So I reminded myself of the famous authors over the years who were rejected numerous times:
- Agatha Christie
- JK Rowling
- Stephen King
There are plenty more, of course, but these three are a great example of rejected authors who persevered, never gave up, and achieved their dream. There’s a level of resilience required, and I am nothing, if not resilient.
I spent a weekend working on the changes necessary for the opening chapters to Horizon Skies, and when a colleague offered to beta read for me, I realised it was a good opportunity to get the new version in front of a fresh pair of eyes. It gave me a break from thinking about it, and I was able to spend time researching literary agents.
Literary agents work in a fast paced, ever changing publishing climate, but I believe this is a good time to try again. The reason being is that even though there is a huge amount of YA Fantasy out there, what I’m seeing in social media is a lot of fairytale retellings gaining popularity, and fey based stories. Mine isn’t a retelling, the characters are human, and it’s very much a character driven story. My hope is to expand upon the world I’ve created in the second instalment, and bring more mythical elements in, and to create a challenging world that my characters are not prepared for or expecting.
The weekend just gone, I spent time on putting together a query spreadsheet of twenty agents currently open to submissions in the UK. Choosing an agent to approach can be difficult, for example, one agency has two agents both representing Fiction and Children’s. Both have similar bios, so who to choose? Well, the best way is to look at their client lists. If there are names I recognise who write in my chosen genre then that’s the agent I pick. Agents will also pass manuscripts along to a colleague if they feel someone else would be a better fit.
I also check out the acknowledgments at the back of my favourite books. The agent always gets a mention. If the writer isn’t UK based, I check to see if they have a UK agent. Otherwise, I disregard as overseas markets are another minefield altogether, and agents usually have a team that deal with overseas deals (if you’re lucky enough to get that far!)
Once the beta read is back, I’ve then got the unenviable task of reviewing the previous synopses, cover letters, and putting together the chapter requirements for each agent. It’s important to remember when querying that there isn’t a one size fits all. Some agents want a brief synopsis and the first three chapters, another will want a page synopsis and the first fifty-thousand words.
Every query has to be tailored to the agent in question, a scatter bomb approach will only show that the agency hasn’t been researched properly, and this will make a terrible first impression, and likely result in an immediate rejection.
Aspires To Create 