Agents and Art; March 20 2021
I think a lot of querying authors forget a Very Important Thing about literary agents:
Most of them have been in in our position.
Literary agents love books. They got involved in the publishing industry most likely after getting the gist of how it works from the outside, while they pitched their books and crossed their fingers and waited. And waited. And waited.
Even if you’re not the kind of person who replies to form rejections with a spiteful monologue about how they’ll regret passing over your book (which is a low bar to set), you might be perpetuating negativity towards agents if you use social media to complain about wait times, or subtweet/vaguely tweet about what you think is ‘unfair critique’ or lack thereof. Writers new to querying are watching, after all, and they have no idea what to expect!
When I was 16, I queried my first novel. Twitter didn’t exist then and I had zero experience with the publishing industry. The response I got was a lengthy critique as well as a suggestion to revise with those things in mind, at which point they’d love to see my work again.
I was devastated. Completely demoralized. I didn’t dip back into the querying trenches again until my twenties.
Now, thirty years old with hundreds of rejections under my belt, I look back on that email and gape. My first time ever querying, and I got a revise & resubmit request? That’s amazing. Nowadays, I send a query with the weak hope that they at least get their form rejection back to me quickly, rather than ghost me on a reply.
Taking into consideration how painful the querying process is (and it is painful. It’s being told, again and again, that you’ve wasted your time, that you aren’t good enough. Depending on how personal your work is, it can feel like you’re being told that you, as a person, aren’t worth it) and how swamped with queries agents are, I’ve developed my own stance on what I think everyone’s expectations should be.
Add a grain of salt to that mixture, though, ‘cause I only know things from the ‘querying author’ side.
I really think agencies ought to abolish the practice of ghosting on queries. It’s not uncommon for agency sites to say, ‘If you haven’t heard from us after 8 weeks, please consider this a pass.’ I understand if it takes weeks to get around to even reading my query, but presumably, the agent I queried decided in that time span that they weren’t going to be asking to see my work. A form rejection at 6 weeks shaves off 2 weeks of agonizing.
Agents could also help us a lot by making their manuscript wish lists easily accessible and up-to-date. I’ve sent a lot of queries in the past to agents with vague wish lists, only to be told they’re not interested in my particular brand of horror or that they no longer represent horror at all.
As for us authors… Well, literary agents have already told us what we need to do, but many of us try to take shortcuts or be the exception to the rule. Research the agents you query, especially the ones with wish lists. Look for agents whose requests make you go, “Oh! They’re asking for my book!”
(Obviously, there’s no guarantee those agents will be The One For You, so if you’re like me, you exhaust those options and accumulate rejections, then hit the #MSWL hashtag or Manuscript Wish List website casting a wider net.)
Always read and adhere to submission guidelines, too. This shouldn’t need to be said, but I follow so many literary agents on Twitter who tell us to please, please not act as though we’re above the agency’s rules or try to be an exception. Hitting up literary agents whose inboxes are closed to queries is one of the most frequent offences I’ve witnessed.
One thing that isn’t quite as clear is whether or not to reply to an agent who has rejected you. Whether it’s to berate them or to thank them for their time, the answer is generally ‘don’t reply’. I’ve sent a thank-you to some agents who read my full MS and offered great notes, but in hindsight, I don’t think I should have. Every reply is One More Email that agent has to address among hundreds, and even if your email doesn’t warrant a response, you’re adding a straw to the pile that might break the camel’s back. Is that how that saying goes? Whatever. It is now.
There’s a lot more that needs to be addressed in publishing, like a lack of diverse editors at publishing houses and the reduction of jobs as these publishers consolidate or shut down. That stuff is well out of the control of both authors and literary agents. I only hope publishing as a whole tries to do better and keep up with the changing sociopolitical climate.
In semi-related news, are you interested in supporting an artist and obtaining some extremely cute stuff? My friend’s store opens today, March 20th, and I encourage you all to go check it out! If you can’t buy anything right now or don’t find anything to your taste, please consider helping spread the word about it!