Query Q+A

(where I answer your questions about writing + publishing)

Hello, friends! For this post I am going to share/paraphrase some questions I’ve gotten recently about publishing, my writing journey and query process.

Whether you’re a writer, a published author, thinking of becoming either of those things or just curious—here we go! I don’t know everything, but I’ve learned A LOT.

Photo by Phil Riggins on Unsplash

First, a quick “glossary of terms,” if you will, for anyone who may not speak fluent query/publishing (please enjoy my off-the-cuff layman’s terms definitions!):

*Query Letter: A one-page, strategically-constructed letter sent to a literary agent in which an author pitches their novel or other written work in hopes of receiving an offer of representation

*Literary Agent: Someone who pitches or ‘submits’ authors’ work to editors at publishing houses, helps negotiate publishing deals and navigate contracts and other business and career path decisions for their author clients

*Beta Reader: Someone a writer asks to read and critique a work in progress, prior to publication

*QueryTracker: A popular website used by querying writers to research literary agents, organize and track ones own query process and results

*Manuscript Wish List: A popular website some literary agents and editors use to share the types of books/topics/authors they are looking to work with. These lists often include favorite books and genres they love and want more of/similar work to, favorite TV shows, and even wide-ranging “fun facts” about these agents and potential career partners you are trying to get to know!

*Publishers Marketplace: An extensive, up-to-date database for tracking book deals, book sales, agent and editor sales/deal history. During the query process, this is a very helpful tool for learning about the deal history of agents you are considering querying (e.g. Are they successful in selling books in my genre? To publishers I’d like to publish with? Do they have success selling debuts?)

Q: What is your writing background? Were you a total novice when you started writing this book?

Like many kids, I dabbled in writing stories from a young age, but professionally I got my start in journalistic writing. I have a print journalism degree from the University of Washington and have written for several local print + tv outlets. I kept a blog in which I wrote many essays during my first five years as a parent, then turned my focus to fiction and got serious about finishing a novel in recent years.

Tools/resources I recommend for those pursuing writing + publishing a book:

*Writing courses/workshops to sharpen your craft and have your work critiqued/learn to critique others (Hugo House in Seattle is great, with many online options! It is also where I met my lovely writing coach!)

* Before and After the Book Deal by Courtney Maum is a treasure trove of a book (+ Substack of the same name) to learn all about the publishing process and hone your craft with an aim of getting it in front of agents and/or editors

*The Shit No One Tells You About Writing is a fabulous podcast for anyone hoping to query literary agents

*Bianca Marais’s Beta Reader Match Up is an excellent (+ super affordable!!) resource for finding beta readers/a writing group

*Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert is my favorite book on pursuing a creative life

*On Writing by Stephen King is my favorite book on treating your writing seriously/with discipline

Q: Did you have a strategy for when and who you queried?

WHEN: If you’re writing a novel, your manuscript is expected to be complete and extremely polished before you query a single agent (different rules apply for nonfiction projects). Over the course of 3+ years, I drafted, revised, and polished my novel with the support of many of the resources named above plus a wonderful writing coach and developmental editor/publishing consultant to help get my book query-ready. Once I felt very confident about the overall state of my manuscript and query letter and had received the 'go ahead’ from my dev editor/pub consultant to query, I dove in!! I felt SO (so! so! so!) ready and giddily excited to start the query process, but also knew how essential it was to BE ready. I began querying in May of this year and paused briefly in July to further revise my opening pages and letter. I signed with my agent in early November, after almost six months of querying.

WHO: I started out by querying a lot of well-established, well-known agents and as time went on, widened my reach to include more newer or new-to-me agents. Essential tools for me in finding agents to query, learning about those agents, and tracking my query process were: QueryTracker, Publisher’s Marketplace, and Manuscript Wish List. I 100% recommend using all three of these websites regularly if you’re querying/researching agents!

Q: What were your query stats (requests vs rejections)?

89 agents queried

19 positive replies (requests for my full or partial manuscript)

70 negative replies (rejection or no response)

Q: Is it standard to tell an agent you need two weeks to consider their offer even if it’s one of your top-choice agents?

If you receive an offer from an agent you’d love to work with and don’t have anyone else currently reading your manuscript or requesting you inform them of offers/give them a chance to respond, then I think it would be OK to accept their offer without the typical two-week consideration period.

If other agents you’ve queried are still reading/considering, it is considered good etiquette/standard protocol to inform those agents that you’ve received an offer of representation and give them two weeks to respond/potentially offer as well.

I do not recommend accepting any offer on the spot, even with your dream agent. Do your due diligence to thoroughly review the contract and speak with client references before accepting any offer.

Q: Did you craft a personalized letter for each agent you queried? How did you do your research?

At first, yes. I believe my first several dozen letters were personalized, sometimes painstakingly so (i.e. there were agents I spent HOURS researching in order to inform and customize my query letter, and it sometimes paid off with hard-to-get manuscript requests). After a while, fatigue on that front did set in, and I began to question if the many hours I spent on this customization necessarily made a huge difference. I have gotten positive responses on very personalized letters, and I’ve gotten positive responses on letters that weren’t personalized at all. Most of my letters, however, did have some degree of customization, which I do think can help you stand out and show you’ve done your research on that particular agent, their interests and client list, etc… I did most of my research through QueryTracker, Publishers Marketplace and Manuscript Wish List. I also read the acknowledgments section of many books to find/learn about agents, read interviews agents had given, and more.

Q: What has the emotional impact been of this whole process, and what are your tools for dealing with it?

Oh gosh… every emotion from giddy elation to deep despair, is pretty common along this journey. It is NOT for the faint of heart or thin of skin. You need grit, resilience, and determination of steel to endure this process.

My top three tools for dealing with the emotional rollercoaster that is writing/querying/pursuing publication:

1. Building a support network with other writers who get it/are on this same journey/can celebrate and commiserate with you as needed has been HUGE. Writing can feel very isolating and having people to lean on, learn from, and process stuff with who get it, is *absolutely priceless*

2. Therapy (fun fact: my therapist happens to be a published author as well with whom I can “talk shop” amid all the emotional stuff—how lucky is that?)

3. A designated snack drawer at my writing desk. Trader Joe’s for the win!

Q: Would you be willing to share your query letter?

Yes!

A NOTE ON QUERY LETTERS: Don’t underestimate this brief, one-page document. If you want to be a traditionally published author, it is likely one of the most important things you will ever write. I have spent many hours educating myself on how to write an excellent query letter, and writing, polishing, customizing, and getting feedback on mine. There is both an art and a science to writing a query letter that successfully pitches your book, demonstrates that you understand how to position it within the current publishing landscape, and introduces you as an author who is qualified to write this book and to be taken seriously in the broader bookish world. Below is the letter I sent to the person who is now my agent, shared with her permission and mine.

I hope all of this is helpful! Please feel free to leave any comments or additional questions below!

My query letter to Kathleen Foxx, who is now my agent:

Dear Ms. Foxx,

I love your joyful energy and feel a kinship with many of your literary interests, and am honored to query you!

I’m seeking representation for my upmarket women’s fiction novel, THE END OF STARTING OVER, complete at 89,000 words. Set in both Seattle and New England, this multi-generational story pairs the family drama and hidden histories of Jennifer Weiner’s The Summer Place with the subtle domestic suspense and wry wit of Sally Hepworth’s The Soulmate (which I was thrilled to see listed as an MSWL favorite of yours!).   

Shattered by a broken engagement and disillusioned by the optics-driven life of her New England-based family, Scarlet Atwood quietly starts over in Seattle, on the heels of an unexpected romance with a man who’s just as eager for a new beginning as she is.  Six years later, Nick and Scarlet are comfortably settled with their careers and their four-year-old son, Noah, when news her beloved grandmother is in the hospital pulls Scarlet back to Connecticut—just as she’s wrestling with new and strangely unsettling behaviors from her increasingly elusive husband.  

When Nick’s work unexpectedly takes him to California for the summer, Scarlet commits to spending two months in New England with Noah, introducing her son to fireflies, fishing, and the family roots they didn’t realize they were missing.  Back East, Scarlet finds herself grieving more than just the loss of her feisty, free-spirited grandmother, as she confronts the ex-fiancé who broke her heart, and is blindsided by a host of secrets that have haunted people who helped define her childhood.  Seeing pieces of both her past and present with fresh eyes and bolstered by the legacy of her family’s bold matriarch, Scarlet must decide who to forgive and which bridges are best left burned as the sun sets on a single summer that will change the course of her life. 

I am a graduate of the University of Washington’s Department of Communication, where I received the Pioneer Newspaper Award for Outstanding Feature Journalism.  I have written for KOMO-TV and Seattle magazine and have blogged for PEPS (Program for Early Parent Support).  In recent years—when I’m not wrangling two boys and a bulldog—I’ve pivoted toward fiction writing, taking writing courses through Seattle’s esteemed Hugo House, and founded a book club that gathers local women and has hosted a Reese’s Book Club bestselling author.  

I’d be delighted to send you my full manuscript upon request.

Thank you for your consideration,

Beth Morris