Yes! My first book had over a 76% full request rate, but no one made an offer because they said they didn't think it would sell to a Big 5 even though they loved it. I set it aside, queried the next thing I had written in the meantime, and ended up with multiple offers one week later. That second book sold at auction 3 weeks after going on sub. If I had kept going with my first book, I would still be waiting. (But I do plan to return to it someday!!)
I queried just 2 agents, and got a revise and resubmit from both ... but in the end no offer. So now I'm sending the book out more widely. Still trying not to be hurt but to take this as positive affirmation, but its a journey.
Thanks for this. After getting rejections from several sources, including some that may be familiar to you, I am concentrating on my second book and am getting more enjoyment from the writing process because of all i learned from the first. Thanks for everything you guys do. It does help!
Thank you! Querying is just so hard but your wealth of knowledge is always appreciated. I'm in the throes of soul crushing rejections but I'm not giving up on my dream.
Very helpful video! This also applies for people writing and illustrating graphic novels and picture books (like me). Sometimes we can forget that writing a book around an idea that you love can take YEARS to get right!! I'm currently completely gutting my graphic novel MS with my agent, and we've got two books from it instead of one because, happily, one of my MCs is strong enough/interesting enough to warrant his own GN, so I've moved parts of his story to a new MS, to make sure the two MCs the book is supposed to be about really IS about them. Writing is hard! Illustrating is easier :p
These videos are so great! And so helpful, as always! I have an etiquette question for you: With agents taking longer to respond to queries/partials/fulls and the typical advice being to work on the next project, what are your thoughts on querying two projects at once? Or how to stagger them? For example, say I'm querying one book; it could easily take 3 months or more before I get a full request from one agent, and then another 6-12 months for the response to that full. And that could be one agent at an agency where you can query another agent upon a rejection from the first. (even longer if the agent requests a partial before requesting the full!) Often, it does not take me 6+ months to write, polish, use CPs for a book, then my manuscripts become backlogged. So my question is: If I'm ready to query my next book, do I need to pull everything from my previous book beforehand or can I technically have two books I'm querying at once? What are your thoughts on that with how querying timelines have shifted over the last couple of years? (following agency guidelines, such as only one query per agent at a time and one query per agency at a time, of course) Unrelated question: Nudges. If you've nudged agents who've had your material for several months (ex. a partial for 4+ or a full for 9+ months) and they don't' respond to that nudge... what do you do? Nudge again? Withdraw the manuscript so you can query someone else at the agency or query a new project? Thank you!
Oh, that is so frustrating! I'm wondering the same, especially since I intend to write a series... oops.. I mean "a stand alone with the potential for a series." ;-P
Jessica and James are interested in doing a video on this topic! There's a lot to delve into in answering this question, because ultimately the answer boils down to: it depends. It depends on what kind of book you're querying. Generally, querying two books at once is a complicated issue, especially because when an agent expresses interest in one book, you might then have to alert all the agents with your other book that you actually have a second manuscript for consideration. Hopefully we get to do a video soon and cover this issue more thoroughly!
On the business end, how much bargaining power does it give the author and agent (in regard to the increasingly ludicrous publisher payment structures) when it comes to an auction? If there are multiple houses who want the book, is that a set of terms that can be changed?
Hi there! Any time you (and your agent) have any kind of leverage, you can push for not only more money but better terms, up to and including either trying to minimize the spread of the payment structure or trying to front load the advance splits. An auction can be a GREAT source of leverage.
I would love to see a video similar to your one on querying picture books, but about nonfiction picture books- should an author have multiple manuscripts ready besides the one being queried? Should research sources be included or does that come later? Does it really matter if the author is an expert in the field (for example, would being a teaching librarian be enough of a credential)? Thanks for all the work you put into these videos!
At what point has someone changed the novel enough that we can resubmit? Based on feedback, I am doing what I consider a major over hall, but don't know if agents would agree. I have changed it from past to present tense, aged up the characters, did more character work, changed a couple of characters completely, cut stuff, added stuff, and moved some pivotal scenes around to be earlier.
Good question! It kind of depends. If an agent gave you specific feedback as to why they rejected, then if you don't touch on those specific issues, it's likely their opinion will not have changed with the new draft and you probably should not resubmit to them. However, if you did not get specific feedback and instead do a complete overhaul , you can choose to resubmit, and it will help you in the long run to outline in your query that you have submitted it to that agent before and have since made x, y, z changes. There should also be a completely new query letter, as you never know whether it was the query or the manuscript that made the agent reject. Hope this helps!
This one was GREAT timing for me. I'm querying debut and am about 25% into 2nd book that is a way stronger concept/novel. Question (for anyone): I'm not THAT DEEP in on the queries - I've had 10 passes (2 full reads, 2 partial and the rest no-response=pass). The only note I can discern is "I was not about to get fully drawn in". I 'think' I'd rather go full-speed ahead on the new one, need some feedback. Thx for any thoughts.
I agree with you. I’m in basically the same situation. I well into my second book and am finding I more prepared and writing better than the first. I’m not entirely shelving the first yet, but putting more energy into the second. Good luck, keep strong.
@@BrianFlaherty1970 all mine was ‘no’, mainly with the comment my book was not a fit for them this at this time. I do think I had a weak query letter and also a weak start. I have since rewritten both. I haven’t queried since the rewrite because I’m busy with my second book. I was surprised how many agents never bothered to reply at all.
@@liegeman717 I never write a weak start. Even if I don't think the intense start is the best way to go, even if we might change it, I only write compelling starts on both books and screenplays on a submission. Imo, this is the big problem with Harry Potter and the sorcerer's Stone. It was a very weak Ling slow opening, and that is why I think she kept getting rejected. Personally I would have had her open with something big. Like a death eater scene. A wizard fight with a death. Goose the reader, make the big promise of action to come, and then go back to slow. But unless your established already, you can't just start slow and expect anyone to keep reading, hoping it will get more interesting and exciting. Imo
I'm assuming my comment on Jessica's IG post triggered this one!? When I passed my current manuscript by agents and used Fried Green Tomatoes and Steel Magnolias as comps, they knew exactly what I was writing so had no issue with my choices! I understand what you're saying too! What's a girl to do?😂
I have a question: I have been working on my manuscript for two years, and working on the final edits. However, one of my subplots turned out to happen IRL, and is a major world event. Specifically, Russia invading Ukraine. When something major like this happens, should the writer change the real life event in their manuscript or take it out completely?
This might come down to personal preference. Every agent will likely take a different stance on this. If you are able to take the event out of your manuscript, it might be a good sign that it wasn't serving a useful purpose to the narrative anyways, and therefore can be removed to avoid the trouble of making that decision. If your manuscript relies on this event, then you'll have to weigh the time it would take to replace vs. how it may be received. Is the matter being treated responsibly and sensitively if it stays in? Questions like that. Hope this helps!
Yes! My first book had over a 76% full request rate, but no one made an offer because they said they didn't think it would sell to a Big 5 even though they loved it. I set it aside, queried the next thing I had written in the meantime, and ended up with multiple offers one week later. That second book sold at auction 3 weeks after going on sub. If I had kept going with my first book, I would still be waiting. (But I do plan to return to it someday!!)
Congrats, that's great!
I queried just 2 agents, and got a revise and resubmit from both ... but in the end no offer. So now I'm sending the book out more widely. Still trying not to be hurt but to take this as positive affirmation, but its a journey.
Thanks for this. After getting rejections from several sources, including some that may be familiar to you, I am concentrating on my second book and am getting more enjoyment from the writing process because of all i learned from the first. Thanks for everything you guys do. It does help!
Thanks for sharing!
Thank you! Querying is just so hard but your wealth of knowledge is always appreciated. I'm in the throes of soul crushing rejections but I'm not giving up on my dream.
Rejections are definitely super hard. Give yourself time to come to terms and then come back strong with the info you have!
A book is never dead... Long live the book! And thank you for the future "VISION" video.
Very helpful video! This also applies for people writing and illustrating graphic novels and picture books (like me). Sometimes we can forget that writing a book around an idea that you love can take YEARS to get right!! I'm currently completely gutting my graphic novel MS with my agent, and we've got two books from it instead of one because, happily, one of my MCs is strong enough/interesting enough to warrant his own GN, so I've moved parts of his story to a new MS, to make sure the two MCs the book is supposed to be about really IS about them. Writing is hard! Illustrating is easier :p
Thank you, great video, as always.
These videos are so great! And so helpful, as always! I have an etiquette question for you:
With agents taking longer to respond to queries/partials/fulls and the typical advice being to work on the next project, what are your thoughts on querying two projects at once? Or how to stagger them? For example, say I'm querying one book; it could easily take 3 months or more before I get a full request from one agent, and then another 6-12 months for the response to that full. And that could be one agent at an agency where you can query another agent upon a rejection from the first. (even longer if the agent requests a partial before requesting the full!)
Often, it does not take me 6+ months to write, polish, use CPs for a book, then my manuscripts become backlogged. So my question is: If I'm ready to query my next book, do I need to pull everything from my previous book beforehand or can I technically have two books I'm querying at once? What are your thoughts on that with how querying timelines have shifted over the last couple of years?
(following agency guidelines, such as only one query per agent at a time and one query per agency at a time, of course)
Unrelated question: Nudges. If you've nudged agents who've had your material for several months (ex. a partial for 4+ or a full for 9+ months) and they don't' respond to that nudge... what do you do? Nudge again? Withdraw the manuscript so you can query someone else at the agency or query a new project?
Thank you!
Oh, that is so frustrating! I'm wondering the same, especially since I intend to write a series... oops.. I mean "a stand alone with the potential for a series." ;-P
Jessica and James are interested in doing a video on this topic! There's a lot to delve into in answering this question, because ultimately the answer boils down to: it depends. It depends on what kind of book you're querying. Generally, querying two books at once is a complicated issue, especially because when an agent expresses interest in one book, you might then have to alert all the agents with your other book that you actually have a second manuscript for consideration. Hopefully we get to do a video soon and cover this issue more thoroughly!
@@BookEndsLiterary I had the same question. Would love to see a video with more details!
Thank you!
On the business end, how much bargaining power does it give the author and agent (in regard to the increasingly ludicrous publisher payment structures) when it comes to an auction? If there are multiple houses who want the book, is that a set of terms that can be changed?
Hi there! Any time you (and your agent) have any kind of leverage, you can push for not only more money but better terms, up to and including either trying to minimize the spread of the payment structure or trying to front load the advance splits. An auction can be a GREAT source of leverage.
I’ll keep asking questions and maybe get a video based on one of those topics
I would love to see a video similar to your one on querying picture books, but about nonfiction picture books- should an author have multiple manuscripts ready besides the one being queried? Should research sources be included or does that come later? Does it really matter if the author is an expert in the field (for example, would being a teaching librarian be enough of a credential)? Thanks for all the work you put into these videos!
At what point has someone changed the novel enough that we can resubmit? Based on feedback, I am doing what I consider a major over hall, but don't know if agents would agree.
I have changed it from past to present tense, aged up the characters, did more character work, changed a couple of characters completely, cut stuff, added stuff, and moved some pivotal scenes around to be earlier.
Good question! It kind of depends. If an agent gave you specific feedback as to why they rejected, then if you don't touch on those specific issues, it's likely their opinion will not have changed with the new draft and you probably should not resubmit to them. However, if you did not get specific feedback and instead do a complete overhaul , you can choose to resubmit, and it will help you in the long run to outline in your query that you have submitted it to that agent before and have since made x, y, z changes. There should also be a completely new query letter, as you never know whether it was the query or the manuscript that made the agent reject. Hope this helps!
This one was GREAT timing for me. I'm querying debut and am about 25% into 2nd book that is a way stronger concept/novel. Question (for anyone): I'm not THAT DEEP in on the queries - I've had 10 passes (2 full reads, 2 partial and the rest no-response=pass). The only note I can discern is "I was not about to get fully drawn in". I 'think' I'd rather go full-speed ahead on the new one, need some feedback. Thx for any thoughts.
I agree with you. I’m in basically the same situation. I well into my second book and am finding I more prepared and writing better than the first. I’m not entirely shelving the first yet, but putting more energy into the second. Good luck, keep strong.
@@liegeman717 what's been the reaction to your Q's? I think I need a better query at the least. Too many no responses.
@@BrianFlaherty1970 all mine was ‘no’, mainly with the comment my book was not a fit for them this at this time. I do think I had a weak query letter and also a weak start. I have since rewritten both. I haven’t queried since the rewrite because I’m busy with my second book. I was surprised how many agents never bothered to reply at all.
Sorry for the two ‘this’
@@liegeman717 I never write a weak start. Even if I don't think the intense start is the best way to go, even if we might change it, I only write compelling starts on both books and screenplays on a submission. Imo, this is the big problem with Harry Potter and the sorcerer's Stone. It was a very weak Ling slow opening, and that is why I think she kept getting rejected. Personally I would have had her open with something big. Like a death eater scene. A wizard fight with a death. Goose the reader, make the big promise of action to come, and then go back to slow. But unless your established already, you can't just start slow and expect anyone to keep reading, hoping it will get more interesting and exciting. Imo
Can you do a whole video on maintaining your vision of the book as you get feedback from agents, editors, CP’s, and beta readers?
This is a really interesting topic, we'll add it to our list of ideas to film! Thank you!
Love the new background:)
I'm assuming my comment on Jessica's IG post triggered this one!? When I passed my current manuscript by agents and used Fried Green Tomatoes and Steel Magnolias as comps, they knew exactly what I was writing so had no issue with my choices! I understand what you're saying too! What's a girl to do?😂
LOVE THE WALLPAPER!!!!!
Love the wallpaper!
I have a question: I have been working on my manuscript for two years, and working on the final edits. However, one of my subplots turned out to happen IRL, and is a major world event. Specifically, Russia invading Ukraine. When something major like this happens, should the writer change the real life event in their manuscript or take it out completely?
This might come down to personal preference. Every agent will likely take a different stance on this. If you are able to take the event out of your manuscript, it might be a good sign that it wasn't serving a useful purpose to the narrative anyways, and therefore can be removed to avoid the trouble of making that decision. If your manuscript relies on this event, then you'll have to weigh the time it would take to replace vs. how it may be received. Is the matter being treated responsibly and sensitively if it stays in? Questions like that. Hope this helps!