For those of you who've not yet made it to the query process, let me give you a rundown. A query is nothing more than a one page letter. It should state book title, genre, and word count.
Then you need to summarize your book in a way that gives them a feel for your writing and makes it pop off the page.
Any credentials, list them. Of course first time writer don't normally have any, so there's that.
Lastly, you need to personalize the letter. Tell the agent why you chose to write to them. This tells them that you know who they are, what they represent, who they've sold.
That's it. You're done. Most of them don't want to even see a page of your work. They judge you on that one page letter, so you better make it good.
This is why I'm sick to my stomach. I think finding an agent is the hardest part of the business. Writing, awesome, revision, not as fun, but a necessary evil. Getting published? I only have one experience with that and it was less than two weeks. But it took me a long time to find an agent. Over a year for the superhero book, which is now being transformed into something else. Probably about six months with Never Eighteen.
Be prepared. Thicken your skin. You will get rejected. Don't take it personally, agents get thousands of queries a year, have piles of manuscripts on their desks to read, plus have to represent the clients they already have.If you're getting ready or are already in the process, good luck. If you could send some good vibes my way too, I'd sure appreciate it.
