Something I probably should have noted in my previous post about literary agents is that most of the time, agents want you to have a polished, finished manuscript ready to send in. Like I mentioned, there are always going to be a few exceptions, but especially in fiction writing, they want to know that you have what it takes to finish writing a full story.
When it comes to writing, I’m more of a “plot as you go” kind of writer. (Also called a “panster” by the writing community, because you are writing “by the seat of your pants.”) While drafting Veritas, I had the idea for the beginning of the story, but I wasn’t sure where it was headed until I got to the ending. Which means that then I had to go fix a whole bunch of stuff at the beginning to make the ending work (hence re-writing the entire middle section–and honestly a lot of the beginning).
You’d think that coming up with an outline beforehand would help with some of that re-writing, and it probably would. I’m trying a mixture of the two for the second novel I’m drafting right now, which seems to be a combo that doesn’t stifle the creativity (and hopefully doesn’t force me to re-write large sections of this manuscript).
All that to say, if I had started querying agents when I only had the first part of the story done, I would have been pitching something totally different than what the story turned out to be. Plus, there’s a reason it’s called a rough draft. As Terry Pratchett says, “The first draft is just you telling yourself the story.”
Even after writing that first draft, it’s important to go back and edit and revise–and let other people read it and offer commentary. Some (if not all) of the best changes I’ve made to Veritas have come from questions or comments my beta readers have had.
When the agent search begins, you want to give yourself the best possible chance at catching their attention, so you want to be able to present the best possible manuscript you can.
So, after you’ve gotten your novel the way you want it, done your research, found an agent who is looking for something similar to what you’ve written, you send a query letter! Literary agents also usually want you to include a sample of your novel with your query letter. Sometimes it’s the first chapter, the first five pages, the first ten pages, etc. This means that you have to read their submission guidelines, because it varies a little from agent to agent. (And it proves to them that you can follow directions.)
Okay, great. So what is a query letter?
A query letter is similar to a cover letter that you would submit for a job. It details all the important aspects of your book: what it’s about, word count, genre, comp titles, a little bit about you, any writing credentials you have, etc. You want to tell the agent where your book fits into the market and provide a couple of paragraphs about the story–similar to what you’d find on the inside flap or back cover of a book. Something to entice them to want to keep reading. You end your letter with a little bit about you, or why you are the perfect person to tell the story you wrote.
Then, you submit your query letter, writing sample, and anything else they ask you to include. After that, the waiting game begins. Occasionally, literary agents will mention on their website around how long it takes for them to respond to query letters, and sometimes they don’t. It depends on how many queries they receive. I’ve had some agents respond the same week, a couple months later, or not at all.
So, you do it all again.
And again.
And again.
If that sounds discouraging… That’s because it definitely can be. Especially on those days when it feels like the rejections just keep coming in.
But something I keep reminding myself of is this: even if you get hundreds of rejections, it only takes one agent to decide that they want to represent your book.
It only takes one “yes.”
Britnie Jenkins 