The last one!

Here are the rest of your questions from my querying/getting an agent Q&A:

Susan Fields said...
My question: I've heard that queries should be extremely short and to the point, yet often when I read a magazine article on queries that worked, they're pretty lengthy. What's a good word count for a query?
Different agents will tell you different things on word count. Some agents I queried had exact word count requirements of 200 words or something like that (yikes!). I think the best way to make sure your query isn't too long is to keep your "pitch" to two paragraphs, and if the whole letter can all fit on one printed page (formatted correctly -- no 8 point font and 1/4 inch borders), then you are good to go.

Can I ask another question? If not, just disregard. :) Say you get that call from an agent offering representation. Do you then email the other agents who are considering partials and fulls and tell them you have an offer and give them a deadline?

YES! You do exactly that. And usually you give them one week.

Kristine said... Great contest Sara--I'm getting in under the wire here. Here's my questions--I've done some work-for-hire and had a few things published. Is that impressing an agent? Or should I downplay it in my query?Thanks again for the opportunity.

Hmmm... I think it depends on what it was and how widely circulated your work was. I think it's good to show them you have some experience, but I wouldn't make it sound like a big deal (unless it was!). If it was a small local magazine or something, I'd mention it in your bio section, but just briefly. If it was a national magazine or publication, and particularly if it relates to the subject/genre you are querying, then you should make a bigger deal out of it. Does that make sense? I'm not the expert on this, so definitely do some more research on it before taking my word for it.

Rachel Searles said... Thanks for offering this contest! My question: how many people did you have critique your query before you sent it out?

The first time? Um... none? Yeah, I was a total greenie. I had no clue what I was doing other than having read Stephenie Meyer's website about how she bought Guide to Literary Agents, picked her top 15 or something like that, and sent off her queries. Bam! Instant millionaire. So I figured, I could do the same thing. As I've detailed in my "path to getting an agent" series last year, though I did get interest that first round, it didn't work out. Then I got smart and started getting help. I had about 5-6 people critique my queries after that every time. Sometimes more, sometimes less. Definitely don't make the mistakes I did!


I hope this series has been helpful and interesting! Thank you again for your questions. Happy Monday everyone!

And the Winners are...

Drumroll please...


The random number generator has spoken and the TWO winners who will get their queries critiqued are:


PENSEES!

and

DANYELLE!


Woohoo!! *tosses confetti* Congratulations to you both. Please email me your queries at sarablarson21 (at) gmail (dot) com and I will get that done for you.

You guys had some really great questions, so I will be taking a few at a time in the next couple of posts to answer them. Thanks again for entering everyone!

D.L. Hammons asked: Here's my question. How much do you go into possible revisions the agent my want before signing on the dotted line? What if they don't want to go into detail? I hope I'm reading this question right, but it sounds like you're asking how much should you do for an agent if they want revisions before signing you, right? Since I'm not sure, I will try to answer it both ways. First, if an agent asks for a revision before signing you (which I had happen and did--even though it didn't work out, my manuscript was much stronger for it), I think 9.7/10 times you do it. That is a huge opportunity, and at the very least you can try what they suggest and see what you think. They know what they're doing, and often end up being right when they ask for changes. Not 100% of the time, but close. ;) If you are on a phone call with an offering agent, and they won't go into detail about what revisions they want (which I doubt would happen, but it's possible!), I'd ask them detailed questions to try and get an answer. I wouldn't want to sign with an agent who isn't up front about their feelings and thoughts on my book. If they are vague in answering, saying something like "We can discuss that more later," I would respond with, "Can you give me some specific examples now of what you want changed?" I doubt any agent would dodge the question again.

Pensees asked: Should you mention that you sent a query a year (or more ago) when re-querying after making substantial edits? Or just forget about ever querying that project to that agent again? Hmm, this is tricky ground for sure. Technically, you aren't supposed to requery the same project again to the same agent. If you have a new project, I'd go with that and keep the other project for after you sign with an agent. However, I have had people tell me different answers to this. I'm pretty sure I remember some authors admitting to changing the titles and requerying projects on their blogs. If the project is substantially changed (including the title), and the agent gave you a form rejection I've had a few people say that is probably okay to requery, and not worry about mentioning the past. However, if the agent had requested a partial or full that is another story. Again, if you have a different project ready to query, go with the new project. It's probably better anyway, honestly. That's just how it goes, we tend to get better with practice. However, if the revised mss is your only shot, you could try querying those agents again and let them know you had the opportunity to have "so and so" (hopefully someone reputable in the industry) give you feedback and you did a complete revision or rewrite based on their critique and wonder if the agent would be interested in seeing your revised manuscript. (And of course you would do that in a way that is eloquent and not a run-on sentence.) The worst that can happen is they say no or don't respond. Just be very careful and wise in making a decision like that. Research the agent, see what other people's experiences have been. I know it's been done on occassion, and even more rarely has been successful, but yeah, not very often.

Wow, I'm really nervous to answer some of these questions! I hope this is helpful, but I would definitely recommend researching these things out for yourself, too. Don't take my opinions as the end all--I have a lot of experience with querying, but yours will be different and unique. Ultimately, you need to research the agents you are querying in multiple ways--on their agency blogs/websites, on forums like AbsoluteWrite, etc. and find out what their personal likes/dislikes and policies. Good luck and more to come next week!

In which my brain is fried and I reveal things I might regret

So, let's just be honest right now. Multiple super long car rides + very little sleep + children + no food in the house = Fried Brain Syndrome. Hereafter known as FBS. In which I can't come up with a coherent blog post about writing.

Hence, instead I am going to ask all my shiny new followers that I've gotten in the past couple of months (and any of the old ones, too - you're also very shiny) if they have any questions they'd like me to answer? Yep, we're doing a good old Q&A. Ask me anything in the comments and I will answer them for you! (Okay, almost anything. Let's be honest here.) I'm not telling you about one of my most embarrasssing moments where I pretty much threw up on a guy who totally deserved it. He freakin' tried to kiss me after breaking up with me and I had the stomach flu at the time and was already on the verge. My eighteen-year-old self was mortified when I had to literally shove him away from me to hurl in the bushes. My twenty-seven-year old self laughs and thinks it would have been even more funny if I'd actually thrown up on him. I did tell him I didn't feel good and to stop it. Did he listen? Oh, no. I mean, HELLO! Why are you trying to kiss me after breaking up with me? But that still isn't a story I'd want to share. Oh... wait.

Okay, maybe I'll answer just about anything. So have at it!

(But be nice, did I mention I have FBS?) Or if you don't want to ask a question, tell me one of your most embarrassing moments! Can anyone top mine??

Answers + upcoming guest blog AND contest!!

Ya'll ready for this?? Next week is going to be made of awesomesauce. I'm not kidding around here. Wanna know why? First of all, I'm having a FABULOUS guest post on Tuesday and then.... I'm having another contest on Thursday! So make sure and stay tuned for both of those.

Thanks so much for the questions on my last post. Here are my (hopefully somewhat interesting) answers!

Aubrey asked:


Where do your ideas come from? Oh wow, I'd have to say everywhere. Real life. Daydreams. Songs. Anything can spark an idea. I admit, sometimes I've had to really dig hard for ideas, but other times, they just come to me. As we were driving home from CA my hubby and I were talking about how many people there are everywhere--all the time, day or night. How many cars are always on the road. That little thought process/conversation sparked a whole new idea I'm playing around with right now!

How long does it take you to go from idea to finished first draft? This varies, but I'm pretty fast. The fastest I've written a book (rough draft) was about 2 weeks. Well, unless you count the books I wrote in high school. Once I whipped one out in one day. Yeah. It was amazing. My best work ever. Why are you laughing? I'm serious! Okay, yeah, not really. :D The longest was about three months, but that one has needed the least editing of all of my books because even though it was so much harder to write, it came out very clean.

What is your favorite thing about being in the YA author/book world? Well, I haven't totally "entered" it yet, but the authors I do know and have met have been SO friendly and so helpful. The YA world just seems so tight-knit and everyone seems to be friends. I'm really excited to *hopefully* be a part of that when I get my deal. (Crossing fingers and toes!)

The Dixon Family wrote: Congrats on getting an agent! Any idea when we will hear about a book deal? I don't know yet. I hope sooner than later! Any extra finger crossing is greatly appreciated. ;-) (*looks around slyly and winks*)

Elliot Grace wrote: ...here's one I ask many bloggers/writers, how do you handle the rejections?
Myself...I realize getting slushed is part of the biz, but sometimes...okay, just breathe:) Oh man, this is such a tough part of the business. And it doesn't end! I have an agent now (Phwew!), but now I have to worry about editors rejecting me! I have to admit, somedays I handled rejections really well--I brushed it off, didn't take it too hard. Other times... yikes. I would get pretty down. I tend to be really hard on myself, and think I (or my writing) just isn't good enough. But I wanted it so badly, I would keep going. Thank heavens I did! I think the times I handled it the best were the days/weeks when I was keeping busy with something else. Janette Rallison gave me that advice, and it really does work. Once you are querying something--start a new project. Don't wait. And do not have it be the sequel!! When you have something else (entirely different and new) to work on, it helps you realize this isn't your one and only shot. When all else fails, try chocolate. Sugar highs help. For like 5 minutes. ;-)

I'm Erin Wrote: Ok, how in the world do you map out a book. Because I know you write fast, so do you think of an outline with all the sub plots first, or do you do do that along the way, and add them in later? Help please. I don't want to start my next book until I can figure this out. In highschool I used to write by the seat of my pants (and often ended up with a big old mess about halfway through with no idea where it was going to end up), but when I got serious about writing to get published a couple years ago, I've pretty much always had some sort of an outline, or at least a few pages of notes to guide me. I find I can write much faster and much more effectively when I know at least a general outline of my plot. For one of my books I have a chapter-by-chapter outline (that I followed pretty closely, although I'm always open to changes as I'm going); most of the time I just have notes for the character arcs and the main plot points. I may not write down all the subplots, but I do try to have them in mind as I write, and I usually at least jot down a note or two about where to include it. Although sometimes I'm pleasantly surprised at how some subplots evolve organically! Even though you may not stick to your notes/outline completely, I think it helps a lot. But that's just my opinion and style. I know lots of great authors who write completely organically, no outline at all. You have to find what works best for you.

I would recommend trying an outline if you haven't yet though, you might love it!

Thanks for the questions everyone, I hope my answers were helpful. Stay tuned for next week!!