Agent Flubs
Tuesday, November 30, 2010 Question of the day: How precisely should I follow an agent's guidelines? For example, if an agent's requirements list "query letter and first 10 pages", does that mean exactly 10, even if that means it cuts off in the middle of a chapter or [gasp] the middle of a sentence or paragraph? That might be a dumb question, I just know that sometimes if your query letter doesn't mean the exact specifications it is simply deleted, and I would hate to miss out on a chance because I included 9 pages or 11.5 or 13 in order to give them a completed chapter.
I don't think this is a dumb question, so no worries. In fact, more aspiring authors worry about these things than you'd think.
BUT. The first thing I'd say is to take a deep breath and remember that agents are human too. They're really NOT going to toss your manuscript aside if you run over by a paragraph (or run under by a page) if yours is a manuscript that is really intriguing. What the agents are looking for is SOMETHING THEY CONNECT WITH, and truly, trust me, I promise you, they are not going to penalize you for a very, very small thing such as this.
That said, there are some big things they will penalize you for: adding attachments when they say they don't accept them, spelling errors in your query, getting his or her name wrong in your query (or worse, sending out an obviously generic query letter), not being respectful of his or her time, etc. These are red flags that demonstrate a lack of professionalism at worst and an inattention to detail at best. (I'm sure that there are plenty of other mistakes - anyone want to weigh in below?)
But as far as your exact question, the much more important thing is to end your page submission in a smart, savvy place. This does NOT mean the middle of a sentence. Finish up that paragraph, for sure! I'm not advocating that you run onto page 12, (in fact, don't), but somewhere between pages 9-11, there should be a fairly solid place to end. To that point, you should almost always submit the first pages of your ms. Don't pull something out of chapter five and expect the agent to have any idea what the hell is going on. Start at the beginning, intrigue them, and get out.
Again, I just want to reiterate: if an agent is interested in your work - I mean, if it really draws him or her in - a small page difference or what not, is not going to discourage them. So don't sweat those details. Just submit a great book, and the rest won't matter.
Anyone want to share some of the other flubs that might tick off agents during the query process?
Agents
Reader Comments (7)
I'm going to chime in here, as an agent, if that's okay -- I say end the chapter or scene if either falls within 8-15 pages (so, yes, you can be short); otherwise, end the paragraph. I ask for a query and ten pages and I never check exactly how much was included; I just think approximately 10 pages is a very reasonable (probably too reasonable) amount of pages to ask for to get a sense of writing. Whether it's 8 or 10 or 15 won't matter.
I agree with Allison, of course, that you should never include attachments, etc.
Hope that helps! This is *most definitely* not something to worry about. People send their submissions in so many different ways -- different fonts, single- and double-spaced, etc. -- that I can't even tell how long some pasted pages are (and I don't finish reading them in 98% of the cases).
Weronika - Of course it's okay!! Thank you for chiming in. This is JUST what people want to hear. Thanks again!
I can't even begin to list all the specific requests, demands, and nuances of query submissions that I've encountered as a writer. The problem is not that these specifics exist, but that it's almost impossible to discern between personal preferences and strict demands -- as this blog post and Weronika's comment prove.
If an agent might discard a query because an emailed query is lacks the agent's request that the subject line include the topic of submission (ie, "Query: Adult Nonfiction") instead of the usual practice of simply "Query", what's not to say that an agent requesting "query letter and first 10 pages" won't throw out the request altogether if the request is 9 or 11 pages?
In other words, I think a major, major problem of the modern submission process occurs when the writer is obligated to try to discern between the many and various strict demands that agents place on submissions and the countless nuances of personal preference.
Wouldn't a standardized query process streamline for both writer and agent?
I edit fiction for the e-zine Literary Mama, so I'll weigh in from my perspective reading slush. What matters most is the story itself. I won't reject a fabulous story for a slight misstep and I don't know anyone else who would, either.
Dave, re: standard query. It's an interesting idea, but how would you get every single working agent to agree on what they like best? Just like not every writer has the same work habits, so it is with agents. It's work for the querying writer (I've been there three times, I know of what I speak) but there's no realistic way around it. I don't see it as a major problem, myself. It's just part of the job.
Dave - I suppose, in theory, this streamline things, but as Kris said, every agent has his or her subjective likes and dislikes, and it's impossible to execute. It's part of the process, akin to applying to college: there's not a universal college application or essay, and you have to slog through to get a great end result. I really do think that if an author exercises common sense, the agent won't mind a small deviation from his or her guidelines. Thanks for weighing in!
Kris-thanks for sharing your thoughts! :)
Allison and all commenters - thank you so much for taking the time to answer my question. I know in the scheme of things it's a small detail and not the most important thing. But as I'm in the editing stage I'm trying to hone in on those small details to increase my chance at representation as much as possible!
This is very helpful to see. I've always assumed instead to end at a logical point was the way to go, but when you see a list like that it's easy to wonder if it's supposed to be an absolute.