L.K. asks: is it better to send your query to an agent in hard copy or in an email.

Up until a year or two ago, I would have said hard copy. But something has tipped and the letter with the sadly folded SASE seems a little antiquated. I think most agents will agree: send email queries.

The real question is who reads the letters and/or the emails. The agent herself or an assistant or an intern? Unless you were referred by an established writer or client of the agent, the chances are an assistant or intern will screen your letter. I actually read all my mail for two reasons:

1) At sleepaway camp we had a job wheel and every day you were assigned a task such as clothesline or toilet or sweep. But the best job was being the camper designated, after lunch, to get the mail and snacks. I can not tell you how much I loved getting the mail, handing the letters out to my bunkmates, and savoring the letters I received. Somehow, every day when I open my mail at work, I always remember that feeling. Totally queer,  I know.

2) I don’t trust anyone to know what I like.

How do you get your material read or an invitation to send more? BTW, attach the first chapter or fifty pages. Just do it. If the agent is interested in your letter, it will save a step to have the pages attached. Next, do everything you can to make your query appealing before you send it. How? Well, depending on what it is:

• get some of the work published before you submit it to an agent. This is extremely helpful, especially if it’s in a well known or highly regarded outlet such as Slate or a national magazine.
• develop a popular blog like Julie & Julia or Dooce
• give lectures, speaking engagements, workshops, build a following
• any media attention will be a huge help
• win a prize (enter writing contents)

It used to be that the book kicked off all these things, but in today’s very tough climate, publishers want authors who already come with a platform. If  you build your platform and present yourself credibly and professionally in your query letter along with having a great idea (and a great title that in and of itself is a hook), you will probably get responses.

People sometimes like to speculate about whether there are masterpieces out there not getting published because of the system. I’m not one of them.

Filed under: Agent, FAQ |