Hi there, I have a few questions regarding looking for agents. Firstly, I am currently writing my third draft and should be finished within two months or so. Is it okay to send out the query and the first however-many-chapters they want whilst I'm still finishing up the editing, or is this not such a good thing to do? Secondly, I'm wondering if querying multiple agents at the same time is all right, or whether they are like publishers and prefer to be queried one at a time. I read somewhere that you can't just choose the first agent that comes along; you need to see if they are right for you and whether you can develop a relationship with them. If this is true, it would be pretty hard to accomplish when querying only one agent at a time. Thirdly and finally, are there any general tips as to how to woo an agent, at least regarding your book? Advice and first-hand experience would be truly excellent. Thanks in advance, Thomas
It's best to have it ready to go once you start querying. You can query as many agents simultaneously as you like. It's not quite the same as with publishing stories. As far as wooing them, remember that they're people. They also need to love your story idea and writing. Follow their submission guidelines, which will be listed on their website. Find out as much as you can about them, to get a feel for what they like to represent -- follow them on twitter, see if they're going to any writing conferences you might be able to attend, see if any of them have written any articles or are giving any seminars about querying.
Don't begin querying until you have a submission quality draft completed. Your responses, or lack thereof, can help you decide whether you draft really was submit-ready, but you still shouldn't send out any queries until you believe you have a clean, completed manuscript.
...absolutely not recommended!... ...definitely...should you get a request for the full ms before you have a polished final draft ready to send, you'll be up scheiss creek without a paddle... ...i've never come across any agents/publishers who insist on exclusive queries... only those who want exclusive submissions... not at all the same thing... ...see above... you can query as many as you like... just be sure to note which ones will not take 'simsubs' when asking to see sample chapters or the full ms... ...and in all cases, check each one's submission guidelines carefully and follow them to the letter... ...the only way is with a well-written query that convinces them it's a marketable book and a professional quality ms...
Thank you all for the help - I will continue editing and begin my search once I have finished completely.
