A methodology for querying, even if you're a hot mess

Being in way too many writing Facebook groups and discords online, I see the question “How do I know where to start when querying?” come up regularly. Since I recently wrapped up querying for the second time (with different methods and outcomes), I thought it would be useful to share how I approached this. 

What’s querying?

Querying is the process where an author will research agents (and sometimes publishers) and basically pitch their book to them, with the end goal to get an agent or a publishing agreement. When I queried my first novel, I was brand new to it and pitching a book that’s (in retrospect) too high concept and doing too much. I only did a small round of querying before setting it aside as I worked on a different project. 

The second novel I queried, THE RACING LINE, is a sapphic, second-chance, Formula 1 romance between the first female driver and a reporter (who happens to be her ex-girlfriend). Unlike my first project, I knew this had the potential to be a really commercially appealing book, so my goal for this was to get an agent so that this book can make its way to editors at the Big Five publishers. Because of this, I approached my querying strategy in an organized and methodical way. 

Disclaimers: 

• This is the process I used for querying adult fiction (romance). When querying non-fiction or picture books, the process may be different and I’m not familiar with that. 

• This is just what I did. Take what’s useful, leave what’s not.

• Any examples I give are related to the book I wrote; you’ll want to adapt those to fit yours.

• Some of these tips reference specific features in Query Tracker. If you’re tracking another way (which you absolutely should track SOME way), adapt these to fit.

Before you start:

1. Pay for Query Tracker! It’s worth it just to have multiple lists for different projects, let alone all the additional features you get. 

2. Keep a generic list (in QT or however you’re organizing). I use a project titled “Misc Holding List”. This is where I drop the following: 

   1. Friend’s agents

   2. Agents listed in the acknowledgements of my favorite authors’ books

   3. Top agents in my genre(s) - Publisher’s Marketplace is a great source for this data.

   4. Agents I hear about that sound like someone I’d like to work with but I don’t have a specific project to pitch them. 

Building your agent list

When I’m ready to start building a list for a particular project, I do the following: 

• Start narrow and get broader as I go. I use existing websites that compile information from agents as well as Google searches.  

  1. Manuscript Wish List: 

     1. Start with keyword search: https://www.manuscriptwishlist.com/keyword-search/

        1. Narrow keywords: “f1 romance” “f1””formula 1” “drive to survive” “[close/subject matter comp titles]”

        2. Broadening a little: “sports romance” “NASCAR” “racing”

        3. Tropes: “second chance romance” “friends to lovers” “fake dating”

        4. Vibes: “[vibes comp titles]” “angsty” “yearning”

     2. Move to genre search

  2. MS Wishlist (pulls from Tweets) https://mswishlist.com/

     1. Similar search method to above

     2. As more agents move away from X and on to BlueSky and Threads, I hope this service will incorporate those, but for now, manually search those services.

  3. Query Tracker (broad only)

     1. Specific genres: Romance, LGBTQ+ (for example), then Romance, Contemporary

     2. Genre combinations: Romance (any) AND LGBTQ+

     3. Genre generic: Romance (any)

     4. Note: this doesn’t always match what their current MSWL says, so double check against that.

  4. Publisher’s Marketplace

     1. You can get a 24-hour access pass for $10 and pack a day full of research:

        1. Look at the Top Dealmakers list for your genre and note down agents of interest.

        2. Look at who’s sold books similar to yours (using same search fields as above). I didn’t count out agents who already had clients with F1 romances. In fact, when querying them, I amended my query letter to note the title/author they did have and say “on the chance you have editors who missed out on snapping up [TITLE], I have another F1 romance you might be interested in.”

        3. Look at publishers/imprints you’d love to publish in and see who’s sold deals there. 

• When adding to my list, if there is something specific they are looking for that mine matches, I add that as an agent note. 

  1. Example: “wants sapphic romance” “smashing the patriarchy” “asked for F1 romances on twitter x date”

• Pay attention to what they don’t want in addition to what they do. Does their MSWL say they hate accidental pregnancy and you’re querying an accidental pregnancy book? Take them off your list for that project (maybe put them on the holding list for a future project, though).

• As I start adding agents to my query list, I give them a priority rating (a Query Tracker paid feature) which is totally subjective but kind of along these lines: 

  1. Strong (higher priority) factors: 

     1. Strength of match with what the agent is looking for

     2. If the agent has experience selling in my genre or not

     3. The feel I get for the agent from their profile/socials/interviews, etc

  2. If there are a lot of agents at an agency, sometimes, I’ll look at all of them in one pass and: 

     1. DNQ (Do Not Query) any that don’t rep my genre (just to know I don’t have to look at them again)

     2. Rank the ones that do (including closed agents)

     3. If agency is “a no from one is a no from all”, pick the best match (and note that as an Agency note)

     4. If agency is “wait for rejection before querying another” I query the strongest match, the add a tag to all the others (and note the ranking as an Agency Note)

• If there are agents that are high priority (1-3) that are currently closed, I set up a watch notification to email me when they open. 

Time to query! Wait - Are you ready to query?

Don’t query your first draft. I hope this isn’t the first time you’re seeing this advice, but if it is, let me repeat it again in bold: Don’t query your first draft. 

There’s a lot of great advice out there on preparing your manuscript for querying, so instead of rehashing that, I’ll link out to some of these. 

• Cathie Hedrick-Armstrong has some great advice on her MSWL page as well as a specific editing guide. Honestly, it kind of intimidated me and I never got the chance to query her before I signed with an agent, but I’ve met her and she’s a lovely person.

• Cece Lyra is one of the hosts of The Shit No One Tells You About Writing Podcast (which is a great resource in itself) and posts tips regularly to Instagram. Carly Watters (another host) also shares great info.

• Kate McKean’s Agents + Books newsletter and Courtney Maum’s Before and After the Book Deal book and substack are all worth every penny

What I will share some advice on is preparing your query package for querying. There are a few distinct (but sometimes overlapping) parts of your query package you should have ready to go. Not all agents will ask for all of these, but having these at the ready can make sure that you use your actual querying time to its fullest. 

The query letter

Again, check the resources above for query letter advice but note a couple things: a) some of the advice will contradict other advice and b) there’s a format and formula, but there’s no one right way to do it. There are some agents who are very particular about a particular format, though, so this is where doing your research later (before sending the query) is important.

My biggest advice here is have someone else read your query letter and give feedback. Have multiple people do that. People who have read your book and people who haven’t. Query letters are one of the hardest things for you to write about your own book (second only to the synopsis). We’re too close to the story, all the details are important to us, and it’s hard to always position it right. The best edits I had done on my query letter are from someone who hadn’t red my book. They recommended example edits that actually did mention things that they thought might happen in my book (in terms of character beats) that were actually correct. This was super valuable to me because it let me know that, in general, I was getting the right ideas out there, but could strategically focus on other areas more. 

I’ve since done a similar pass on a friend’s query letter and trust me when I say – my suggested edits on hers were better than my first draft of my own. 

The synopsis

But didn’t I just put a synopsis in the query letter? Nope! But that’s a really common misconception. The way terms like “blurb” and “synopsis” are used after something’s published are different than the way they’re used in querying. Yeah, for people who are sticklers about words and meanings, it’s ironic. 

A synopsis is a description of the full plot of your novel, including the ending. You want to focus on your main story, the obstacles your main character(s) face (both internal and external), and how those obstacles are resolved. If you are doing in-person pitch events, this is what part of your pitch will be. It should run ~400 to 500 words. 

This was harder for me to write than the query letter and, when I entered my opening chapter and synopsis into a contest, I was shocked that the judge feedback was that one of my main characters kind of sucked. Like, yeah, she makes a mistake, but there are reasons, I promise! Reasons that… did not make it into the synopsis. Oops. Because of this, I actually hired someone to do an edit pass on my synopsis and came out with a much better version two drafts later. 

The miscellania

Here’s a list of other information that I saw in the query forms I submitted during my process. While Query Tracker will copy some of this over from a prior query, that’s only if that specific pre-formatted question exists. So keep a copy outside of QT with this information as you pull it together. 

• Comps. These are novels and other media that are similar to yours. It lets agents know how they might start with pitching this to publishers and what kind of vibe to expect. You’ll include some in your query letter, but keep a larger, dynamic list as this is sometimes asked for separately as well. 

• One sentence pitch//Elevator pitch. What’s the central question or driving sentence to describe your book? What’s a single sentence that has someone going “Um… yes, tell me more, please”? For my novel, it was “What happens when the woman breaking barriers in Formula 1 comes face-to-face with the girl who broke her heart?” In one sentence, it tells you: 

  • This is a second chance romance.

  • This is two women (sapphic).

  • This involves Formula 1 (sports romance).

  • What one character’s conflict will be (breaking barriers in a male centric sport while also dealing with her ex). 

  • But it also leaves so many questions to entice someone to read more.

• Describe your potential target audience. This is kind of a funny one. Is this just another way to ask for comps? If both questions exist, what should you put here? I added things like “Readers who appreciate a balance of humor, emotional depth, and spice in their romance, Fans of sapphic romance, specifically those seeking positive and engaging bisexual/lesbian representation, Readers interested in "women in sport" narratives and stories about breaking barriers in male-dominated fields, New and existing fans of Formula 1 (especially those drawn in by Drive to Survive) who are looking for a romantic story within that world.” In a couple I put “Swifties who are dying for the release of ‘rep [Taylor’s Version]’.” I saw this as an opportunity to show my voice and stand out a little. Was that right? Heck if I know. 

• Biography. Again, this will be in your query letter, too. Use the additional question to expand if there was stuff you had to cut from your query-specific bio.

• Themes. Note the major themes in your book, especially if they intersect with marginalized aspects of your identity. 

• Trigger warnings. These are things that happen (or are mentioned) in your book that might provoke extreme negative responses (often related to past trauma) in readers. If an agent asks for this, DO NOT leave it empty because you “don’t want to spoil a plot point.” That’s a dick move. 

• For romance: a steam rating. Granted, these are very subjective, so I think it’s also good to provide a short explanation. On a scale of five, I rated mine “2 or 3 - 2 detailed sex scenes and other references to sex acts/attraction throughout.”

• Tropes. This is probably genre-fiction specific. These are themes that are common in your genre. In horror, you might have “Final girl” or in fantasy, you can have “Chosen One,” for example. You can even note if you’re subverting tropes. 

• Links to your socials. Self-explanatory.

Okay, got all that together? 

Let’s start querying!

Most writers query in batches for a couple reasons: a) it’s kind of brain draining sending more than, like, twenty queries in a day, and b) you can learn and adapt as you go. 

Where should I start? With my top agents, right? Maybe. If you start with your top agents and your query package isn’t really refined, you might be wasting your shot with them. On the other hand, they might close before you’re “ready” to query them. You’ll have to find the balance that feels right to you, given how refined your package is and how often your top agents open and close (you can see this on QT in the comments of the agent’s profile). 

You may also want to consider timing. Agents will often close in August and December, so you want to plan around that. Maybe there’s a tv show or movie coming out that will result in a major topic of your book getting a lot of conversation and interest. I sent out queries while I was still editing the back half of my book because I wanted my query to be at the top of their inbox if they heard about the F1 Academy tv show or the F1 movie (and everything included in the actual query package was ready to go). 

I used the prioritization that I prepared in my research, along with other aspects of research, to determine my querying order. If there were agents that I knew were very particular about wanting almost publishing ready manuscripts, I didn’t include them in an early batch. If a rarely open agent was open now and high priority, I queried asap. 

Some days, I didn’t want to navigate agency website forms or send emails, so I filtered for only ones who accepted through Query Manager (the agent side of Query Tracker). 

So I just go through my list and send the queries with one click? Easy peasy. Oh, sweet summer child, no. Even if I’d left notes for myself (see first section), before sending the query, I always did the following things: 

• Are there any strong preferences the agent has for how a query letter should read? Check their agency profile, MSWL, or social channels for this.

• Review other agents at the agency (except DNQs but including closed agents). Was another agent a better fit? If it’s a “No from one is a no from all” agency, did I want to wait for the preferred agent to open?

• Double check the MSWL and/or Agency website. This is confirming a couple things: a) are they actually open and is the info about how to submit queries up to date? b) are they still looking for my genre/books similar to mine? 

• Review my notes/their current client list. If they’ve called out a theme or type of book that my book shares, that’s something to call out in the query letter personalization. If I read something by one of their clients or want to congratulate them on a recent bestseller one of their clients published, that’s another personalization opportunity. 

So I should always wait for my preferred agent to open? Not quite. If an agency says that “No from one is a no from all” this means that, theoretically, they share queries internally if they think another agent may be a better fit. But that once you query one agent, you’re done there. However, if your preferred agent hasn’t been open in two or three years… you’re probably better off querying someone else. 

If the agency allows querying other agents after you’ve received a rejection, you may want to query whoever’s open whenever. However, keep in mind two things: 1) the agents can see who else you’ve queried at that agency, both past projects and present and 2) most discourage querying more than three agents because it’s kind of spammy. If you’re querying your second and third, I recommend acknowledging that at the top of your query letter: “I previously queried [name] with this and while they weren’t interested, I thought you may also be a good fit for my novel.”

Outside of the batches, keep an eye on the rejections where you want to query other agents at the agency and your watch notifications to make sure you can get on those queries when they open. Some agents open for only a couple of days at a time, so get in there when you can.

I got a request! OMG, what now?

Congratulations!!!! A lot of people query projects and never get a request, so take a moment to celebrate yourself. Obviously, next is sending over the materials they requested. In terms of what it means for your query process: 

• Keep querying. A request is not an offer is not a book deal. Plus, it’ll probably be a while before you hear back (positive or negative). So keep at it. 

• Use it as an opportunity to assess. What do you think worked in that version of your query package? Did the request call out something specific that the agent liked the sound of? It’s just one data point, but it can be useful if you’re still early in querying and want to tweak your package. 

• Don’t follow up on your outstanding queries… yet. Something I did not do (but wish I had) is note in an agent’s profile when they said to follow up after if they hadn’t responded yet (and when to consider no reply a no). If you’re past the “poke me” date, you can mention in your poke that you have some outstanding full requests. But otherwise, most agents only want an outreach if you have an offer in hand. 

The agent who requested liked it! But not enough to sign me. 

Again - CONGRATULATIONS!!!! Every step down in this funnel is something less and less people achieve. Treat Yo’ Self. There are three kinds of “I liked it but no” responses you may get to a request: 

1. “There’s a lot to love here, but it’s not right for my list at this time. I know you’ll find a passionate advocate for your novel.” This is a very nice hard no. 

2. “I loved x y z, but didn’t like abc. I wish you the best of luck.” I kind of see this as a soft no. Let’s pin this one for now. 

3. “I loved xyz, but think a, b, and c can be improved. If you end up making changes, I’d love to read it again.” Baby, that’s called a Revise and Resubmit (R&R) - congrats!

If you got an R&R and you agree with the feedback and are open to making changes, then you should absolutely do that and resend it to that agent (or agents). If the soft feedback from a #2 response aligns with that, I would definitely send my revised MS to that agent (probably as a new query, acknowledging that you’ve done edits) when it’s ready. 

You will probably continue to get requests while working on your R&R edits. How I handled this was to reply to the request with a note along these lines: “Thank you for your interest in [TITLE]. I’m currently working on some edits as a result of R&Rs from other agents. I anticipate having these ready [timeframe]. Would you prefer receiving the pre-edit version now or waiting until edits are complete?” 

They will probably say they’re happy to wait (all of mine did), but by replying sooner, you’re showing you’re a communicative author who’s open to feedback. 

So… am I done?

I mean, hopefully not. But I’ve gone through most of the main parts of the querying process here. What comes next is getting a request from an agent to jump on a call, getting an offer for them, and then the whole crazy next steps. I’m only just starting that part of my author journey. If you want to learn more specifics about my querying and getting an agent offer, keep an eye out for a future post. 

There’s also some unconventional querying you can do if you’re active on social media. Keep an eye out for a post on that, too. 

In the meantime, keep your spirits up, celebrate the small wins, and keep going… querying truly is a marathon, not a sprint, and you’ll find that when it rains, it pours (in good ways and bad).