What I’ve Learned After Querying 40 Literary Agents for My Novel

Yesterday I sent out the fortieth query in my novel query process.

Forty queries means forty carefully crafted emails, each with its own research behind it—researching agents, checking submission guidelines, double-checking agent interests, double-checking email address, and triple-checking that I’ve spelled the agent’s name correctly. (There are few nightmares worse than realizing you addressed your letter to John when their name is actually Bob, only seconds after hitting send.)

I keep track of it all in an Excel spreadsheet, my own version of a query tracker spreadsheet. This is my lifeline in this process. I’ve got multiple tabs:

• Agents I’m researching but haven’t yet queried

• Agents I’ve queried that I’m waiting to hear back from (with dates, agencies, URLs, & notes)

• Rejections received (with dates & notes)

• Agents who are currently closed to queries so I can check back later.

To make it easier for you to see what 40 rejections looks like, I’ve put it into a simplified, reader-friendly version (agent details removed). “Declined” means I received a form letter. “Assumed rejected” means that on the agency submission page, it said something to the effect of “no response within a certain #weeks means declined.

Well, forty rejections isn’t entirely truthful. It’s actually 34 rejections, because one request for full is still out, and five agents have either yet to respond, or their no-response-means-no dates haven’t yet passed.

Also yes…I know I’ve been moving very slowly, sending only a small handful each month.

The process sounds orderly—and it is—but it doesn’t feel orderly. It feels a little like tossing bottles into the ocean and waiting to see which ones come back with a message inside, lol.

Someone asked me if I have a ritual when I send a query. Nope! I don’t light a candle or whisper manifestations over the “send” button. I treat it as part of the job.

Although…I thought I’d have received more full requests (requests to read the full manuscript, if you aren’t familiar with the shorthand) by now. My last agent came quickly, and because this novel feels so much stronger and more mature than my earlier work, I guess I expected similar results. That hasn’t happened. And yes, it’s discouraging.

If I was my own client, this is the moment when say:

• Forty queries is still only a drop in the bucket.

• Patience is part of the process.

• Let’s take another look at that query letter and make sure it’s working as hard as it can.

Ha! Taking my own advice is harder than giving it (though I have reworked the query letter a few times) J

Here’s my truth in all of this: I’m in this for the long game. I’m not giving up. The Face of Amore is a good book. It’s timely. It’s well written. I believe in it fully, even if I need to borrow faith now and then from my critique partner (thank you, Lidija).

So what’s the takeaway in this post?

Querying literary agents is both a spreadsheet and a soul game. It’s equal parts logistics and endurance. It’s a strange, unglamorous part of the traditional publishing journey. And it’s worth it because stories matter—and I still believe in mine.