How To Get A Literary Agent in 2024 | Finding Agents, Perfecting Your Query & My Tactics For Success

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  • Опубликовано: 24 июл 2024
  • Here's my foolproof strategy for getting a literary agent! Including a step-by-step on how to query agents, how to write the perfect query letter, my own journey and my top tips and tricks!
    #authortube #querying #writingcommunity
    VIDEO CHAPTERS
    00:00 Intro
    02:37 Is Your Book Ready To Query?
    04:21 Find Early Readers
    05:05 How To Research Literary Agents
    11:08 How To Write The Perfect Query Letter
    16:07 Writing A Stand-Out Synopsis
    17:40 Sample Chapters/Material
    18:11 My Querying Journey
    23:21 My Strategy For Success & Top Tips
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Комментарии • 32

  • @wilmaharrysson8445
    @wilmaharrysson8445 12 дней назад +1

    Omg best video, so happy that I found you! 🌸

  • @DCE1624
    @DCE1624 4 месяца назад +6

    Thank you for sharing your experience with us! I really liked this video and would love to hear more on your querying process.

    • @thebookbelle
      @thebookbelle  4 месяца назад +1

      Thanks so much for watching - glad you enjoyed the video! ☺️

  • @drippingblueink1335
    @drippingblueink1335 2 месяца назад +2

    It was so helpful to hear your process. Thank you for sharing, and congratulations on finding your agent! 🎉 I'm very happy to have reached the querying stage, and also to be working in the sequel to my book. I agree, it's important to be working on something else at the same time.

    • @thebookbelle
      @thebookbelle  Месяц назад +1

      Best of luck on your querying journey! ☺️

  • @MaerchenRinchen
    @MaerchenRinchen 4 месяца назад +2

    Watched this video ten days ago but came back to it today because I was writing the first draft of my query letter! And even though a few things in the query journey are different here in Germany your video helped me a lot - thank you very much! :)

    • @thebookbelle
      @thebookbelle  4 месяца назад +2

      So pleased it was helpful and good luck with querying ☺️

    • @drippingblueink1335
      @drippingblueink1335 2 месяца назад

      That's great. How is it different in Germany?

    • @MaerchenRinchen
      @MaerchenRinchen 2 месяца назад +1

      Oh there are a lot of differences. But first of all there are only a total of around 30 agencies that are a fit for my genre and you don't really personalise your application (you just adjust your documents a little bit). There are no personal informations about the agents and therefore you can't know what is interesting for them - you can just go with the knowledge of other authors that are represented by this agency.
      Agencies won't usually work with you on your manuscript. It's expected that this work is done beforehand or is this minor that it is directly done with the publisher after the manuscript is sold.

  • @mikerickett1137
    @mikerickett1137 2 месяца назад +2

    Interesting and I agree with much of what you have said. The big problem I find is that many agents don't respond at all these days. They don't even give an indication of a timescale when you know you have been rejected so you could find yourself waiting for a response that never comes. You are absolutely right in advising to start writing another book which is what I have done. I have sent of 12 queries and just 2 rejections so far in around six weeks. Like you I was at oine time head of PR sdo I know my way around!

    • @thebookbelle
      @thebookbelle  16 дней назад

      Thanks for your comment! In the UK, most agents do have bounce back auto-responses that give you guidelines of when to expect a reply, and if it's beyond that timeframe, to expect it being a 'no'. Most agents are hugely swamped so not entirely their fault, but I completely understand that it's hard not to have any response at all! Best of luck with your querying journey ☺️

  • @ninecatsmagee8384
    @ninecatsmagee8384 Месяц назад +1

    This is so straightforward and complete. Many thanks!

    • @thebookbelle
      @thebookbelle  Месяц назад

      So pleased it was helpful! Thanks for watching ☺️

  • @rebeccadear9190
    @rebeccadear9190 7 дней назад

    Ty..really helpful!

  • @yazgarcia8201
    @yazgarcia8201 5 месяцев назад +1

    I loved the video! ❤❤❤

    • @thebookbelle
      @thebookbelle  4 месяца назад +1

      Thanks so much for watching! ☺️

  • @bonitaporter8133
    @bonitaporter8133 3 месяца назад

    Thanks for these tips. They really help!

    • @thebookbelle
      @thebookbelle  3 месяца назад

      So pleased the video was helpful! Thanks for watching :)

  • @mrsmax3071
    @mrsmax3071 3 месяца назад

    Great video! Very helpful. I'm struggling with writing my first query letter right now and really appreciate what you said about patience. My first novel wasn't good enough to query and I'm really glad I waited till I have something I really believe in to even attempt this arduous process. Congrats on getting an agent.

    • @thebookbelle
      @thebookbelle  3 месяца назад

      Best of luck with your querying journey and thanks for watching!

  • @Marci82
    @Marci82 26 дней назад +1

    Great informative video and congratulations 🎉👏

  • @elishevahmonrad8591
    @elishevahmonrad8591 Месяц назад

    I’ve watched so many of these videos and was surprised I learnt something new! Everyone else has been cagey on when to ‘nudge’ agents. My query letter is literally driving me crazy. Your advice on not querying too soon was the bitch slap I needed. My word count was way too high and I’ve just done a re-edit. I def queried too soon! Will stop pressuring myself so much 😂

    • @thebookbelle
      @thebookbelle  Месяц назад +1

      Best of luck with your querying journey and thanks for watching! ☺️

  • @sarakat3707
    @sarakat3707 4 месяца назад

    Thank you, this video was so helpful. I was wondering if in the about me section of the query should I mention past experience writing in a different genre under a pen name?

    • @thebookbelle
      @thebookbelle  4 месяца назад +1

      So pleased it was helpful! Yes absolutely, I would mention your other books under your other pen name. Best of luck! ☺️

  • @tedpogorzelski1514
    @tedpogorzelski1514 2 месяца назад

    Thank you for sharing your story, it was informative and inspirational. I do have a question, which may seem like an obvious one. My fantasy is at a massive 220k words. And I've downed it from 250. I know it's still too much, but if I cut it into two parts, leaving me with about 119k for the first, I've run into a problem which is that the first book doesn't have a substantial ending (which is contained at the end of the second half). I heard that any book you put out should have a proper ending, but would cut off so much if I placed that ending in the first. My question is, is 220k words a guaranteed rejection?

    • @elishevahmonrad8591
      @elishevahmonrad8591 Месяц назад +1

      I’ve literally had the same issue! I queried at 165k words and was told thought rejections it was too long even for fantasy. But most agents didn’t comment on length so I was left wondering. I finally cut it to 100k plus bonus chapters. Thankfully I had a good place to do so and only had to add a few sentences and a new epilogue to set up the next one. But now I’m left with 58k words for the 2nd one in the series and all the big reveals and cliffhanger are there. Plus now I need to change my synopsis and query letter. I guess I’ll see what response I get from agents.
      Really, only already published authors can do massive word counts.

    • @thebookbelle
      @thebookbelle  Месяц назад +1

      Thanks for your comment! Sadly (as I know it’ll be a lot of work!) I think you would need to cut it massively to max 120k words and try to round off the story as much as you can. It can of course be part of a series and definitely mention that in your query letter, but an agent would need to find the book you’re querying with as a complete book that fits within the genre word count conventions to consider it! Best of luck with your query ☺️

    • @tedpogorzelski1514
      @tedpogorzelski1514 Месяц назад

      @@thebookbelle Thank you! I appreciate you taking the time out to answer this

    • @tedpogorzelski1514
      @tedpogorzelski1514 Месяц назад +1

      @elishevahmonrad8591 yes, I know it is tough to tell a story in all of its parts and still fall in the accepted criteria. Good luck with yours!

  • @bonitaporter8133
    @bonitaporter8133 3 месяца назад

    What is suggested length for historical fiction?

    • @thebookbelle
      @thebookbelle  3 месяца назад

      I would say between 80k - 100k words - no more than that usually!