When an Agent Reads Too Fast
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- Опубликовано: 3 окт 2024
- Sometimes responses to your query might come in faster than you expected, and it might give you the idea that the agent hasn't really read it. Literary agents Jessica Faust and James McGowan discuss their process and why it makes them fast readers, and what to take away from that.
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Jessica Faust’s love for books is what first brought her to open BookEnds Literary Agency. It is her desire to be an advocate for all authors that pushed her to create her blog, the BookEnds RUclips channel and to maintain a vibrant presence on Twitter.
Jessica is proud to have grown BookEnds to an agency that represents authors of all genres for children and adults, allowing her to reach more readers and help more authors and illustrators achieve their dreams.
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James McGowan is a Literary Agent at BookEnds and writer for children. He began working with the agency as an intern in the summer of 2015, and basically never left. He represents a talented group of authors and illustrators working in everything from board books to middle grade graphic novels. He also works in adult nonfiction, and adult mystery and suspense projects. James is the author of GOOD NIGHT OPPY, which is available now.
Connect with BookEnds!
Twitter: bookendslit
Instagram: bookends_literary
Website: www.bookendsliterary.com
Connect with Jessica: bookendsjessica
Connect with James: jmcgowanbks
I don't care how long an agent takes to respond--as long as they respond. I HATE HATE HATE the "no response means no" policy many agencies have. Have the courtesy to at least hit a button and send a canned reply. A fast response is great. You guys are awesome for not only responding, but responding quickly so writers aren't left hanging.
Omg, this is so funny. I just had an agent reject my query in 5 hours. I literally laughed out loud when I saw it. When you know, you just know. 🤣🤣🤦🏾♀️🤦🏾♀️
I did query bookends not too long ago actually. Didn't get an offer sadly, but, I was very grateful for such a prompt and honest response from the agent I did send it to. I wish I could send my query to either Jessica or James, but my book's genre doesn't match what either of them are looking for, and I really don't want to waste their time since they have a LOT of queries to go through.
Still, a huge fan of Bookends and this channel and will be tuned in. Would you ever do another livestream? I would love to tune into one and maybe ask some questions, or even just say hello to you through it 😅
One, completely off-topic question I had for both of you: What's one personal/self-growth tip you really valued, that you think your viewers would also value from?
We could definitely consider doing a livestream sometime!
And Jessica has always been a huge proponent of not letting yourself be stopped by fear. When the BookEnds agents come to her for advice because they are worried they'll get shut down if they try to negotiate for a better deal, or they are worried about taking on a client writing in a genre outside of their comfort zone, she always encourages them to take the step! She said once that failure isn't the opposite of success; it's never trying in the first place :)
Great video. I sent a query to Jessica in January 2022 and got a rejection 7 hours later. At the time I wasn't sure if she read everything I sent her through QueryManager, but I'm sure she did (she strikes me as always on top of things). But that's nothing compared to a rejection I got recently only 22 minutes after I sent the query in. At the time I was livid! Now I think the agent I queried simply caught it as soon as I sent it. At least I hope so.
i got a rejection recently 23 minutes later. !!!! I wonder if it was the same person? You got to think it takes a couple of minutes to notice the email, even if you are sitting at your computer. but 23 minutes isn't enough time to read a sample. Yes I was livid too. I won't say who it is, but they were male, which I'm sure cuts it down considerably. (I really do wonder if it was the same person).
I am in the process of querying. This segment was timely. I’m hope for quick responses; it’ll lessen my anxiety-I THINK, we’ll see soon😂
But if you just really really studied my query and read it in the right frame of mind with the care and dedication it deserves you'd realise my unquestionable genius!! You guys are great :D Wish you weren't so empathetic and would give us a top 10 angriest responses to rejections you've gotten. But obviously don't.
Fast is awesome!!
Frankly I appreciate a quick response. I had one query that was outstanding so long I wanted to send it a birthday card! So thank you for letting me know right away that I wasn’t a fit for you. As the song goes, Thank you. Next.
I think the main thing is that even if agents do have their own preferences or ways of automatically disqualifying someone's work, that doesn't excuse the fact that authors want their work to be given a fair shot and respected. It does sound disrespectful to not give at least a complete read-through to someone who put so much work into something and had the courtesy to submit it to you. I'm not saying agents are wrong to go through them so fast, they have to since they're on a time crunch and are in it for the money. But both sides' feelings are valid.
I'm kinda OK if they reach the end of the first sentence and decide this isn't for them. I just want to know if that was something I can improve or not. Like if they say that they will never publish stories about death, cool, my work will never be a fit
Thank you for sharing your perspective! It's a business relationship but it's still a relationship and founding that on anything that's less than honesty and respect isn't the way to go.
I appreciated the efficiency of one of your agents giving me a next-day pass form email, but since I narrowed down to a list of only seven agents, it leaves me confused. I read the bio's, wishlists, etc. of each agent before querying, so a form that just says this isn't a fit is perplexing.
Thank you.
Fingers crossed 🤞...I sent my very first query to one of your agents.
James was the first agent I'd ever sent a query to. He sent a response the next day and though I was bummed with the pass, it was a weight off of my shoulders to not have to wait weeks for a reply.
This channel is pretty awesome and a helpful tool for those who are trying to get an agent. Ive only watched a couple of videos yet. I know its going to be a pain to get a literary agen because of how narrow and broad my genre is. I appreciate them explaining the quick responses. I also have queried some agents I at least got replies. Stock replies though they may be they are at least polite.
I had an agent recently respond 6 minutes after i emailed. Which if i'm being entirely honest, isn't enough time to read the query. So THAT is frustrating. But oh well.
Me too. I appreciate the prompt response but I don't think she really spent time in even reading my synopsis. But anyway, there are many other agents to query and hopefully, receive an offer. 😊 Love these videos and the humorous vibe between you two. Thanks for sharing your wisdom. 😊
I was waiting for this video. I did get a full MS request within 24 hours. Six weeks down and keeping fingers crossed for further.
Good luck.
I love the bookstore analogy. I am not going to the home repair section of the bookstore. I don't care if you put a Cartoon Bob the Builder on the cover and place that on the endcap.
I'm going to bet that if you ask for the full ms quickly, no one is complaining about that and wondering if you were too fast and should have rejected it.
Funny how that works, eh?
They aren't mad about the speedy turnaround. They're mad about the rejection. Would any of us prefer to wait a month for a rejection? Really? 🤦🏻♂️
Responses are always better. I wonder how many agents are also authors and have tried querying though. It's one thing to say no to 500 people a month. It's another thing to be told no 500 times in a month.
I have queried two agents at Bookends. One response was within 12 hours, the other was within a couple of days. (No, I did not query them both at the same time).
Do agents pass on books to other agents in the agency if they are too busy and the book is good enough?
It differs depending on agency, but at BookEnds, if an agent feels a book might be a good fit for another agent at BookEnds, they'll forward it along to that agent!
what if the illustrator take a project without an agent when he already represented??
I had a rejection with 24 hours. The agent didn't require sample pages, just a query, but said I was a great writer. Any thoughts on that?
I hear so many bad things about the publishing industry and locating agents that I am discouraged from writing. I actually ran into a guy selling his books from a streetside card table over the weekend. His comment was, "Forget it. They're all looking for best sellers. And if your query letter isn't exactly what they want, it gets immediately trashed. The reason they have you present query letters in an exact form is so they can say 'no' faster." His books were of the horror genre so I didn't buy one... I'm a sci fi guy.
I wouldn’t take his word for it. He sounds jaded and who knows how good of a writer he actually is. Agents don’t require queries just so they can say no…
@@jflsdknf Yes, he was definitely jaded and bitter. I write for fun, anyhow, not payment.
OK, here's a question about genre selection. You had another vid about upmarket books, what we used to call genre jumping or genre straddling. If I call something a mystery it's a mystery, but that includes a wide number of choices and subgenres, like from bloody thrillers to Christian cozies. How does an author break it out? Here's an example (forgive me if you liked the book): The Last Thing He Told Me, was pushed as a mystery, a thriller. It was neither, in my opinion it was absolute crap and I thought the attempt to meld Female literature with thriller was a bad idea to start and poorly done, false advertising, and thank god for the library so I didn't actually have to purchase it when my mystery book group read it. So how fast, in an honest query where someone's checked the mystery box, do you want to know it's a cozy, a bloody thriller, a time-travel tale of brutal murder and revenge (maybe that's sci-fi)? I'm trying to write mystery but it's such a many faced daemon.
What's worse - a quick response, or NO response? How silly of people. Way too insecure for my taste.