Jessica Faust
Literary Agent
BookEnds Literary Agency
President & founder of BookEnds Literary Agency, author advocate, optimist, & professional pain in the ass. Runs on coffee, wine, & kettlebells. She/Her
- #mswl (396)
- #queryfail (1)
- #querytip (169)
- #pubtip (19)
- #querystats (2)
- #askagent (445)
- #BookEndsChat (129)
Literary Agent
J. L. Horn @JLHornWrites
@BookEndsJessica Currently working on a tightly-woven 3-part series. Should I summarize the whole series, or just the 1st novel for agents?Just the one novel you are pitching #querytip
Literary Agent
Your query matters so much. Work on it. Perfect it. Research it. Get 2nd reads & beta readers. A strong query gets requests. #querytip
Literary Agent
Always include a synopsis with requested material to an agent. We always want one, even if we forgot to ask. #querytip #submissions
Literary Agent
Literary Agent
If you're an #ownvoices author writing #diversebooks it's important to share that in your query. #querytip #mswl
Literary Agent
A lot of queries lately with lazy typos & errors. Poorly written query leave agent thinking, poorly written book. #querytip
Literary Agent
If you're going to tell me you're previously published, you better tell me exactly where you've been published. #querytip
Literary Agent
Kate McKean @kate_mckean
wtf with the super long novels in my queries this week? 150k+ is toooooooo long for me, personally. #pubtip.@kate_mckean holy cow!!! We just had this conversation. Everyone seems to think word counts don't matter. They do #pubtip #querytip
Literary Agent
Wendy Qualls @wendyqualls
@BookEndsJessica Not out loud, but I've definitely had instances of "eep, I didn't finalize my two-page synopsis yet!" in that situation :-).@wendyqualls I get that a lot. Act like a girl scout when querying. Be Prepared for a quick request, or don't bother querying #querytip
Literary Agent
25,000 words does not a book make. Please check word count guidelines before submitting #querytip
Literary Agent
When querying nonfiction include credentials/platform in query. It's your biggest selling point #querytip without I often reject
Literary Agent
I'm not looking for Fantasy. Labeling Fantasy "commercial" just to query won't help you or convince me. #querytip
Literary Agent
Word count requirements haven't changed much, yet lately most queries are for books in the 130-150k range. Too high. #querytip
Literary Agent
Don't submit you book to me if it's been self-published. Unless you've sold thousands+ paid copies. #querytip
Literary Agent
Book marketing facts are something the agent should know. #querytip. How you see market for your book (comparisons) is a better idea.
Literary Agent
If you need to tell me the buying market for your genre (women ages 18-40) I'm probably not the right agent for this project. #querytip
Literary Agent
I will not read included sample pages if your query doesn't grab me. Always make sure that query blurb sings. #querytip
Literary Agent
Incorrectly categorizing your book just to get an agent's attention rarely works #querytip
Literary Agent
If you're comparing your work to Kafka I'm not the right agent for you. #querytip
Literary Agent
Anytime you say you were previously pubbed tell us where. What house? Self-pubbed? Etc. #querytip