Cortney Radocaj

And of course, there’s a LITTLE wiggle room—if you’re a few thousand words within the standard, you’re generally okay (but should still try to consider ways to get it IN that range if you haven’t already)

When you have a large fan base that editors believe will buy your book simply bc your name is on it, they’re FAR more likely to take a risk on word counts way outside the normal range.

But if you don’t have a fan base yet? An editor isn’t going to take the risk on that 400k book

And I want to clarify—I’m talking DEBUT authors (and authors still establishing themselves) here.

Yes, your favorite famous author has a 400k book that sold really well—but that’s because they already had an established fan base.

These counts aren’t arbitrary—they’re based on what’s sold the best in the past. There’s a REASON they’re set where they are—because books too far outside of them tend not to sell as well for debut authors

First—WORD COUNT DOES MATTER.

I promise you, agents don’t harp on it because we’re trying to torture authors.

It’s because there’s a range (dependent on age category and genre) that editors will generally consider acceptable.

Too high or low and you run the risk of auto reject

I’ve noticed a lot of word counts WILDLY outside the acceptable range lately SO

Let’s talk about word count for a hot sec—why it matters, what’s generally acceptable, and what to ask yourself if you’re outside that range!

#querytip #amwriting #amquerying #writers

A quick reminder that if you want to query me, please don’t DM me to ask if I’m interested!

That’s the whole idea of querying—sending your pitch and pages to an agent in the hopes that they’re interested.

So I’ll let you know either way when you query! :) #querytip

Y'all.

You should be w/pubbed books in your genre. Common tropes and themes, what'll make your story fit into that genre and what'll make it unique.

Not having comps & using "I'm not familiar w/the genre" as an excuse IMMEDIATELY sets off red flags.

#querytip

#querytip a trend I'm seeing in my box a lot lately:

Any and all books with fae being compared to either Holly Black or SJ Maas.

And for some books they're great!!!

But for some, it's like comparing HP with LOTR bc they both have wizards in them.

Choose your comps wisely!

#querytip a reminder that I DO NOT represent MG.

Slipping into my QueryManager under YA will not get you anywhere. Don’t waste time querying an agent with something they explicitly don’t represent—use the time to find agents who DO and give yourself the best chance possible!

Vagueness is (almost) never going to work in your favor. It’s difficult—trust me, I UNDERSTAND (I’ve written my own queries, and pitches for clients, I know it’s not fun)—but absolutely necessary to really dig into details to increase your odds of success in the query trenches.

Don’t give me a vague “their world is changed” or “conflict arises”. GIVE ME DETAILS. How are their lives changed? What plot stakes are there? Personal stakes? Tension?

DETAILS ARE YOUR FRIEND. Yes, there is a sweet spot—obviously packing TOO many details in will confuse agents—but you need to have SOME to make your query stand out.

3) And arguably most importantly, it makes it almost impossible to see market potential in a vague query. Every book needs a good hook—but SFF in particular NEEDS to have something to make it stand apart from every other SFF book on the market.

2) It ends up being applicable to many, many stories... which is not what you want. You want your query to ONLY apply to your story. Take out the names—is your query tailored and specific enough that if someone read it they would ONLY think of your book?

1) When the query is very vague, it’s EXTREMELY difficult to get excited about it. There’s nothing to grab onto that’s different and intriguing.

#querytip don't feel like you need to update agents any time someone requests a full or shows interest in your manuscript! You only need to notify agents if there's a change in the STATUS of your query (i.e. offer is made, withdrawing, etc.)

#querytip only pitch one book in your query! It doesn’t matter if you have a sequel or trilogy or ten books planned—I want to know what happens in THIS book, that THIS book is solid and engaging.

You’re pitching ONE book—don’t waste query space explaining the entire series.

#querytip

I’m not the right agent for marriage plots, whether it’s YA or adult. Even in fantasy/royal situations—it’s just not my thing.

But please for the love of all the gods don’t take this as not wanting love stories ROMANTIC SUBPLOTS ARE MY JAM I WANT THEM ALL TO KISS

Y’all.

If you’re going to write a story about the horrific genocide of an entire community

maybe

JUST maybe

don’t write it from the POV of a white character directly involved carrying out said genocide???

#querytip