Literary Gaygent Naomi Davis (they/them/she/her)

Wonderful query dos and don'ts from Jessica and James at BookEnds! We had a lot of questions about this during #askagent yesterday, and this might help many of you who are wondering why you're not getting the request rate you'd like.
youtu.be/3V7EASOY-co

Thanks for tagging me! It depends on the agent. Some agents rep all age categories, and some agents may only rep 1 but may work with another agent for the others. If you get an offer of rep, ask that agent about this! #askagent

Definitely check out the BookEnds YouTube for this. James and Jessica and others have covered it in depth! #askagent

I think it's great to mention any professional pursuits that could be a part of your platform in a query. So yes, but you don't *have* to mention it. #askagent

Both work in tandem with each other! If I see a marketable book but the writing isn't there, I don't get excited. If I see a book that is written well but I don't know how to sell, same. If I see a well written story with a marketable plot? SO excited. #askagent

Such a tough decision. I'd say give it every shot. It only takes one yes. But write the next one while you're waiting for that yes, in case it doesn't come. #askagent

I don't have any specific expectations. It would be weird to receive the manuscript like a year later. I always expect if you're pitching it, it's complete. #askagent

If the query knocks me out of the sky and the writing clearly shows me those 200k words are used wisely, I'll still consider. It's usually quite easy to see right away if those words are all needed. #askagent

Here are my recent stats. Of the rejections, probably less tan 5% were ones I was on the fence about, but my reasons for NOT being on the fence can have to do with fit/market/etc. I couldn't gauge a percentage; varies month to month. #askagent

I still have a field for it. Use it for anything the quick pitch in the query does not show. #askagent

We strike a balance between "book I loved" & "book I can sell." Sometimes it is guesswork. We rely heavily on our conversations with other pub pros to determine what we think we can sell to publishers.
Your category sounds extremely broad. Can you narrow that for me? #askagent

Please don't. If we have feedback to offer, we will offer it. I always provide feedback on fulls I request. If I pass on the Q, giving more feedback could do you more harm than good, since it is on such a small sample. #askagent

A membership can be helpful, but not necessary. Query Tracker, Absolute Write, MSwishlist, etc are also great resources! And of course, follow us on Twitter (editors too - many editors share extremely valuable wisdom online! #askagent

If you DM me a bit about your genre and anything you want a CP to know about you, I'll gladly Tweet a request for CPs for you. #askagent

Certain genres exclude other things. For example, fantasy can include romance but contemporary romance cannot really include fantasy, so it is fantasy as a category. Make sense? #askagent

BookEnds standards are 6 weeks for Q and 12 weeks for request. Follow up anytime after these! #askagent

I am comfortable with my encouraging form and non-form passes. I truly DO want to see more queries from authors as they grow and write more books. I would NEVER want to be discouraging, and this would defeat my aim to be uplifting in all things I do. #askagent

Could be either. Do you have critique partners? They might be able to let you know if they see areas your query could be amped up. #askagent

Here are some of my current stats. Unanswered are "unanswered yet" (haven't read them). Of the ones that I pass on, I'm probably only on-the-fence for 5% of them or less. It's usually quite an obvious decision. #askagent

Depends on the agent. I would love to give more feedback, but A: that can do more harm than good on only a small sample of the manuscript, in which a perceived problem may not be representative of the rest of the book, and B: I don't have time with 1000s of Qs per year. #askagent