Literary Agent
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DeeLinn @Roaringmoms
@BookEndsJessica I was told once that agents hate it when writers sub to publishers accepting unagented ms. If that is available to us, shouldn't we give it a go?you absolutely can. The problem is that often when you get an agent the agent will do revisions with you before submitting. Which means you submitted a presumably less then perfect work #askagent
Literary Agent
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Frostrunes @FrostruneDragon
So... #askagent when an agent asks for my "writing bio" do I mention my fanfic with 7000 reads (and good reviews!) or does that sound amateurish?If you have better credentials do include them, but knowing readers enjoy your fanfic does help us see that your writing connects with your audience! #askagent
Literary Agency
Andrew Fox @AndrewF05920673
@bookendslit Are there any instances where a novel can be over 90,000 words?Absolutely. Most adult novels are 80-100k, and many books can be higher than that. Google the approximate word counts per genre to get a better idea #askagent
Literary Agency
Rebecca Minelga @RebeccaMinelga
@bookendslit Follow up question: would an agent prefer to see an emphasis on "expertise in the field," or on "platform" in terms of affinity groups and marketing opportunities? I'm leaning towards the latter, but I also feel like you need to establish for the agent your expertise @bookendslitI think it should be a healthy balance between the two. You want to show us you're the best person to tell the story, and also the best person to promote the story. #askagent
Literary Agency
Kourtney LaFavre @KourtneyLafavre
@bookendslit When submitting a creative, informational fiction PB do I include a works cited page? #askBookEndsjr #askagent #amqueryingIf you have information that should be cited, then yes, definitely! You can include it in back matter! #askagent
Literary Agent
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Kaylen Wade @kaylen_wade
@BookEndsJessica If you write in two genres, how important is it to find a single agent who reps both, and why? (WF & PBs--there are some, but it's tough to build a very robust query list so far.) Would it be terrible to have two agents? #askagent (thank you for doing these!)I would focus on finding one agent for one book first. Once that happens you can see where your career leads you and if you need two agents or have found one who can do everything. #askagent
Literary Agent
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Gabriella-L-Garlock @HistoReWriter
@BookEndsJessica So what is it with this New Adult tag? I've heard everything from it's up and coming to it's death to a query to "it'd better be full of sex". I just wanna write for young people starting out in life. #askagentSkip new adult and write YA or fantasy, or SFF, or romance. Young people are reading all sorts of things. Oh, I forgot MG. New adult doesn't have any traction. #askagent
Literary Agent
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Anne Raven @ARaven_writer
@bookendslit @BookEndsJessica @mh_klump Is there a general timeline for when writers should follow up? #askagentI would base your follow-up times on the agent's publicly stated response times #askagent
Literary Agent
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KatyL @KatyLapierre
@BookEndsJessica Say an agent requests your full manuscript and after 14 months she still hasn't gotten back to you, do you give up? I mean, she's got the WHOLE manuscript...I think you move on. Anything can happen, but it seems you should have an offer from someone after all this time. #askagent
Literary Agent
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Essa Hansen @EssaHansen
@BookEndsJessica I’m curious what the economy is of requesting a partial rather than a full (of which an agent can choose to read only part). It seems like it sometimes creates extra emails/steps for author & agent. #askagentNow obviously there are extra steps, but I think for some agents it feels less daunting to have a stack of partials v. fulls. #askagent
Literary Agent
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Essa Hansen @EssaHansen
@BookEndsJessica I’m curious what the economy is of requesting a partial rather than a full (of which an agent can choose to read only part). It seems like it sometimes creates extra emails/steps for author & agent. #askagentThis is very old school. Back in the early days of @bookendslit everything was submitted via snail mail. The thinking was that it costs less to submit a partial so we were saving authors money. #askagent
Literary Agent
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Rebecca R. Pierce @RebeccaRPierce
@BookEndsJessica On average, how long should a writer wait to hear back from a query before assuming it's rejected?I think that depends on the agent and her workload. With the "no means no" agents I think I might assume they are rejected after 2-3 months. #askagent
Literary Agent
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Denise Beeman @dbeeman73
@BookEndsJessica Thank you. Peiple in a writing group told me I'd never find an agent with my first book veing part of a series and I suddenly felt like I was doomed. This was helpful and I feel releived. #askagentSending eye rolls to those people. Good luck! #askagent
Literary Agent
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Shelby Tench @ShelbyTench
@BookEndsJessica When agents ask for the first x-number of a manuscript's pages sent with a query, do they want those double space? #askagent (Sorry if this shows up in your notifications twice--I had to delete and re-post with the askagent tag. 😳 )Yes. When in doubt, double-space. #askagent
Literary Agent
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Raquel Curvacheiro @RCurvacheiro
@bookendslit @BookEndsJessica Not living in the Country you're submitting to (and writing in a second language) is an handicap? I mean, would you reject someone based on that? #askagentI will reject based on the writing, but not because it is a second language. And I have clients all over the world so I don't care where you live. #askagent
Literary Agent
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Alicia (she/her) @demiurgent_G
@bookendslit @BookEndsJessica Thank you! I was confused because although the agents say how much to send when emailing queries, they don't always say *how.* Choosing which way to default to was extra complicated by my day job where brief email with attachments is the way to go. :-)Typically the order of submissions is query written in the body of the email. Attached materials only if material was requested. It's why @bookendslit uses Query Manager. Makes our lives easier #askagent
Literary Agent
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KatyL @KatyLapierre
@BookEndsJessica I'm sorry, I don't mean to be obtuse (and thanks so much for all this one-on-one), but then why do they bother asking for a bio in addition to the query letter if it's just the same info? #confusedSometimes agents just want everything in one place. If the book is nonfiction what they're really asking for is platform--Twitter followers etc. #askagent
Literary Agent
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Stacy Nockowitz @snockowitz
@BookEndsJessica Is it okay to hand them my business card?Yes, I think so #askagent but remember the most effective way to meet people is to make a connection, to talk about real things
Literary Agent
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Rebecca R. Pierce @RebeccaRPierce
@BookEndsJessica @TammyLuck This post makes me wonder .... Is there a best time to query?Not really. Query whenever you're ready. #askagent
Literary Agent
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Stacy Nockowitz @snockowitz
@BookEndsJessica Sorry to sound like such an idiot. I’m just a conference newbie who doesn’t want to make cringe-worthy mistakes.lol. You don't sound like an idiot at all. I think it was a great question and once conference veterans often ask #askagent