So book three comes first? Not sure I understand, but if the books stand alone then you should be okay. I would hesitate to finish all the books in that world in case it doesn't sell though. Spreading out your eggs instead of having them all in one basket isn't always a bad thing

Just say how they are a comp. For example, the family dynamics of X Title, is a way to explain how the book you've chosen makes it a great comp. Make sense?

If that is something you want to share. But it's not required for any author to self disclose anything they aren't comfortable sharing.

It doesn't make a difference to me.

I don't see many editors actively seeking this right now, which is why agents might not be open to it. That doesn't mean if it is done well it won't find it's home though, so don't be discouraged.

I don't think you need to be that specific

Not at all. The trick sometimes is finding an agent that does all those genres. Sometimes that also means having multiple agents. But it's not impossible.

How so? A book in any genre will adhere to those conventions--romances have a HEA or HFN, a mystery will always have, well, a mystery to solve etc. So how is it different from all the other books it would sit next to on the shelf? It can't sit on it's very own shelf.

I don't think so. It's about bandwidth more than anything. Sometimes they really WANT to read it but they just haven't had the time. I wouldn't let length of time indicate excitement about a project. We all only have so many hours a day, and we are doing our best.

This is always challenging for sure. All I can say is that if it's something I rep, I always look at pages because I know how hard that query is. I would only not read pages if it is clearly something I've stated I do not rep--screen plays, memoir, picture books...

I'm totally open to it. I love novels in verse.

Aside from fantasy all starting with some kind of chase scene (or running) recently, I can't think of any trends.
Yes, I think crossover can mean both ways. YA to adult or vice versa.

It just means you aren't necessarily a "debut" anymore is all. So it just means a different approach will be needed.

Like you said there are pros and cons to both. The best thing is to find the right person for you and your book. Sometimes that is a new eager agent where you get to be the big fish in their small pond. Sometimes that's a bigger agent and you are a little fish.

My goal is to try to keep those statistics this year. I have no way of knowing at this point since we don't use Query Manager which does all that wonderful math for you.

It's buried on our FAQ page... basically it is 3 months.
You aren't the first who couldn't find it though, so no worries. ❤️

On average I spend 40 hours a month going through queries. So an entire work week is basically just this on top of all the other things I do.

My recommendation is to make sure it stands alone. When querying a series you aren't saying I am hopeful you can sell this one book, you are saying I'm hoping you can sell ALL OF THESE BOOKS--and that is a huge ask.
So 'stand alone with series potential' is best.

The best time to query is when your project is ready. If the agent is open, send it, and they will get to it when they can. There is no way to predict the exact right moment to query any one agent.

I expect it to be the best you can make it, and formatted correctly.
If it's full of spelling and grammar issues that is a red flag. But a "of" instead of "for" here or there isn't a make it or break it.