As you already know if pay any attention to my social media posts or book review videos, I have completed my third novel (Second Shot) and am querying literary agents for representation. If it doesn't work out then I will travel the self-publishing route again, but I thought I would first check to see if embarking on the traditional path of having my novel Second Shot be put out by a Big 5 publishing house - or perhaps by a smaller house in the 6 to wherever it goes range. My patience is limited. This will be a journey counted in months, not years.
While I'm still at it, I have spent considerable time visiting the web sites of various literary agencies and separate pages online where Manuscript Wish Lists of particular agents at those agencies can be found. A needle in a haystack is extremely difficult to fine, but not impossible if luck points you towards just the right spot. Frequenting my social media feeds, particularly Instagram, are posts from literary agents as they re-open for submissions. Many of them don't accept queries for long stretches in order to focus on the writers already on their rosters, but since most need to eventually take on new clients to keep paying their bills, they sporadically open back up for brief intervals. They also tend to hop around from one agency to the next, which I suppose makes them no different than employees of other business types.
The other day I found a post in my IG feed from a fellow author. It mimicked the posts and MSWL pages of literary agents, but flipped around. Instead of an agent announcing that they were opening back up to queries and letting potential submitters know what types of books they're currently looking for, this author let literary agents know that she was open for representation, sharing pertinent information about her publishing history as well as stating what she is looking for in an agent. I found it to be quite charming and searched to see if this was the latest viral trend, but only a few posts were found. Not only was I charmed but I thought it was a great idea, even if extremely unlikely to land someone a literary agent and subsequent publishing deal as direct result. That wasn't the point, so far as I figure. It was just a querying author's way to feel like the one in control of the narrative for a change rather than like a beggar with his coffee cup out hoping to have a few coins placed in it.
The querying experience is extremely humbling. You put blood, sweat and tears (metaphorically) into the process along with a considerable amount of time and creative effort (literally). Creative effort is what authors sign up for, of course. But storytelling is one thing, writing marketing copy is another. You thought that writing a book was the hard part only to find yourself flummoxed by needing to write the perfect query letter (after finding multiple contradictory examples about what constitutes the perfect query), the perfect synopsis, the perfect pitch (ranging from a sentence to a paragraph), the perfect comps for your book (be mindful that they need to have been published in the last five years, sold well, but not blockbuster level well because then it just seems like you're bragging and/or lying), the perfect author bio, etcetera. Word/Character counts of these individual components often come into play since many queries are done via submission forms rather than email, so for each marketing snippet that you come up, you'll probably need to create alternate shorter versions.
All of this effort only to often get no response, or to get form replies with no feedback which inspire little confidence that your submission was actually read. But you soldier on for however long you choose, happy that in 2026 at least the hassle and expense of snail mail isn't necessary. "Look at me, perhaps even like me, maybe even like me so much that you would be interested in going into the book publishing business together". It is quite the grind and if successful navigated, only gets an author past the first barrier in the gatekeeper process. With self-publishing RIGHT THERE, it is much easier than used to be the case to eventually shrug the silence off and transition to Plan B. You have no doubt read stories about authors who started out self publishing and did so well in selling units that they eventually obtained traditional publishing deals - Plan B serving as workaround to get to Plan A. Nothing speaks louder than money. It certainly speaks louder than literary merit that merely whispers with a hoarse voice. Prove that you have a cash cow on hand and suddenly the agents who previously ignored you will want to take you to lunch.
Going from Plan B to Plan A is no easy feat. Then again, even if you have written a book falling into a currently super popular trope, and your social media accounts have tens or hundreds of thousands of followers, and you have a camera friendly face, these elements accomplishing much of the work designated for people in the marketing department, it's still far from a guarantee that your book will sell enough copies for the gatekeepers to be interested in your next one. For every writer who puts out nothing but guaranteed Best Sellers, there are countless not named Stephen King or James Patterson or Freida McFadden that have little choice no matter how things worked out for them last time out but to go back to the drawing board.
Below you will find my notification pitch to all literary agents who happen upon it that for the time being, I am open for business, promise to be a dream client if given the opportunity, and would love to hear from you. No matter if I've already queried you directly. No matter if the result was a rejection note. I don't take it personal. Business is business, even if books to me are very personal. They are portable magic. And in cases where I was the magician who pulled off the trick, they are my pride and joy and pretty damn readable. Including the next one that I've already gotten started on.
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