What I Learned from Querying 70 Literary Agents

In December 2024, I began querying literary agents. My manuscript, after two revisions with beta readers, one Fiverr editor (whom I suspect used AI), and my own edits, was in its “best I can do” form. Following extensive research on Reddit, I decided to query 70 agents — a “magic number” according to several users. From December to May, I sent out queries and received about 30 rejections stating that “the novel wasn’t a fit for them, but someone might feel differently.” One agent expressed interest and requested the full manuscript, but I never heard from them again.

Was this process disheartening? Yes, because I believed the story was good and my writing wasn’t bad either. Plus, querying is time-consuming unless you mass-email agents. But it was also a positive experience, because as a first-time novelist, I gained invaluable insights into the industry and its expectations. To my surprise, I learned a lot about my novel and myself. And, most importantly, I polished my submission package. Here is what I accomplished.

I Cleaned Up My Author Bio

I’ve never been good at writing about myself. I mean, “What? I actually need to discuss my literary achievements and vibrant personality?” Sure, I’ve published a few poems here and there and have a BA in English, but who doesn’t? I don’t have a long history of awards or prestigious publications, and talking about my dogs feels too personal (and what if the agent is a cat person?).

What really helped me while I was struggling with my biography was reading the agents’ bios. Some were quite generic, but others were so captivating that I forgot why I was reading them in the first place and felt an impulse to send them a friend request. Those are the bios I learned from; that was the style I wanted to master for my own bio. In the end, revising my bio didn’t feel like a waste of time because I reused it on my website and social media platforms.

I Identified My Target Audience

Articles on writing consistently emphasize the importance of knowing your audience before you start writing a novel. However, did I truly consider who my audience was when I began working on my novel? I had a vague idea of my non-existent imaginary fans: a specific age group and general interests, such as “people between 20 and 50 who enjoy reading romantic novels.”

While it’s a start, I’ve learned that literary agents expect more than that. They anticipate a description like: “Readers between the ages of 20 and 50 who enjoy domestic suspense with a psychological edge, similar to The Silent Patient and The Woman in Cabin 10.” They will ask for comparable titles, trust me, as these are crucial for pitching a manuscript to editors and publishers.

I’m still not an expert on this by any means, which is why this fall I’m enrolling in MFA604 — Finding and Reaching an Audience. Back to school, yay!

I Paid to Edit my Novel

As mentioned, my novel was in “best I can do” condition when I started submitting my query letters. This wasn’t due to a reluctance to pay $1,500-$2,000 for a professional editor (though I confess I wasn’t eager to). My writing group convinced me that accepted manuscript would be edited by multiple editors anyway, so why bother?

Please bother. You don’t need to pay for a full novel edit unless there are significant plot holes that require a developmental editor. However, at the very least, polish the first 50 pages of the manuscript. This is the maximum any agent will request, and often it’s much less.

I Crafted a Compelling Book Summary

“What is your book about? It’s a story about a girl/boy who…” While you understand your story, pitching it to a literary agent is not a casual conversation with a friend; it’s a sales pitch aimed at making them to want to read the manuscript.

I struggled with this, much like writing my own bio. Yet, that book summary often becomes the blurb printed on the back of the book, or, if published on KDP, it’s displayed next to the book. Writing a blurb — especially for a book so close to your heart — is difficult. Reading Author Unleashed by Robert J. Ryan helped me significantly with the task.

I Wrote the Logline

Most agents will request a one-sentence pitch. Yes, the entire novel must be jammed into a single sentence. This requires time and significant mental effort, so it helps to prepare it in advance. I’ve spent hours rewriting mine and am still refining it. Will it sell my book? We shall see. Here’s my current version (and it might not be the final):

“Trapped on a secluded island, a young woman fading from an incurable disease must rewrite her destiny after her husband’s decade-long lie forces her to choose between the life she knows and a truth that could kill her.”

I Created Social Media Accounts

Some blogs argue that a large social media following isn’t essential, but most agents will still ask for links to Twitter/X or Facebook. Today, even if published traditionally, authors are expected to participate in social media marketing and engage directly with readers. Yes, writing has shifted from “art” to “business,” and we didn’t even notice it. If you read nothing else about social media marketing, at least skim Let’s Get Digital by David Gaughran.

In the End

While I could lament the last nine months spent querying, it has truly been a valuable learning experience. Will I query literary agents after finishing my next book? I might. In the meantime, I am self-publishing my first novel, *The Cure*, in September, and applying everything I learned during my querying journey.