I queried a time travel novel endlessly for over a year before giving up and self published. within 13 months, I've sold over 10k copies, and became a #1 Bestseller, and the recently released sequel is on track for doing just as well. That may be small potatoes for a press or publisher, but I'll take it. Their loss is my gain.

Thank you SO much, Alyssa, for answering my question. I would like to give you an update. After watching your video "Your Definitive Guide to Novel Genres", come to find out, I was querying the wrong genre agent! Yep! I made that huge mistake! Since my story has a lot of elements of Stephen King meets Dan Brown, I was sending query letters to agents who represented horror. However, after watching your video, it turns out my novel is a contemporary thriller. Following the categorization process in your video, it was plain to see your process was correct. Hopefully, after querying the right agent in the future, there will be an acceptance letter instead of utter silence. Again, thank you for your advice and all of your help.

@lilla0803

18 күн бұрын

Fingers crossed. I have similar problem with the age range, cannot decide between middle grade vs yound adult....

@InvestigatingDavidCrowley

17 күн бұрын

@@lilla0803 All of this book writing ins-and-outs is difficult to maneuver, isn't it? I'm so glad Alyssa is willing to take her time and teach everyone whats-what and how to go about things. I honestly thought my book was a horror novel until she put up the video. Once I saw that it was like a lightbulb went off in my head. Not to say more rejections aren't coming; however, at least they'll be rejections from the genre and not a silent response to "Why did you send me this?" LOL

@lilla0803

17 күн бұрын

@@InvestigatingDavidCrowley It is so difficult with rejections, especially desk rejects and silence.... we are always in the dark why it is a no... but if we have the right genre and age group, we are probably in a better position :) Publishing is such a black box, amazing that there are insiders sharing background knowledge!

@InvestigatingDavidCrowley

15 күн бұрын

@@lilla0803 You are so right! I'm so glad Alyssa, and others like her, are willing to help us fledglings realize our mistakes. I felt sooo stupid when I realized I had been querying the wrong genre! Ugh! However, it's all about the learning process.

Two gripes I have with the querying process: 1. Each literary agency having different submission rules. 2. The formality of authors being expected to write each agent a personalized letter. I think there should be an industry standard for submissions, and there should definitely be no need to get personal with agents until they actually respond in person. I’m 0 for 10, btw, and I didn’t even get rejections, just zero response after the automated ‘thank you for your submission.’ Okay, I’m done venting😅. Love your videos😇.

@michaelchurch1324

17 күн бұрын

I agree, but this will never change. The personalization demands and submission guidelines are there to keep the already too-high query count down. The junk they make you do is proof-of-work and it's going to stay in place until the impending AI overhaul--no, I don't think AIs will ever write great literature, but they will be able to identify commercially salable books as well as literary agents within a few years--after which we're all just guessing.

Great content, as always. Thanks Alyssa!

Thanks for the Q & A, Alyssa!

In my experience, since e-queries have become the norm, I've found the majority of literary agents don't even bother with a rejection.

What do you do when an agent says they wanted more tension in the opening pages but they like your concept. In my opinion and my beta readers opinions , it’s very good, suspenseful and made them want to read more. This is my 7th revision. Not sure what else to do besides just keep sending the same query (revised 3 times with professionals) or just self publishing. Agents say they want diversity but 63 queries and no bites.

Well, got the queary leter template sorted and can tailor it to specific agent particulars after researching. Manuscript is complete and does need some revision (got a nice list of notes to look into) but that can wait for now. About halfway throug crafting my synopsis (which was an absolute horror to just condense the plot so much, still need to make it somewhat enticing... somehow) and i have a good feeling about the first 10 pages or so. I'm just terrified to proceed from this point on. Have to gather up my courage somehow. Have some non-publishing people i know and trust reading the manuscript, want their imput first, it think (or that's the excuse at least). It's a really difficult personal hurdle to try and force.

@JustClaude13

18 күн бұрын

If you have a list of needed revisions, you can spend time on that first. Once you have the manuscript as well crafted as possible, you might understand the story better and could make a better synopsis.

@smokinggnu6584

18 күн бұрын

@@JustClaude13 The revisions are more just small changes to dialogue, some missed details here and there to fill in and transposing a chapter to clean up the beginning, it won't change the plot at all, so won't affect the synopsis. Just waiting for feedback from some volunteer beta-readers before I launch into that.

Hi. I find your videos very informative- thank you. I hope you can address my question in a future video: I am interested in self-publishing for many reasons, but I’m really not tech savvy and therefore learning how to layout my book will be very difficult for me as well as marketing, because I’m not savvy with online marketing either. So my question is, are all hybrid presses bad? Are they all scams? I think I would greatly benefit from help with the layout and marketing that hybrid publishing offers. In many ways it makes more sense for me to invest some money to get help with my bringing my book to publication rather than breaking my teeth and countless hours trying to figure out the process myself. Thank you

I've been subscribed to your channel for roughly a year and a half. Your commentary and wisdom are very helpful and much appreciated. Currently I am in the midst of my first effort; a novel of historical fiction. Everything I've read points to first efforts falling roughly into the 80 to 100k word range. I'm two thirds through and the word count is already north of 130k. Completed, it will surpass 200k. The length worries me. The subject matter could be split into a two part series, I think. I could wrap up the first half very nicely incentivizing the reader to invest in book 2, but ...?! In your professional opinion, as a first time author, does it make more sense to complete the very long (230-250k words) story cycle as a single unit ... or ... break it up in two parts and present it to potential agents as a two part series? Thank you for any advice you might be willing to pass on. Best, Joe

@AlyssaMatesic

16 күн бұрын

Hi Joe - given that word count, I would consider splitting it up, especially since you have an idea for how to do that already. You are right that it's best to stick to the standard word count range when querying! I touch on querying a series in this video: kzread.info/dash/bejne/n5Zss897fMadZbQ.html It may have some helpful tips when you get to that stage. Wishing you all the best with your first novel!

@joemarchi1

16 күн бұрын

@@AlyssaMatesic Thank you, Alyssa. I was leaning heavily toward breaking it up. Given your suggestions, I've decided it is the right thing to do. Will check out your video. Again, Thanks so much for your input.

Hi Alyssa, thank you so much for these videos and for your recent help on my query letter. I've already received 4 requests from agents for the full manuscript! I'm definitely not counting my chickens before they hatch, but if one of the agents offers representation, what's the best way to reach out to other agents I've queried to let them know that I have received an offer? I'd like to know all of my options (if I have any) before signing with the first literary agent to say yes. Thanks for all of your help!

One of the main reasons good authors fail at querying is that they misunderstand the process. You're not selling _a book_. You're selling _yourself as a seller of books_. You don't start selling the book itself until you've already got a publisher's attention and you have (meaning your agent has) convinced them you're a serious person. There's a huge difference. Agents know that 98% of debut authors are going to get so little support from their publishers that they'll need to do all the selling themselves, and understandably don't want to sign people who aren't going to be competent self-promoters.

@O_M554

9 күн бұрын

Not entirely true. Recently, a successful author died and their imprint did a shout-out to them and their work (I forget who) on instagram. Their caption said ‘he didn’t want any fame and decided from the beginning to simply write his books and hide his face’, which shows that as long as the work is excellent, it doesn’t matter whether the person is a talker or not. Neil Gaiman has a fantastic quote about this, too, something along the lines of: ‘if the work isn’t perfect but you’re nice and get it in on time, you’ll be fine. If you’re grumpy but the work is perfect and you get it in on time, you’ll be fine. If you’re late but you’re nice and the work is excellent, you’ll be fine’.

I had a couple novels published by what I thought were indie houses, but now Im sure are vanity. My question is if those publications should be included in query letters?

I'm considering self-publishing a serialized prequel to my debut epic fantasy novel. Do you think that doing so would turn off Agents and Publishing Houses from picking up my debut novel, or would this be a good thing to drum up buzz for the coming novel?

How do agents or big five publishers feel about non-American authors? I'm not American and I don't live in the US, but I do write in English. How will that affect my chances of finding an agent or getting a book deal?

ive had 70 agent rejections (with most saying "I like it but not enough to confidently champion it") but almost two dozen readers (strangers to me, so no bias) left rave reviews. going the self-publishing route bc it seems like no agents actually want a book with a POV like mine (think YOU by caroline kepnes). they say on their manuscript wishlists "gimme the weird stuff!" but they turn down the weird stuff. very frustrating. hope this doesn't come across too bitter lol 😅

Maybe I think too much of it, but sadly I received a rejection from an agent, who gave me a personal response to my last work. I even addressed it in my letter how much I appreciated it, but this time she gave me a form rejection. Would there be a reason why when she could give me a personal one the last time?

Hey Alyssa. I'm drafting a historical novel, to provide accuracy I have contacted several historians in search of information on the time period my story is set in. I would like to write an authors acknowledgements sections for the start of my book thanking those that helped me with small, intricate details of the period that helped make my story feel more realistic. While I'm not at the querying stage as of yet I hope to be soon, and wondered do I include this little thank you at the start of potential submission? And do I add the words in this to my word count?

My book is a very niche subgenre of fantasy and when it comes to comparison titles they are all 10, 20 or 50 years old for trad publishing. Should I even include these in a query letter or just omit that part and instead emphasize that this is an untapped market?

Hey Alyssa I have a question that maybe you've already covered but I'm unsure. I want to start querying for my first novel which I've had revised and edited, but I only have a second draft for it. Am I much less likely to get a response if I my manuscript has only gone through 2 drafts compared to 8?

Follow up to the question on why your query isn't getting responses: How many agents should you query at one time? I had imagined you might only query one agent at a time, but it sounds from your answer this is not the typical expectation. If you query multiple agents, what happens if more than one accepts the proposal?

@AlyssaMatesic

16 күн бұрын

Hi there - you'll definitely want to query multiple agents at once! I talk about that more in this video: kzread.info/dash/bejne/iXeEwa2LqpO4fLg.htmlsi=HvHRLIf0bd6656hJ If you end up getting multiple offers of representation, that's an amazing position to be in as an author. It means you get to choose the agent who you feel will be the best fit for you. I talk about that a bit more in this video: kzread.info/dash/bejne/c4iXw9Z_nbOWj5M.htmlsi=MSQn4M-PTdg3F9VO I hope that helps. Happy querying!

@RichardJBarbalace

16 күн бұрын

@@AlyssaMatesic Thank you!

Is it helpful or harmful for the author to mention in the query letter that English is not their native language?