Avoid Instant Rejection from Literary Agents

 

I follow a few agents’ blogs and tweets, and I’m shocked when I hear how often writers get instantly rejected because do not follow instructions or even the rules of basic common sense.  (I’m shocked at some of the things writers do, not that they get rejected for it. ♥) Nathan Bransford shared his query stats over the holiday weekend, and I was surprised how many authors don’t even seem to know what they’re writing, much less who they’re sending it to!

Trust me, dear friends!  You’ve spent months and possibly years on your masterpiece!  Take a couple hours to do some research, otherwise it will never have a chance of being read.

I put out a tweet asking literary agents how many queries they receive in a week, how many they reject, and how many they reject simply because people don’t follow instructions.  Robert Brown of Wylie-Merrick replied, “Many, many, and most.”

Colleen Lindsay tweeted a live query answering session over the weekend and concluded it by saying “Number one offense in most queries is failure to follow submission guidelines.”

I would never have thought these things needed saying, but judging by what I’ve been hearing lately, it does!  So for those writers who are querying agents (These are not my opinion!  These rules are based on things agents have said.):

1. Do not cc multiple agents on the same email.  Instant rejection.
2. Do not address queries to “Dear Sir/Madam”.  Find out their names!  Otherwise: instant rejection.
3. Spell check!  If you can’t spell every word in a ONE page letter correctly, they’ll likely assume you didn’t spell check a 250-500 page novel either.  Instant rejection.
4. Most do not want attachments from people they don’t know.  Read their guidelines, because many will instantly reject any unsolicited email with an attachment.

Those things will at least keep you from the instant rejection.  Reading examples of good queries will help for the step beyond that, getting requests for partials.

Good luck!