Hello, dreamers. So I’m entering week six of my querying mission. My situation hasn’t changed much since last week, but I do have some cause for hope: I’m now past the average rejection time for several agents. That may mean I’ll get a full, or at least partial request in the coming week or two.

But in any event, this query window is drawing to a close, and with it my first round of queries. I’ve mentioned “query rounds” a lot over the past few months. So this week I thought I’d take a minute to explain why, exactly, I’m limiting the number of agents I query at one time.

Querying in Rounds

Readers have spent the past year watching me go on about my rounds of queries. If you happen to follow any other querying writers on Twitter, you may have noticed many of them talking about query rounds as well. And if you yourself are not a querying author, you may be asking yourself “Why do authors query in rounds? If you know which agents you’d like to represent you, why not just fire them all off at once?”

Well, to be fair, some do. There are those intrepid (or possibly overconfident) writers who will just query any agent who they like and might rep their work all at once. They fire off tens, or even hundreds of queries at a time. This practice is at least slightly more common in genre fiction, where the available pool is naturally smaller. But it’s still exceedingly rare.

And it’s rare because querying in rounds presents several important advantages for writers:

It’s easier to manage

When preparing to query, writers are told to keep careful track of their queries. QueryTracker, a website designed for querying writers, can do that. But it’s still best to keep your own spreadsheet, and it’s important to note that not every agent is listed on QueryTracker.

The more active queries you have, the harder it becomes to keep track of what you sent to whom. As I’ve mentioned before, the materials that make up a query vary from agent to agent, sometimes wildly. Most I’ve queried (or plan to) ask for either your first five pages of first chapter as a writing sample. But some ask for more, or less. One of the agents I queried didn’t want a sample at all, while another asked me to send my complete manuscript. Some ask for a synopsis, but most don’t. A growing number ask for not just a query letter but also a separate bio and comps list (I call this the “deconstructed query letter). And when analyzing your query after a round of rejections, it’s important to know where you (probably) went wrong.

If you think more positively, it’s also easier to keep track of active partial or full requests with fewer active queries. And if (let’s say when) you finally get an offer of representation from an agent you like, your next step is to contact every other agent who hasn’t responded yet and inform them you’ve accepted a deal.

It allows you to continually revise your query

I’ve mentioned before that, with both short fiction and novel queries, it’s good practice to revise after every rejection (or round of them). But if you fire off all your queries at once, well…that’s it. No second chances.

Even if you don’t receive feedback from agents, after a rejection you at least know one thing: something isn’t working. If you only query ten agents at a time (the norm), you can tweak things between rounds, ideally getting better and better each time. Sooner or later, you’re bound to break through.

It permits you to be agile

As I’ve said, querying is a slow process. It can take years. A lot can change over such a long period of time. You might learn a new trick or two that kicks your query game up a level. You might make contact with an agent who’s already receptive to your query, through pitch events or conventions. New agents pop up all the time, eager to build their client lists. And agents periodically switch agencies, which often leads them to aggressively seek new clients to establish themselves in their new position.

Most importantly, the literary market itself changes, sometimes rapidly. Genres rise and fall. Publishers change directions. All the while, agents work to keep up, and often speculate on what could be the next big thing. When you send out your first queries, you may find yourself swimming upstream because you write in an unpopular genre. But as the rounds go by, you could find yourself facing a more favorable market for your work. Querying in concise rounds allows you to better navigate the market, in hopes of eventually cashing in when it swings your way.

For these reasons above all, most writers query in rounds. As it stands, I’m nearing the end of one round, and looking ahead to the next. To be fair, as I mentioned I still have six queries outstanding. And any one of them could lead to the long-awaited full request. Should that happen, I could be looking at the end of one process and the start of another. But more on that next week. – MK