6 min read · Literary Agent Guide
Most query letters are rejected before the agent has finished reading them. Many are rejected for reasons that have nothing to do with the quality of the manuscript. The following mistakes are common, avoidable, and frequently fatal to an otherwise good submission.
The most damaging mistake is querying a manuscript that is not ready. First drafts are never ready. Second drafts usually are not either. A manuscript is ready to query when it has been through multiple revisions, read by beta readers, and revised again in response to their feedback.
Why does timing matter so much? Because most agents operate on a "one strike" basis. If you query an agent with a rough draft and they pass, you cannot requery them with the revised version unless they specifically invite you to. You have permanently used up your chance with that agent for that manuscript.
Every agency publishes submission guidelines. These specify exactly what to send, in what format, to which email address, with which documents attached. Agents reject submissions that do not follow these guidelines, not out of pettiness, but because following guidelines is a basic test of whether an author can take direction.
Before submitting to any agency, read their guidelines that day. Guidelines change; checking once and filing the information away is not sufficient.
Sending the same query letter to fifty agents in one afternoon is not a strategy. It is a way to exhaust your target list before you have optimised your approach. Worse, many agents share information about mass-querying authors.
Query in waves of eight to twelve agents. If you receive no requests, the problem is likely the query letter or the opening pages, not the manuscript itself. Fix the problem before continuing.
"Dear Agent" or "To Whom It May Concern" marks a query as mass-produced. Address each query to the specific agent by name. Check the spelling — getting a name wrong signals carelessness. Some agents list a preferred form of address in their guidelines; use it.
A query letter is not a synopsis. It should not exceed one page (approximately 300 words). Agents who receive queries longer than one page typically stop reading when they reach the end of the first page. Every word must earn its place.
Agents know genre word count conventions. Stating a word count significantly outside the norm raises questions about structural problems. A 40,000-word literary novel is too short. A 200,000-word debut thriller is unpublishable in its current form. Standard ranges:
Comparisons to Harry Potter, Gone Girl, or The Da Vinci Code tell an agent nothing useful and suggest the author is not familiar with the current market. Comps should be published within the last five years, successful but not culturally dominant, and genuinely comparable in tone and readership — not just "both thrillers."
Agents who represent literary fiction cannot sell genre thrillers, however much they admire the writing. Research which agents represent your specific genre before querying. Our literary agent directory is a good starting point.
Response times at UK agencies range from eight weeks to six months. Following up after two weeks is premature and irritating. Check the agency's stated response time and do not follow up until at least two weeks after that period has elapsed.
Rejection is universal. Every published author has been rejected, most many times. Responding to a rejection with an argument, a demand for explanation, or any form of emotional response is never appropriate and is remembered. The publishing community is small. Your professionalism — or lack of it — travels.