This is an updated version of an old post from 2017 or 2018 on my old (defunct) blog. The opening portion is the OG post, but I'm also going to include the query that got me my second agent (my original agent and I parted amicably, and my Pitch Wars novel remains unsold) and what would go on to become my debut novel.
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Hey everyone!
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As a Pitch Wars mentor and previous mentee, I thought it would help to share my query and the PitMad pitches that led to several offers (and ended with me signing with the amazing Janet Reid of New Leaf Literary).
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First, if you're interested in what my PW 2017 Agent Round pitch and first page looked like, click here.
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Second, to be completely honest…my query wasn't all that successful. It helped get me my mentor, but when I went into the query trenches, I got ZERO cold query requests.
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What can I say? Some books query well, others pitch well. Mine pitched well, which is why I linked to my Agent Round page and Twitter pitches below.
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Caveat: I only sent out like, 10 cold queries, which is NOTHING in the world of publishing. So make of that what you will.
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Here is the initial query I sent out:
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I underlined the first sentence in the bio section because, knowing what I do now, I'd remove that line. It's unnecessary and clutters up my bio since I had some writing credentials at the time (nothing published, but still some things that spoke to me being a member of the mystery writing community). If you don't have writing credentials and are struggling to write your bio, it wouldn't hurt to include your personal connection to the story you're telling. Keep it short and sweet, though.
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Stats: 5 offers, 7 step asides, 12 rejections (all my cold queries were rejections), 13 Pitch Wars Agent Showcase requests, and quite a few CNRs (closed, no response).
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As for PitMad pitches, I think I got somewhere between 7-9 requests off these two pitches:
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Pitch #1
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Pitch #2
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And now here's the query for my second novel (now titled ARSENIC AND ADOBO). I queried this novel in January of this year, got multiple offers, signed with my agent Jill Marsal of Marsal Lyon Literary Agency within two weeks, and my book sold at auction in February.
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This query went over VERY well and had a high request rate, considering the short period of time I spent querying. Again, this is a small sample considering I only queried 14 agents.
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Stats: 5 offers, 7 requests, 1 rejection, 4 step asides (informed of offer, but they chose not to act on it) 4 CNR (closed, no response).
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My current agent loved it so much, she used it when pitching to editors, and my editors liked it so much, they just barely tweaked it to use for the book jacket copy.
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Hope these examples help even a little bit. And for those of you who are thinking of parting ways with your agent but are afraid of jumping back into the Query Trenches, you can do it! It's super scary, but if your agent is no longer the right fit for you, you deserve to find someone who is.
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Good luck out there in the trenches, and may the odds be ever in your favor!
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