Welcome to this week’s Master Your Craft post! Each Wednesday we’ll discuss writing a new book from the BIG IDEA to QUERYING. Last year, we walked you through every step from getting the big idea through polishing your finished novel. Now we’re working on what to do once you’ve actually finished your book. Get caught up on last week’s post on researching agents before you check out today’s on querying strategy.

Once you get your pages polished, perfect your query and create your list of agents, it’s time to start sending them out.

What is more fun than facing down a spreadsheet as you contemplate sending emails to strangers in the hopes they’ll read your book?!

OK, so maybe querying isn’t the MOST fun process in the world. But with a good strategy, you can make this nerve-racking process smoother — and even informative.

Here, three of our Pennies weigh in on their querying strategies:

Halli: I have a spreadsheet with all the agencies. When I go to query, I compile all my notes from conferences, social media, MSWL, etc and focus first on those agents that represent my genre. I don’t necessarily query them all because the agency or agent may not be a right fit in other ways. I usually do 5 a week – making sure to put a few that are known to respond quickly so I can gauge interest or issues.

I save my dream agent list for a second or third round.

Gita: Admittedly, I had an unusual experience because it all went very quickly. My prep, though, was similar to Halli‘s. I created three rounds of agents, with about 6-8 agents per round. The first round included agents who had longer response times according to QueryTracker, because I had the idea I’d give them a head start! (This seems funny to me now, because two of those three agents were the only ones who *never* responded. Longer response time, indeed!) On the first day, I sent out 3 queries. I got a request to send the full manuscript the next business day, so I sent out 4 more queries to my first round agents. Two more quick requests for fulls prompted me to get serious and query my dream agents. I got more requests the following week, but I held off sending my last batch—my now-or-never queries, including a couple from Round 2—until I got my first email from an agent asking to set up a phone call. I sent a total of 11 queries.

Julie: OK, I just walked one of my clients through this, so it’s fresh in my mind. I always recommend going in batches of ten queries (because I like stats and doing it in batches of 10 makes it easy to figure percentages). I make sure each batch of ten has a few fast responders, a few A-list agents, a few junior agents, and a good balance of agents that ask for just a query and those who ask for pages.

I do recommend a tiered list so that if you start to get a lot of interest (i.e. lots of full requests), you know who is on your A-list–the agents you would regret not querying if another offer came in. My B-list is made up of good fits who are just not quite on the dream list, or of solid agents at an agency already on the A-list. My C-list is usually some junior agents from agencies with great sales in my genre and people who don’t have quite as clear-cut an interest in my genre but are still desirable.

I used the QueryTracker rankings to track these batches (you can rank on a scale from 0 to 9, so you can have up to ten batches ready to go at any one time, which is plenty really!). Once I’d sent the first ten, I’d wait until I got at least 2 positive responses before I sent more queries. If I didn’t get 2 positive responses (i.e. a 20% response rate), I went back and got more eyes on my query package to see if that was the issue. Then I’d start over again with a fresh batch of 10 queries.

Then I’d look for trends. If you get a lot of requests from agents who only ask for a query, but then not so many from ones who ask for query and pages, you may have a very strong query, but a problem with your first chapter. If you’re getting consistent feedback (not the dreaded “not the right fit” or “not pulling me in”, but something specific/actionable), consider revising based on that feedback.

Gita: Julie’s advice is gold! She was my query consigliere.

And don’t forget the basics!

1. Make sure you address the agent properly. Use their name and spell it correctly. If they have a pronoun preference (usually noted on their bio), make a note of that.
2. Be sure to use the appropriate email address. Most agents have a specific email address for queries and other addresses for different correspondence.
3. Use a basic, readable font in at least a 12 point size.
4. Double and triple check submission instructions. Some agents like attachments, some like it all in the body of the email, some want pages and a synopsis, others just a query. Make sure you send the agent you’re querying what they want.
5. If you have a specific connection to the agent, mention it. If you met the agent at a conference, if the agent has requested material from you before, or if a CP recommends you query their agent, don’t forget to mention it in your query letter.
6. And speaking of personalizing your query letter, make it genuine and not forced — or creepy!

Still not quite ready to dive in to querying? Here are a few other articles on query strategy that have helpful advice:

• Tips from agent Carly Watters.
• More advice on how many queries to send at once.
• A good sum up of the query process.
• And don’t forget about Query Tracker, which can give you a lot of great information about individual agents, their response times and other key details.

Ready for more craft advice on writing middle grade or young adult fiction? Head back to our Master Your Craft page where you’ll find dozens of more topics to choose from!