We wrote an article on querying your manuscript a couple years ago. That advice is still solid, but I wanted to write a follow on for people who’ve been around the query block before.

Why?

When writers first query, they tend to rush into it, sending out lots of queries without taking the time to incorporate feedback. I’ll admit I was guilty of this. Once you’ve put time into a few manuscripts and have a better sense of what type of agent you’d like to work with, it’s easier to slow down and be deliberate.

So whether your first (couple?) manuscripts didn’t get you an agent or you’ve parted with your agent and need to find a new one, these suggestions can help you dig deeper to find the best partner for you.

9 Tips for Querying a Manuscript That’s NOT Your First

1. Get query and first page feedback from writers outside your immediate circle using resources like the WriteOnCon Forums (free, conference held annually) or the SCBWI forums (membership required). Sure, you should get feedback from your critique partners. But getting feedback from outside your writing circle will ensure it comes from folks who haven’t heard tons about your concept already, so they’ll force you to be super-clear. They also won’t care about your feelings so they’ll give you the tough love that will make your work shine. Remember to share feedback with them or pay it forward, depending on how the forums you use work.

2. Revise after each round of queries based on what you’ve learned. Did you get requests from agents who just wanted queries? Wanted 5 pages? Wanted 30 pages? What can you learn from the patterns of requests and rejections? Feedback on your pitch from agents is gold, even if it’s not the avalanche of request you hoped for. Make the most of it to ensure your next round of queries is stronger by reworking the query or the pages, whichever is weaker.

3. Research which agents actually sell books using Publisher’s Marketplace rather than going by who talks a lot on social media. Okay, Publisher’s Marketplace costs $25 a month, which was reason enough for me to avoid it when querying my first manuscripts. But you don’t need to subscribe for months. Put in one good month of research and to build your list of agents for multiple rounds. Also, Publisher’s Marketplace has a function that allows you to cancel your subscription automatically before it renews, ensuring you don’t forget and get unexpected charges.

4. Use comp titles and Querytracker’s “Who reps Whom” to find more agents who rep authors in your genre & category. Going back to the last tip, agents who are big on social media aren’t necessarily big in terms of sales, so find more agents to check out by looking at who reps authors in your category and genre. Who Reps Whom is on the drop down menu under “Agents” and is available without subscribing to the premium version of Querytracker.

5. Search for agents using your manuscript’s hooks or tropes as well as genre + category using Manuscript Wishlist. Have a romance manuscript with enemies-to-lovers? A middle grade with found families? Search using quotes around the trope to find agents whose wishlists include it.

6. Compare different agents at one agency to see who sells in your category and whose best tastes match your manuscript(s) using Publisher’s Marketplace. If you’ve decided to pay for a subscription, make the most of it. Pull up the agencies you like and you’ll see which agents sell the most books and what the breakdown of their book sales are by category. Check out the titles and pitches for the books they’ve sold in the last 12 months or since they started selling to get really granular on their tastes.

7. Find agents who sell to editors you’d love to work with using Publisher’s Marketplace. Maybe you’ve had a conference critique with an editor you loved or have a dream editor who’s published some of your favorite books. You can find out what agents they frequently buy manuscripts from by going to their Dealmaker page. Again, if you’re paying for Publisher’s Marketplace, get your money’s worth!

8. Send queries in batches. Include agents who respond quickly as well as agents who take a while in your batches by using Querytracker’s reports (subscription required). This was a recommendation from Julie Artz in our first article on querying, but it’s worth repeating. Don’t keep sending out queries that aren’t getting you requests. Learn as much as you can from the feedback you receive. The “Response Time” report tells you whether you can expect to hear back withing minutes or months, though the Agent’s Query Timeline has even more info.

Querytracker’s “Send/Receive” reports tell you how many manuscripts an agent requests relative to the number they receive (from writers using Querytracker’s submission log). Some agents don’t seem to have requested a manuscript anytime in recent history, so there’s not point getting bummed if they don’t request yours. (You might not even want to send them a query.)

Querytracker’s comments section can also be helpful for understanding whether an agent sometimes provides helpful feedback rather than just generic rejections.

9. Don’t give up! If you’ve spent a year or more writing and revising your story, it’s worth digging in for another revision or to find another round of agents to query.

We wish you luck!

Have more querying tips? Share them in the comments below!