Road to Publication: Query Update and the Wait

I’ve been busy with work, taking care of my 83-year-old mother (who recently had some setbacks, but is doing better), and moving. Not much time to devote to writing or querying, but I’m squeezing in some queries to agents here and there.

I’ve been sending queries for my middle-grade novel The Castle Blues Quake and for my young adult historical novel Yakimali’s Gift.

It takes time to first of all find the agents who represent my genre of stories, and then to tailor the query letter to each agent according to their interests. Some agents are looking for stories in both of my genres, so I query one and once I hear back (either positive or negative), I’ll query the other story.

How do I find the agents? I read the Publishers Marketplace Deals, which I subscribe to and receive daily in my email inbox. I look for books that are similar to my genres, and I’ve found many agents (and occasionally publishers) to query this way. You have to do a little legwork to find their contact information (yes, Google is your friend). I also subscribe to Chuck Sambuchino’s Guide to Literary Agents blog/newsletter, which is emailed to me once each week. He always includes new agents who are looking for clients, what their interests are, how to contact them, etc. And then, I might find agents from Twitter followers, other writer friends, books I’m reading. Keep your eye out, because you never know…he or she might just be “the” agent.

And now the wait begins. Some agents say they only respond if they’re interested. I understand they get swamped with queries. Still, it’s a little frustrating not knowing if they’re still considering it or not. But as they say, “Hope springs eternal.”

How do you find agents and/or publishers to query?