{"id":4325,"date":"2021-09-27T14:12:58","date_gmt":"2021-09-27T14:12:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/marieclaudearnott.com\/?p=4325"},"modified":"2022-04-12T21:46:05","modified_gmt":"2022-04-12T21:46:05","slug":"the-query-countdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marieclaudearnott.com\/?p=4325","title":{"rendered":"The Query Countdown"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The countdown has begun. On September 4th, I sent a query to four of the first twenty agents I had selected out of my initial list of 50. Replies may come within 4-6 weeks unless I get none. A <em>no<\/em> reply means either implicit rejection or my submission is still among the hundreds of queries an agent receives weekly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A list of 50 agents seems like a lot but after compiling it from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.manuscriptwishlist.com\/about\/\">manuscriptwishlist.com<\/a> I discovered from their websites that some agents are no longer agenting. Then, out of that shortened list, I put aside those for whom memoir appears as an add-on genre rather than their representation of choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On a funny note, I was surprised that so many agents feel compelled to introduce their cats in their profiles. Overall, I favored those who took the time to show what they are looking for and why. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Strangely, among my chosen top ten agents, half are currently closed to submissions. They are busy working on the submissions they accepted before the summer. I anxiously check daily to find out whether they are open again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">My #1 choice of agent is also a Francophile. That my memoir is about two French women might spark her interest, or so I hope. As it happens, I just returned from France where I visited my ailing father. Four days since my return, I am still jet-lagged and getting back to work on my next batch of queries, sometimes in the middle of the night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I read each agent\u2019s guidelines, revise tutorials, and check my list of dos and don\u2019ts in a query. I find that they are clearer for fiction (novels) and prescriptive nonfiction (how to&#8230;). Some say to include my book proposal instead of waiting for an agent\u2019s specific request of it. Others say not to do that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To be bold or bashful remains a question.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The countdown has begun. On September 4th, I sent a query to four of the first twenty agents I had selected out of my initial list of 50. Replies may come within 4-6 weeks unless I get none. A no reply means either implicit rejection or my submission is still among the hundreds of queriesContinue reading &rarr;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","no-thumb"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Query Countdown - Marie-Claude Arnott<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/marieclaudearnott.com\/?p=4325\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Query Countdown - Marie-Claude Arnott\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The countdown has begun. On September 4th, I sent a query to four of the first twenty agents I had selected out of my initial list of 50. Replies may come within 4-6 weeks unless I get none. 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