Christine Kelly Reads and Writes

As a querying author sometimes it seems impossible to figure out what is not working with your pitch and pages. Is it the pitch? Are the pages not working? Is this the wrong genre? There are so many questions that can come up, with little to no answer given in passes.

First, agents do their best. Full stop. Sometimes you may not get replies from agents– and that’s because they don’t have the capacity to reply to the hundreds of queries. They have a full author list with demands that need to be met, along with emails, emails, and more emails! Queries can become low priority. If an agent needs to do that to keep from burning out, I respect that.

So then, knowing that some agents can’t reply, it can be frustrating when you get a form response. Again, this is a way agents can be sure to get a response to authors, while also protecting themselves from burnout, or working through their tasks in a productive manner.

I understand how frustrating it can be not to get specific feedback from agents. You get passes and you want to improve upon what you’re putting out there. And yet, you don’t know why.

Agents spend about 10-15 viewing one query (I’ve timed myself and sometimes it can be less, but that’s about average). And when you get an average of 400 queries in a week (I’m usually 400/500 each time I open), that time can really add up. Also factor in that agenting often isn’t an agents full time gig– and they’re juggling another job on top of agenting. It’s a lot!

Also, sometimes, as happens often with me, I don’t have feedback to give. It quite frankly isn’t for me. That doesn’t mean it’s bad– quite opposite– it means that the pitch is good, the pages are good, but I’m not the right fit for the project. And truly, this is something that happens often!

But there could be more to take away from “form passes” than what meets the eye. I hope to share a series of what my passes mean based on the queries I often see.

Also, if you’re looking to figure out what is wrong with your pages, I high suggest finding writing people that can read your pitch and pages to help find out what may not be working. Author friends are invaluable!

Stay tuned for a more in-depth look at what my passes mean!