THE CALL: Everything I Know About Querying
Welcome to my series in which I dump all my learnings about the querying process that I gathered over the course of querying three projects in three years. [Update: I’ve since added two more published books to my resume, as well as two more projects and six months to this total, and four offers of representation and one brand new agent!]
As with all querying knowledge, this information is from my own experience and research. Everyone's journey is different, and this particular piece of the querying puzzle, my experience came to play in a big way.
Let's review:
Before you even get to the point of having a call with an agent, you should have already:
Drafted the entire manuscript.
Revised it several times for plot, character, etc.
Edited it for grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc.
Had at least one round of beta readers (who read the genre you write) and made changes based on their feedback.
Written a succinct, polished synopsis
Suffered. Eh, it’s a part of the process.
Once you've done all that, if you have luck and timing on your side, you’ll get some full requests. That means an agent read your query and pages, and wants more. They’ll read your full manuscript, and if they like it, they’ll ask you to hop on a call with you.
“I am the prize,” I told myself before I clicked to open the Zoom invitation with shaking hands.
Yes, USA Today bestselling author of five published novels, Kate Khavari, was nervous as hell talking to agents.
This was, in part, because I was afraid of making the same mistakes I’d made in the past and not asking the right questions. I was overwhelmed—these most recent conversations occurred the week of the launch of my fifth book—and I was burnt out. There was hardly any room in me for excitement.
But I had four agents interested in talking to me, so I had to get my head on straight and focus on my goal of finding the right agent who could be a partner for a long-term career in multiple genres.
Ok, there’s the thing. I don’t have conclusive evidence that an invitation to have a call with an agent means they intend to offer you representation. I always thought of it as a chance to get to know the agent, ask questions, share your goals and expectations, and generally catch the vibe of the agent. I need to do some more crowd-sourcing to see what the unspoken expectation is, but basically, I think you should come prepared to receive an offer.
Don’t come prepared to accept that offer right then, though. Giving yourself time and space to think after the rush of excitement is essential. But that’s main theme of my advice for this part of the process: be prepared!
There’s a ton of posts just like this with lists of questions to ask, so I’m not going to post yet another one, but I frankenstein’d together this one and this one for my own conversations. It’s a long list that, for a debut author, has to be confusing because so many of the questions are about things a debut just doesn’t know much about yet, like foreign rights splits and the submission process. Ask them anyway. If you’re a debut, this is a chance to learn, and if you’re an old hand, you probably know what you’re hoping to hear. I definitely learned a lot about the state of publishing by asking the questions on the lists.
I do think it is essential to get solid, in-depth feedback about the project you’re querying. Me, I wanted a very editorial agent. I chose the agent who, along with a lot of other excellent qualities, spent almost an hour going over my manuscript with me and offering questions and ideas. Asking for specific edits also tells you whether or not the agent actually read and considered your work, and even if you end up not working with them, you’ve gotten feedback from a professional.
After manuscript feedback, I focused on questions of communication style and frequency: how often would I hear from them, how they’d get in touch, whether I’d be speaking to them, an assistant, or another person at their agency, and how long I could expect after sending a message or manuscript to hear back.
I also asked about their agency’s culture and resources; does the agent have support within the agency, someone acting as a mentor? Do they want to stay there long-term? Do they have other people at the agency that handle foreign language rights or contracts? It’s nice to know ahead of time if you’ll be working with other people, too.
The first time I did one of these calls I was too shy and overwhelmed to actually ask these questions. I was shocked to find myself, after so many years of striving, actually speaking to an agent who was excited to represent me. I wish I’d known then what I know now, that the call really is about the author vetting the agent. Not the other way around.
Yes, 90% of traditionally published authors need agents to operate successfully, but without authors, agents don’t have a purpose. Agents need us more than we need them, but the querying system is absolutely set up to make us feel its the opposite. Agents don’t get paid unless they’ve signed authors with manuscripts to sell.
This sounds so mercenary, and really, its more layered and complicated than that, but remember, you are the prize.
One thing that struck me this time around was that each agent totally understood this. One even told me that they were interviewing for the job of being my agent! They treated my questions with respect and patience and answered every one thoughtfully. If you are talking to an agent who doesn’t make you feel that way, you don’t want to work with them. If they make you feel bad for asking questions during this interview process, that’s not going to change if you become their client.
This next part of the conversation reminded me of the school year I kicked off right at the beginning of my first trimester of pregnancy. I was so tired and disgruntled all the time that I made my expectations plain and brooked no nonsense from my fifth graders. And wouldn’t you know it, that year was my best yet. I credit it to an amazing resting I-might-puke face and zero confusion about expectations.
I knew quite clearly what I wanted in an agent, and told the agents I spoke with what I was looking for: responsive, supportive, collaborative, and long-term. I let them know that I wanted responses within 48 hours or so, and I wanted someone who would take all my ideas seriously, even if they weren’t necessarily worth pursuing. It felt a little scary, to just say what I wanted, but I felt like making my expectations clear got my new partnership off on the right foot.
It sucks that so many people go into these calls having only written one or a few manuscripts. How can you know exactly where you’d like your career to go if you’re barely starting? Hell, it took me eight years of writing and publishing to figure out the specific genre and a specific age group I see myself writing in long-term.
Give yourself some time and space to dream. Ponder these questions:
You wrote a book and want to get it published, but then what? Is this one book the book of your heart and you really want to get this one project published? Do you want to be a full-time, career author?
What shelves do you want your books on, next to which books and authors?
Do have more book ideas? Do you see yourself sitting in one genre, or multiple?
There’s no right or wrong answer, but you should go into that agent call with a vision for your future, then press them for their response to it.
Take yourself seriously. You wrote something good enough to get the attention of an industry professional. Own your potential and dreams and don’t be afraid to speak them out loud. You are looking for the person to help you reach them.
It all sounds so dreamy when I put it like that, but it’s also practical. Here’s what I went over during this portion of the call:
Projects currently under contract
Prospective projects, including some shelved manuscripts
Vision for the next 5-10 years of the kind of stories I’d like to write
Ideas and themes I’m passionate about tackling in my work
If you have ideas for your next book or two, flesh them out into something like back cover copy that you can soft pitch. If the agent isn’t into them, well, that tells you something.
At the end of the call, it is possible, maybe even likely, that the agent will offer you representation.
If they don’t, they probably know, like you do, that you would not work well together long-term. That is not a failure; it is progress. You want to work with someone who wants to work with you, and who makes sense for what you want long-term.
Realistically? Damn, it sucks. Querying is a brutal process, and to feel as if you’ve come so far, only to have the door slammed in your face? Ugh. Pass the chocolate bar.
The same is true if you receive an offer, but it doesn’t feel right. If you have misgivings about the fact they have no sales in your genre, their reliance on their assistant, their editorial vision for your manuscript doesn’t match yours, their agency’s reputation, etc, then don’t sign. A bad agent will slow you down and bury your prospects worse than returning to the query trenches.
Fear should not be the reason you sign with someone. Don’t operate on the assumption that this is the only agent that will ever recognize your talent and skill. Respect yourself and your goals and your perseverance more than that.
But if an agent does check your boxes, they like your book and ideas, and you like their vibe, then… Well, congratulations! But don’t pop the champagne quite yet—you need to do a few things before you sign on the digital line.
Think. Reflect. Reread your notes. (Yes, you definitely took notes!)
Read their agency agreement and make sure their policies are standard.
Talk to at least one client and see if their experience matches what the agent promises (communication, submission timeline, contract negotiation, etc). This is standard and any good agent will not object if you ask for a few people to talk to.
If you’re dealing with multiple offers or just generally feeling uncertain still, ask for another call. You can absolutely ask to chat again.
The clarifying question I asked that helped me figure out who I wanted to work with was “What is your vision for being an agent?” Not the most elegantly worded question, but it helped me understand how they saw their role as an agent.
If an agent is offering what you actually want, if it makes sense for your aspirations, and if you are not saying yes out of fear of never receiving another offer—then go for it and sign.
Ok, now you can celebrate. Hopefully, you’ve found an agent you can trust to sell your book and guide your career for the foreseeable future. YAY!
To recap, my best tips for having a successful agent call:
Remember that you are hiring someone, not the other way around
Be over-prepared with questions and ideas
Communicate your expectations
Don’t make decisions based on fear
Take yourself your goals and hopes seriously
That’s it, folks, that’s the series. This is the finale, because what comes next, after the call and hopefully a contract, is stuff I don’t have enough experience to talk about, like going on submission and negotiating contracts. Maybe in the future I’ll have gained enough knowledge to share!
