Dear Rejecter:
My question is about the follow-up procedure on the query letters that seem to disappear into the abyss with neither rejection or request for partials/fulls.
I've cast a fairly small net at this point (only eight queries sent) as I researched potential agencies pretty thoroughly in search of agents that might be a fit both for my current fiction novel and also for me in general, since I'm also a graphic novelist (writer/artist) which seems to be a very niche market.
I have had a fairly positive response from those eight queries - two requests for partials; one request for a full; and one flat out rejection. Of the four queries that have had no response, three agencies list on both their website and in my silly little "book about agents" that they respond to queries in a certain amount of time regardless of rejection or acceptance, yet some of these are months beyond those rough dates without a word.
So do I write them off and move on, or requery?
I'll start off by saying that the graphic novel market is a niche market despite its tremendous growth, and I don't know any agents who specialize in it, or even really know if anyone does. I'm fairly sure that if you were a client to an agent and he/she sold work for you, and you approached them about a graphic novel, they would at least make some calls and point you in the direction of getting that published. That's what sub-agents, foreign agents, and whoever else is in the agent's Blackberry are for.
As to the queries that got no response, move on. They got no response. They're rejections. Agent websites are not necessarily accurate to that day, month, or even year. I would exhaust all other avenues before re-querying, and from your high response rate, it seems like you won't need to.
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6 comments:
Spencer at L. Perkins does graphics, and a few other agents do, as well. You can find them in Publisher's Marketplace.
I seem to recall reading that Victoria Sanders has teamed with someone to agent graphic novels...this might be worth a Google search. Good luck.
my current fiction novel
Please...all novels are fiction! (Sorry, but this one irks me.)
The person who wrote the email should wander over to the Bewares and Backgrounds forum at Absolute Write; all sorts of agents and publishers are discussed over there (the good, the bad, and the clueless).
I remember seeing a thread about one agent taking graphic novels right now, but, unfortunately, I can't remember who (beyond that the agent is a woman).
To Nancy Beck:
This was my question to The Rejecter - thanks Rejecter for the response!
I agree with you that while "fiction novel" is technically redundant, it became very difficult in writing my query to be very clear that the agents I was writing to understood that I had a "straight novel" that I was pitching to them and not a graphic novel. I don't recall just now if I used the term "fiction novel" in all my queries as I did here with The Rejecter, but since my query success rate is at about 50% I guess they're not bothered too much by it and I'm not going to change anything just now, except maybe the novel itself.
Thanks to Susan and Anon for the other potential agents with graphic novel interest. The Rejecter is right that regardless of the popularity of graphic novels right now it's still a very niche market, and the potential agent pool dried up quickly.
1979,
I agree with you that while "fiction novel" is technically redundant, it became very difficult in writing my query to be very clear that the agents I was writing to understood that I had a "straight novel" that I was pitching to them and not a graphic novel.
Ah, now I understand. Thanks for explaining the context it was used in. :-)
I suggest "prose novel" in lieu of "fiction novel". Most graphic novels are fiction.
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