July 12 2009
I swear I’m not a creepy stalker!
After hearing back about my manuscript and some major thinking I have decided to start querying again. This time I want to be more specific with the agents I target and make sure I have learned absolutely EVERYTHING I can about each one. Hello Google!
This is a curious task. And if we are being honest (which I have an annoying habit of usually doing so, often when I should not…) I have to admit it feels a bit more like stalking than researching. This is kinda how it goes…
I go to Query Tracker and search for agents who represent my Genre. I only take note of the agents who accept email submissions – which are most of them. I then pick one and check out their website. I browse the website and look for books they have represented, agent bio’s and any other information the website has to offer. Sounds like sufficient effort at this point right? Well that’s not good enough for me! I need something to chat about in my query letter. Knowing they went to Brown University or live in New York does NOTHING for me. I can’t chat about that! So I go to Google and type in their name. Here’s where it starts to feel like stalking. I find everything and anything I can about these agents. Some have blogs, Linked-In accounts, twitter,personal websites (if I’m lucky) , etc. I follow them. I check out all their previously published books on Amazon. I might as well be doing a background check on each one!
Does anyone feel this way while researching agents? Or am I the only one who is going so far with my research?
I swear I’m not a stalker!!! I’m just trying to do my job!
Repeat after me: My name is Marybeth and I’m a stalker!
Seriously, I know exactly how you feel. I follow a ton of agent blogs, leave comments every now and then, and always have the thought ‘am I a stalker’ at the back of my mind? I mean, w/blogger, an agent can click on my name, view my blog, and voila my brilliance is revealed.
On the other hand, the agents w/blogs, twitter, and facebook seem to want aspiring writers to follow them. So, stalk away, my friend, and known you’re not alone!
S
I pretty much stop my investigation after checking the following:
1) AgentQuery.com
2) Agency website
3) Agent’s blog, if any
Sometimes one of those 3 resources will provide an additional link to follow, where I’ll find a cool interview or something similar, but then I’m done.
I do like it very much when agents provide lots of information in their blogs or agency profiles, because I like to tailor my query letters when possible, but that’s more about being able to tell an agent that my manuscript possesses some of the qualities s/he is seeking in a new project (“you say you want strong heroines and I have one”). If an agent actively mentions in her blog that she also raises champion chinchillas, then of course I’ll be happy to drop a line about how cool I think that is, since I had a chinchilla in college, but mostly I don’t think I’m there to chat. I’m there to show the agent that I have a book she’ll love to represent. Our common ground in exotic pets won’t make any difference there.
That being said, most stuff on the internet is fair game. Stalk away, indeed!
I do this too.
A really great place is the Absolute Write water cooler. I’ve learned a lot about potential agents there.
Well it’s good to know I’m not alone