Updated on December 10, 2025
When I queried my first novel back in 2016, I was faced with rejection and no requests. It took me a year to lick my wounds and start over. In 2018, I finished another round of revisions and sent a new batch of queries. While I got a full request that time (and truly believed I would end up signing with an agent), I ultimately had to set that book aside and start a new one. That second book became my debut novel, One Tough Cookie.
I wrote this post in 2018 to share the lessons I’d learned from querying up to that point. After signing with my agent in 2021 and getting a book deal in 2022, most of these lessons still apply. I’ve updated them slightly to reflect current trends and where I am now in my writing journey.
Here are 10 lessons I’ve learned from querying:
1. Have everything ready to go.
Agents usually ask for the first 5, 10, 20, or 50 pages. Have them already copied on separate documents ready to go. Since you’ll have to paste them directly into the body of the email, remove indentations and use single spacing. Also, keep a copy of them in double space for those agents who specify that as their preference.
2. Good structure in the novel = good structure in the query.
The query should cover from the inciting incident to the first plot point, giving a hint of what’s to come and what’s at stake for the character. So, basically a summary of the first act and a hint of the ending. If you structured your novel properly and know what these points are, you’ll have an easier time writing your query and synopsis.
3. The query must fit the genre.
Both novels I’ve queried walk the line between Romance and Women’s Fiction. Based on the structure and the plot, I chose to query them as Women’s Fiction. That meant focusing the query on the protagonist’s journey and her arc of growth. It also meant using comps that fit my chosen genre.
4. You can never get enough feedback on your query letter.
For my first novel, I joined a Query Bootcamp on Scribophile where a group of writers critiqued each other’s queries. At least 5 people gave me feedback. Then, after I started querying and didn’t get any requests, I got a critique from author Emily Layne, who helped me take it to the next level and get selected for the Twitter contest Nightmare on Query Street (#NoQS). For my second round of querying, I fixed the query yet again to better reflect my protagonist’s character arc. That was the query version that got me a full request.
When I set out to write One Tough Cookie, I wrote the query right after finishing the first draft, continuously revising it while I revised the novel. Before I started querying, I got addiditional feedback from coach M.M. Fink through her Query Quorum. By that time, I was confident in my query-writing abilities, but I still wanted feedback from an expert.
Ultimately, you will never know if your letter is ready until you get an agent. If you don’t get any requests, make sure to revise your query and get feedback on it.
5. Personalization is not as important as the pitch.
Doing your research is important so that you can better target your ideal agent, but the consensus between agents (as far as I’ve read) is to skip the chit-chat and go with the pitch. Unless you have a real connection to the agent (you met, you know one of their clients, or loved one of their client’s book, etc.), skip the intro.
6. Make sure your novel is starting at the right place.
So far we’ve covered the query, but what about your first pages? As mentioned in #4 above, I was chosen for #NoQS, so I knew my query was strong. So why wasn’t I getting any requests? I scheduled a meeting with an agent through The Manuscript Academy, and I learned the answer: I was starting in the wrong place.
I had read that you should start with conflict, but I was starting right at the inciting event, where everything changes. I’ve since learned that you should start a little bit before the big change, to introduce the protagonists and make readers care about them before their world gets turned upside down. Once I understood that and fixed my opening scene, I got the aforementioned full request.
Even though I made these changes, I wasn’t able to sign with an agent for that book. Ten years later, I’ve realized that the novel had other structural problem that hurt its chances. Agents can tell if a book has issues just from reading the first pages, so it’s important that those first chapters give a clear sense of what the story is about and what type of conflict the protagonist will be facing. A great query can’t overcome a weak opening.
If you want a professional evaluation of your first pages to see if they reflect the rest of your story, check out my book coaching services.
7. Pages & query must relate to each other.
Agents want to see cohesion between the query and the opening pages. If a character or plot point is mentioned in the query but doesn’t appear in the first chapter, it can lead to confusion. Confusion = agents think your novel is not well-structured and not ready = rejection.
Queries should answer 5 main questions: Who is the protagonist? What do they want? Why do they want it? What is standing in their way of getting it? What do they stand to lose if they don’t get it? Agents expect these 5 questions to be answered (or at least hinted at) in the first pages. If they don’t see this or if the answers in the pages don’t align to what was established in the query, they won’t be interested in reading further.
8. Do not query too many agents at once.
As you may have noticed, I had to fix my query and pages multiple times. If I had queried every agent on my list, I would’ve lost all my chances. Why? Well, most agents don’t want to be re-queried with the same manuscript unless some time has passed and it has gone through major revisions. Also, many agencies have a “no from one is a no from all” policy, so if you queried an agent from that agency you would lose your chances with all other agents.
Going in batches allows you to see what works. Don’t start with your top agents (like I did); wait until you get a request (which means your query and pages work). But then, only query 10 agents at a time. You never know what type of feedback you will get. If your manuscript needs major revisions, you’ve lost your chances with those agents you already queried.
9. Stay in the know.
Twitter used to be the place to be for aspiring writers. Sadly, the online writing community is not what it used to be when I started querying in 2016. But it’s important to find your people. Meeting other writers going through the same things as you are will help you not feel so alone.
Follow industry professionals online. There are many agents and editors that share tips, keeping writers informed on what works, what doesn’t, and the publishing trends they need to be aware of. You can also follow traditionally published authors (like me) who share about their experiences and writing journeys. You can find many books, podcasts, and newsletters dedicated to helping writers learn about the craft and about the industry.
If you don’t know where to start, check out my recommended resources for writers.
10. Patience is truly a virtue (that I don’t have).
Querying = waiting weeks and months to hear back (or maybe never getting any response). You have to stay calm and do something else, like write another novel. If you really want to have a career as a writer, you need to write many books, so why wait until you have an agent? Keep writing and eventually, it will happen!
That’s all from me, what about you? What lessons have you learned by querying? Do you relate to my list? Let me know in the comments below.
