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Query Me

The Blog

Something that I see a lot on social media is people talking about the problems with agents, or publishing in general. That's part of why I try to be super transparent with my clients from start to finish-so that no one feels like they are in the dark. Whether that be in regards to what's happening with their story on submission, or notes that I might have on their project.

As we near the end of the month, I find myself gearing up to reopen to queries, but that presents its own set of, not problems, per se, but challenges. In the course of the last seven months, I have taken on eleven clients. Which doesn't sound like a big number to most, but to put it in perspective for someone who is new to publishing or the amount of work that goes into each individual project- that is just about ten percent of the queries I received in the two month window where I was open to queries.

The issue isn't that I have too many queries, but that there are so many phenomenal stories that I have to be super selective in what I take on. When I started I wanted to take on every single story that I loved, but that isn't fair to those clients because it means that each story doesn't get that personalized attention to detail that I really strive for.

Both a recent conversation with a friend, as well as a conversation with a client, have led me to think about the prospect of opening to queries. While I had originally planned to reopen to queries at the end of this month, between the winter holiday, snow-magedon, getting sick, and getting more client projects ready for submission, it would be a disservice to those manuscripts I still owe responses to, as well as my own clients, to take on more right now.

So what does that mean? Well, it means that for right now I am at capacity. I can't take on more projects until I have dedicated the proper amount of time to those I already have. In essence, I will remain closed to queries.

I know for some of you that sucks, because I've had people reach out and ask when I will reopen. My hope is still to reopen before summer, when publishing goes on hiatus, and when all my clients have notes or are on submission with their other projects.

Being transparent means that I feel comfortable telling you all that I need to ensure that my mental health doesn't decrease because I am spreading myself too thin- I'm a mom, I already do that on the flip side- because I can't be the best advocate and agent if I am not showing up as the best and most present version of myself.

Long story short? In order to not be one of the bad agents that people talk about, and work on bettering my own practices, for the moment I am remaining closed to queries. When I reopen is TBD, but I will be sure to share when the time comes. In the meantime, keep writing the stories that set your soul on fire; I'm looking forward to seeing them sometime soon.

Bad Agent 

If you've been on the internet the last few weeks you've probably seen a lot of people do end of year wrap ups- from what they read, to what they accomplished, and I wanted to do one, but I wasn't sure how.

You see, for the last six months I have been working, silently, and not so much, as an AGENT! Obviously if you've found my site you know a little bit about what I do and what I work, but I wanted to share a little insight on what the last six months have been for my career. Maybe I should back up a little bit though? Let's start at the beginning.

Right before summer started, I had a sit down with my boss, and we disucced expectations for the second half of the year. We were transitioning from our old literary agency where I had only ever really worked with her one on one, to a brand new company with people who knew my name, but not much else- thank you remote work. At that point I wasn't sure when I would start taking clients, having spent the last two years working through slush piles, I figured I would continue to do much of the same, with the opportunity to co-agent a few projects here and there. My boss had a timeline in mind, one I wrote down in my planner based on each month, with the plan to bide my time, and set off for my summer vacation with my family.

While I was out of town I got an email from my boss, "For you?" The email read. It was a spooky middle grade novel, and I devoured it. I wanted us to make an offer. I emailed and pestered, and I'm sure I texted her in the middle of the night about this book. There was a competing offer, which of course meant a deadline, and I didn't want to miss it. We set up a call. Two weeks later, I signed my first client. YAY!

What happened after that can only be described as a whirlwind. You see, after my second offer ended in a rejection, I made it my mission to go into offer calls with a plan. What if someone wanted to know who I would send it to? What if they thought that I didn't know what I was doing? I was- and still am- a baby agent, but I wanted my perspective clients to take me seriously. It's hard to get clients when you're closed to queries though..or at least it should have been.

I didn't open to queries until I made my first sale- which took six weeks, in a feat I didn't expect to replicate again in the near future- but I was allowed to scour twitter( I'm not calling it X I'm sorry.) And thus, I found my next client, and my third one I found through instagram, and when I opened to queries I found two more. I had one more rejection before the end of the year, but I found some lovely stories, and wonderful human beings who trusted me to sell theirs!

What does all of that mean though? What did I actually do? How is this a wrap up? I saw nearly one thousand queries, and am working my way through soooo many fulls, which is both so heartwarming, and devastating because I have to be realistic with my workload and what I can take on. I did two interviews one with my friends newsletter and one with Writers Digest. I also got to do a ton of informational interviews which was wild because- when did I become a publishing professional?!

It also means that, while I can't disclose exact details, I am ending the year with three out of five clients books sold, one book on submission, and a middle grade graphic novel that will be ready to go out at the end of January. All in all, I'm extremely pleased with the way this year is wrapping up, and I can't wait to see what 2024 brings for the world of working in books. Here's to a happy new year, and the next six months!

sheylaknigge.com

Sheyla Knigge

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Sheyla Knigge