When I applied for the DYCP funds, it was my intention to live as a full time writer would for at least a few weeks. I had the chance to develop some new material, but before long, it was time to return to my other long term projects – which meant querying a novel I finished in late January of this year.

Recently, I signed with a literary agent at Curtis Brown (Cathryn Summerhayes), but I wanted to talk about my querying journey and what I learned from it (and from previous, less successful experiences).

If you want to know how to break through the slush pile and get offers, read on.

First, an overview…

Before I signed with Curtis Brown, and before the glittering year of 2023, I queried four novels with no success. Since then, I’ve done a lot of growing and learning, which led to this round of querying. Here’s a quick overview:

Two weeks of emails and waiting. A small number of queries in the first instance. And 4 formal offers from reputable agents and agencies.

So, how did I go from quite literally almost 900 rejections across four books, to four offers and my dream agent. I’m a firm believer in paying it forward. I had some amazing support while I was querying, including one-to-ones with Madeline Milburn’s Rachel Yeoh and Curtis Brown’s Rachel Pierce – both of whom are amazing, creative and savvy associate agents developing their lists. I also had help from my writing peers who were always there to advise me and give me notes on my query materials. Hopefully I can share some of the sparkling tips I’ve learned along the way.

Time to pay it forward.

The book itself

Have you edited the book within an inch of its life? Have you workshopped it? Gotten notes from trusted peers?

I know it sounds obvious, but some of the most consistent feedback I got from all the agents I queried noted on how polished my work was and how clear it was that I’d really dedicated myself to the finer details.

Get the book to the best place you can possibly get it on your own and then reach out to your peers for feedback. I have several readers for my work who all go through it with a fine tooth comb, offering their feedback on my work.

It’s hard to know when it’s ready to send out. The truth is, you can work on these things forever if you let yourself. One day, you just get this feeling that it’s ready to take that next step.

Check in with yourself, balance your eagerness to query with the inner realist.

The synopsis

I split my synopsis into five paragraphs. It should be approximately 1 page of A4. Let’s go:

1. Your first paragraph should articulate world building, establish characters and the whole of act one. Keep it short and sweet – representative of the three act structure being equal to 20% (act 1) – 80% (act 2) – 20% (act 3).
2. This will be a slightly bigger paragraph representing your second act. Describe the events succinctly. Although it’s a selling document, it should also sell the tone.
3. In your third paragraph, tie up the ends of your story. This should be the same length as your act 1 paragraph. Don’t leave any …read the book to find out type things. Be specific and intricate when describing your plot. Include all spoilers and major events.
4. Welcome to paragraph number a four, a place you should articulate what your book is about, why it matters, and how you are using themes to speak to a larger issues.
5. Last, and super short, three or four comparative titles.

The covering letter

The covering letter is the first thing your potential new agent will read about you and your book. It’s so crucial to get this part right.

Tone: be professional but personable. It’s never a good idea to be over familiar with the agent – don’t share your deepest darkest traumas. Sell the story and sell yourself as a career writer.

Structure: I would aim to make your cover letter less than one thousand words. Short and sweet but full of detail. It’s a huge challenge. Here’s a rough example and structure I recommend:

Dear Agent Name,

A brief introduction: Thank you for taking the time to read my submission.

Straight to story: One or two sentences on just plot alone – a snappy and intriguing elevator that sells your story. Have one additional sentence describing the themes and how you’re bringing those themes forward in the story.

Into the detail: Include your novel word count here and describe the book as a whole. Go into slightly more depth about the themes and what makes it special. Be specific – what are you tackling it exactly and why are you the person to do it. Also include at least two comps and talk about why those are comps. Use examples that also illustrate where you want your work to be published. It also doesn’t hurt to include a quick sentence about authors who influence you.

Be bespoke: This is the place where you get to tell the agent why you approached them, why you think you’d work well together and what you’re looking for in an agent. The agent isn’t just there to sell the book, you’ll potentially have a very long relationship with this agent as they guide you through your career. I spoke about looking for a long-lasting creative partnership and finding an agent who wanted to work with ‘unmasked’ women.

Finally, you: Include a short bio. List any relevant achievements!

Sign off politely: Thank you again for taking the time to read my work. Please find attached my submission materials as requested.

Writing these cover letters is really challenging. Be super succinct and economic with this writing and take it seriously. Use this letter to be professional but to convey your personal style and tone.

Elevator Pitch

Writing an elevator pitch is a challenge unto itself. In these few short sentences, you need to establish:

• Character
• World
• Tone
• Stakes
• Journey
• Story

Use this checklist to experiment. Play around, chop and change, fiddle and make sure this is perfect. The agent won’t read on unless it pulls them in.

The agents

As much as you want to send out a million queries, just stop, close your laptop and take a breath. Small batches is where it’s at. Be strategic. I spent a great deal of time researching agents and compiling who I wanted to query first and why. I had a long list of agents and I’d assigned them to different waves.

This was a huge benefit as I started to receive offers and fulls because it meant I could chase agents who I really liked the idea of working with and time offers to make sure I could reasonably take meetings and get back to everyone within a fair timeframe.

Tailor everything you do. The worst thing you can do is send copy and paste emails without writing the agents name and without considering their likes and dislikes. I made a huge effort to attend one-to-ones, salons, and talks with the agents I wanted to query. This gave me the opportunity to meet the agents in advance (which never hurts), but it also helped me to realise who I wanted to query. In these one-to-ones, I was engaged, asked questions, and took feedback, but most importantly, I was myself. I treated it like work.

It’s also good to make a note of anyone who you’ve previously queried if they’ve asked you to resubmit with future projects – it means that while that project wasn’t right, they saw promise in you.

Make sure to reference in your cover letter if you’ve met the agent previously, they came recommended by a mutual connection, or if they asked you to query/requested the work previously.

Chasing agents and other etiquette

Treat it like your place of work. Be polite and professional. If you’ve not heard anything from an agent, only chase them if their submission guidelines specify to. However, if you receive fulls and offers from other agents, it’s a good idea to send a polite and brief email to agents to let them know you’ve received interest elsewhere.

Other resources

SCHEMES.

I’m really passionate about schemes and mentorships. They can be really valuable and push your career in the right direction. My experiences on schemes have led to the brokering of really crucial networking and professional relationships. Learning curves. Craft development. The list goes on and on.

While working on the novel that landed me an agent, I took part in two schemes:

• Curtis Brown Creative Breakthrough
• Madeline Milburn One-to-one

While neither of these guaranteed any sort of representation, they did help to get my name recognised and I was also able to get feedback from associate agents on my covering letter and synopsis.

Offers and meetings

If an agent is really interested in your work, they’ll invite you to have a phone call and you’re more than likely to get a verbal offer from that agent over the phone/video call.

During that call, really engage in the conversation and be ready to talk about all aspects of where you see the book going, your future career, what you need from an agent. Make sure to ask questions about their personal style.

Let anyone who has a full know you’ve received offers and wait to see if anyone else is interested. If so, book in meetings and speak to other agents to make sure you find your perfect match.

Some agents are more sales and marketing led and some are more hands on and editorial with the work. Really consider what you need before you make a decision.

Parting words

Full disclosure, the covering letter and synopsis took me an enormous amount of time. I spent months toiling over them. As eager and excited as you are to get out there, take your time and really pour yourself into this part of the literary journey.

It’s the difference between no offers and hundreds of rejections and two rejections, four offers, and landing your dream agent.

While I had a really exciting round of querying in this instance, I’ve faced my fair share of soul-destroying querying episodes. Hang in there. Be persistent. Don’t give up.

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If you want to know more about my Arts Council journey, please follow me on Twitter and Instagram for blog updates! I’ll be writing a monthly blog about the things I learn on my journey.

I’m exceptionally grateful to Arts Council England, who awarded me a DYCP grant in early ’23. This grant has enabled me to take time to develop my creative practice, my voice and my craft. If you’re interested in applying for a grant, please see the ACE website for more information.