Monday, May 16, 2011

How Many Queries Does It Take? -- The Sequel

Once again, I've been looking at Query Tracker's Success Stories.
Within Success Stories, some writers provide an interview, where they reveal how many queries they sent before getting their agent. I went through and tabulated the numbers from the last 34 interviews (where the writer answered that question). So here it is, sorted alphabetically by genre...


The average number of queries sent before getting representation is 68. Even throwing out the top and bottom three, the average is still 65. The fewest queries sent was 9 and the most 361(!!).

I did this last year for the same time frame, so if you want to compare, you can go to the original post here.

So do these stats make you feel better or worse? Give you hope or give you a headache?
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20 comments:

  1. Karen Jones GowenMay 16, 2011 at 8:40 AM

    I'm not surprised that literary fiction and historical fiction are the highest. These genre's would have to be especially good to get agented right now. And then there's the question that follows-- how many months from when one gets the agent until one gets the publisher?

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  2. UnknownMay 16, 2011 at 8:44 AM

    Wow. Lucky 65~ C'mon 65!

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  3. AnonymousMay 16, 2011 at 2:54 PM

    Awesome stuff. I find it rather encouraging actually.

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  4. NataschaMay 16, 2011 at 11:22 PM

    361!!! I don't want to go all the way to 361, but 65 is definitely manageable :)

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  5. Donna K. WeaverMay 17, 2011 at 7:50 AM

    Wow. Can you imagine how thick skinned the writer with 361 must have had to be. And yet that person got an agent.

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  6. Katy UppermanMay 17, 2011 at 9:12 AM

    This is really interesting. I'm amazed by the perserverence of those who sent out hundreds of queries... wow! I signed with an agent last week and sent out a total of 52 queries for my YA manuscript. :)

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  7. Sharon K. MayhewMay 17, 2011 at 6:36 PM

    Wow! 361 query letters...Patiences is a must.

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  8. LTMMay 17, 2011 at 9:11 PM

    I dunno... I mean, I'm sort of at the point of looking at the sea of books out there and wondering how my little penguin will ever look different. :D LOL!

    Don't do that. <3

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  9. Tatum FlynnMay 17, 2011 at 11:49 PM

    Thanks so much for doing this, fascinating to see!

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  10. Karen SandlerMay 18, 2011 at 11:52 AM

    I only sent 28 for my YA, but maybe already being published (in romance) made a difference. Still, the work has to speak for itself.

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  11. AnonymousMay 18, 2011 at 11:56 AM

    Very interesting. And kudos to whoever went through 361 queries. That's stamina.

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  12. Sylvia NeyMay 18, 2011 at 2:58 PM

    A little of both! I feel betterthat it shows there is nothing wrong with me personally (at least I hope ;-), but it's also a little daunting to realize how much works lies ahead.

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  13. UnknownMay 18, 2011 at 5:05 PM

    Great post! Thanks for doing the research. Although, I'm wondering about these numbers. These are queries sent to just agents, right? Not editors? Or is it both? Because you hear "only send your best work when it's ready, because you don't want to burn any bridges and lose your chance with that agent." But is it possible that there are 361 or even 60 agents out there that are the right fit for my book? Could it be that the people with higher numbers were just blindly sending out to people that didn't fit their book? Or how many of these were including revisions and then a resend to the same agent (which I've heard is a no no, unless it clearly a different book, or if they've asked you.) Just curious....great post! Thanks,
    Mandy

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  14. Margo BerendsenMay 19, 2011 at 3:31 PM

    Verra verra interesting. 68 is a bit higher than I'd like, of course, but it's not dire. Not like 361!!!

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  15. Amber KeyserMay 23, 2011 at 1:13 PM

    Fascinating! Made me feel great about my number!

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  16. glenysMay 23, 2011 at 1:16 PM

    Interesting figures - thank you! Now I feel like a wimp for whining about having sent out just a handful of queries and not got an agent yet....but encouraged & inspired, also!

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  17. ScienceThrillers.comMay 23, 2011 at 3:21 PM

    I hate to mention the gloomier side, but this is my experience. In the past 3 years, I successfully got a major NY agent TWICE. Two different agents for two different (thriller) novels, one after AgentFest at ThrillerFest in NY, and one by cold query letter (I sent about 40 letters). I danced and shouted and screamed with joy both times. But in each case, half a year later, no sale. The agent rejections were followed by editor/publisher rejections. Now I'm considering self-publishing; if the books are good enough to interest a literary agent, maybe I can do fine on my own.

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  18. Sophia ChangMay 25, 2011 at 3:08 PM

    Thank GOD for your patience to do this. Your QT statistical analyses are a truly original source of comfort and realism.

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  19. JordynFebruary 5, 2012 at 11:38 AM

    Are these for one project or queries total until the author found representation?

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  20. AnonymousNovember 20, 2014 at 8:51 AM

    Thanks for putting in the time to do this research. The average ended up being lower than I expected. There's hope after all!

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