QueryTracker Blog

Helping Authors Find Literary Agents

Monday, January 12, 2009

Featuring QueryTracker.net

QueryTracker.net has over a thousand agents in its database. Each agent has a page dedicated to them. Below is agent Jessica Faust's page. (Please note - to enlarge the screenshot images in this article, you will need to click on them.) I will highlight bite-sized bits of her page as we go.



The center section provides the name of the agent's agency, their mailing address, phone and fax numbers, email address, and links to their website and blog where applicable. It lets you know if they accept queries via snail mail, email, and/or online form.



This is where QueryTracker.net starts getting really, really useful. If an agent is a good fit for a particular manuscript, you can add them to your Query List, as shown below. If you determine they are not a good match, add them to your Disregard List which will prevent you from researching them again. (They can be removed from either list at any time.) Once you have submitted to them, you can change your status and a cute little submission-specific icon will appear in this block.



Selecting Watch This Agent allows you to receive notices should any other user leave a comment about this agent. (I'll talk more about comments in a moment.) You can also choose a folder of your own (such as Hold or Top Choices) to place your queries in. (The Query Priority feature is for Premium members and will be discussed at a later date.) You can also see in the lovely turquoise block the date the agent updated their profile.



A whole section is devoted to instantly connecting you to search engines and informational sites about this particular agent:



Underneath the agent's page are the User Comments. Any member can comment on an experience with a particular agent. Some agents comment on their own profiles. (Yes, there are agents on QueryTracker.net!) Here you can see a sampling of comments left on Ms. Faust's page:



QueryTracker.net is user friendly! You may have noticed tiny question marks in several places on the screenshots. If you were on the QueryTracker.net site, you could simply mouse over the question mark and a basic explanation of the feature would pop up. Last but not least, there is the small print that all users should keep in mind as they use the site. (Really, it's there to help and protect writers.)



If you have any questions, please post them in the comments and I will be happy to answer them. Or email me at suzettesaxton@querytracker.net and I will get back to you as soon as I can.

Suzette Saxton is a freelance writer with both fiction and nonfiction publishing credits. Besides writing for the QueryTracker Blog, she loves to write books for children of all ages.

5 comments:

Michelle D. Argyle said...

This answers some questions I had about how your system works. Thanks!

Carolyn Kaufman | @CMKaufman said...

Wow, I thought I'd found all the features, but I just learned some things! I'm looking forward to future QT/RS features! :-D

Suzette Saxton said...

I learned a lot when doing research for this article. And this is only the first page in QT! I'm with Archetype in looking forward to learning more. And thanks, Lady Glamis, for your comment! :)

Anonymous said...

WOW - this is geat...thanks. I learned a fw new features..awesome!!

Mary Lindsey / Marissa Clarke said...

I like the fact you used screen shots to demonstrate. :)