Three weeks ago, I posted regarding the ways you can track your literary agent queries with QueryTracker.net.
I needed a whole post just to go over the basic tracking features, but today I get to talk about the Premium features for tracking queries.
If you need a refresher on how to access your query (and submission) tracking reports, check out my previous post.
And now for the good stuff!
In the same dropdown menu where you can choose the basic QueryTracker reports, you'll see a few reports marked with a (P), showing that those reports are only available to premium members.
The premium reports allow you to break down an agent's responses by season, both overall AND by a specific genre. Once you click "Generate Report," you'll see a chart like this:
This graph will tell you how many replies an agent made in each month, as well as how many were positive or negative. For instance, on the graph above, we see that Ms. Jessica Faust replied to thirteen QT user queries in July of 2008 and five of those were positive responses (i.e. requests for partials/fulls, etc.) whereas in January of 2009 she replied to twelve QT user queries (all negative replies).Now, perhaps one of the most useful reports available (especially when you are generating your query list) is the Agents With Similar Tastes report. You'll find it in the same dropdown list as the other reports we've mentioned.
This report will generate a list of other agents listed on QueryTracker.net who gave positive responses to the same projects as the agent you're reviewing. So, for example, I received a partial request from agent Kae Tienstra. If I generate a Similar Tastes report, I'll get a list of agents who requested material on other QT users' manuscripts Kae was interested in. I can then review those listings to determine other literary agents who might be a good match for my project.
The QT symbols appear next to the agents' names, so you can see at a glance what your status is with each agent.
If you like access to as much data as possible, then you will love the final report I'm going to discuss. You'll see a link to it underneath the dropdown menu on the basic Query report.
The Raw Data Report basically allows you to see all the query information available from QT users for that agent. You can review it in a huge, enlightening clump of query results, or you can sort it by genre, wordcount, query date, etc. You can also filter the data to show only a specific date range, or wordcount, etc.
In the data report below, I have filtered the data to only show replies received from this agent during August of 2008, when I received my partial request.
The Raw Data report is phenomenally helpful in judging when to expect a reply. Despite their demigod appearance to many aspiring authors, agents are people with their own busy lives. And even if you're a relative newbie to publishing, you've probably already noticed how slowly this process moves. So, at times, listed response times can be a smidge... optimistic.
Like the minutes on a football clock don't show exactly how much longer before the game finishes, the response times listed on agent websites don't always represent how long a reply will take. And of course, queries and replies DO occasionally get lost in transit, so the Raw Data report can help you know when to assume your query has gone AWOL. If the Raw Data report shows that other QT users who queried around the same time have not heard a reply, it's a safe bet that the agent's response time is currently longer than stated.
Seriously... how awesome is that?
And speaking of awesome, during last week's suggestion session, a few of our loyal blog readers mentioned their interest in hearing from industry professionals. Well, wish granted!
On Wednesday, here on the QueryTracker.net blog, we'll be featuring an interview with Angie Lofthouse.
From her blog:
Angie Lofthouse is a stay-home mom of six children. Her fiction has appeared in NFG, AlienSkin, Amazing Journeys, The Sword Review, Dragons, Knights and Angels, Irreantum, and Unparalleled Journeys. She is also an editor for Mindflights Magazine. She lives in a little canyon in the foothills of the Wasatch Mountains with her family of writers, artists, singers, composers, illustrators and musicians.
Don't miss it!
3 comments:
Once again, I'm in awe of your awesome query tracker. I can't wait to join! But I have to reach the point where I actually start querying. Gulp. :)
At the risk of sounding a tad infomercialish, why do you have wait to join? The basic membership is free, and researching agents for your query list can take a while, so you'll probably want to start before you're ready to click "send" on your first query.
Feeling well-prepared always makes gulp-inducing things less intimidating... setting up your list might be a good way to wade into the querying process.
I'm just saying... :)
I actually just finally become a premium member last week, and already am so happy that I did. Thanks for highlighting these features - there are so many I hadn't even found those yet!
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