Let Me Remind You...

Here's a handy QueryTracker.net feature you might not already know about:

There are a lot of agencies out there working hard to ensure they respond to every query they receive. Some agencies, though, give a specific time frame for a response. If they haven't responded, well... to use the recently extra-popular phrase, They're Just Not That Into You.

Most authors query more than one agent at a time, so it can be hard to keep track of when you're expecting a response.

But QT will take care of that for you. Seriously, if Pat just adds in attachments to brew coffee and make french fries, there's not much QT can't do for you.

You can set a reminder on QT. Yes, seriously. You can choose an on-screen reminder on your QueryTracker account, or you can even have the reminder emailed to you.

Here's how to do it:

From the agent's listing page, click on "My Reminder"




Then just choose on-screen or email (or both), select the date, and type whatever you need to remember into the box. Click "Save Reminder" and you're all set.

So, if you'd decided to query Aaron Priest, you'd notice on his agency's website that they set a 4-week time frame to respond to queries.

Set a reminder to mark the query as rejected in four weeks, and you can put it out of your mind until then.

You can also use reminders for things like the date an agent is due back from maternity leave, or any other event you want to keep on top of.

Sweet, huh?

Note to Self: Using Private Notes on QueryTracker.net

This week's feature is simple, yet fun. And it can help you keep track of something you've done...or in my case, not done. There is an embarrassing story behind this, but luckily that's saved in my private notes on QueryTracker.

Okay, so you have to go to your query list. This is totally easy. Click on LITERARY AGENTS, then MY QUERY LIST. (After logging in, of course.)

Now, let's just say that I've received a request in a non-traditional manner from Elana Roth. (Yes, I chose her cuz she has a cool name.) To keep track of this, I can also write myself a little note. All I have to do is click on the "Add Note" link.


In the little window that opens, I can leave myself a note. On whatever I want. It's private. So even if I forget to do something (hypothetically, of course), no one else needs to know.


I often write myself notes on queries I've sent. Little things like, "Usually responds within a week" or "Has a cool interview at [website]" or even "Mailed on 2/13/09 with USPS tracking number, XXX".

You can also make notes on agents you haven't queried yet. Blog posts of theirs you like. Books they've said they enjoyed or wished they repped. Response times. Who else they represent. Anything you want to be able to access at the push of a button. And since we all know that research before querying is essential, I hope you start using the private notes to organize your research efforts.

Don't forget! Tomorrow Dr. Dyer is answering your medical fiction questions. If you haven't emailed her yet, you still can (hldyer@querytracker.net). See post here for more details.

QueryTracker.net Feature of the Week

Okay, QT's, it's time to check out another QueryTracker.net feature.

Since I'm on a premium feature kick after last week's post, I thought I'd discuss one of my favorite premium features: the Genre Agent Report.


At the top of the selection box for the Genre Agent Report is a tab you can click for more information about the report. If you don't have a premium account, you'll be able to see a sample report on this page.


That's right... this report lets you see the acceptance rates of agents FOR YOUR GENRE and compare that to other agents. This not only allows you to identify agents who are truly interested in your genre of manuscript, but can also help with the ambiguous "commercial fiction" category.

When an agent lists just "commercial fiction," does that mean they are only interested in mainstream fiction? Or in sub-genres that can fall under the "Commercial Fiction" heading?

Well, you can use this feature to find out.

Here's how to create your own Genre-Agent Report:

Just select your genre from the dropdown menu...


Click "submit" to generate your report. You can then sort the list. The acceptance percentage column (the smiley face with the % sign) will probably be the most useful to sort by.


You can now easily see the acceptance rates for each agent, as well as how many queries they received in your genre (to give you some perspective as to how significant the rates are.)

The list also gives you direct links back to the agents' profiles, providing an easy way to add prospective agents to your query list.

The sample list above includes Jeff Kleinman from Folio. Mr. Kleinman's profile does not list women's fiction as a genre he represents, and yet of 3 queries he's received for women's fiction project, he request more material on 2 of them. That suggests to me that this agent includes women's fiction under the commercial fiction umbrella, and so I can add him to my query list (even though his listing would not have come up through a search for women's fiction agents).

Pretty sweet, eh?

QueryTracker.net Premium Reports

Okay, QT's...

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!

I Need a Reply-- STAT!

Okay, my gang of QT's...

As promised, we'll be taking a close look at the features of the QueryTracker.net site that actually involve... um... tracking queries.

First, let's quickly run through HOW to track your queries on QueryTracker.net.

The first thing you need to do is choose an agent you plan to query and add them to your query list. I've added a few of the New & Updated Agents to the query list for our imaginary manuscript, Memoirs of a QT Blogger.

So after following Elana's tips to construct the perfect query, I would send it off to my agent of choice by their preferred query method (be sure to check which methods are accepted by the agent on the agent's Overview page, which Suz discussed last week.)

The next step after sending off your query letter is to track it. This will not only help you keep track of whom you've queried and when, but will also contribute to community data that can help you interpret patterns in agent responses.

So let's track that query. First, go to the "My Query Status" tab on the agent listing (you can also access this tab by clicking on the query status symbol next to the agent's name.)


This is where you will enter data to track your query. Notice the yellow checkmark symbol by the agent's name. This indicates that the agent has been added to your query list. When you start tracking your query, this symbol will change to reflect the current status.


So, I check the listing and see that this agent takes snail mail queries. I pop my letter in the mail and come to QueryTracker.net to log it:

Using the dropdown menus, I select the date and method I used to send the query.

Now my status symbol will change to reflect the pending query.




Be sure to hit the Save Query button after entering your information!

Then comes the hardest part... waiting for a reply. :)

Luckily, our imaginary response came very quickly! It's a partial request. Yay, hypothetical US!

Now to mark our good news in the QueryTracker.net database.
Your status symbol will now change again:




Once you get your submission off to the lucky agent, you'll update the submission side of the My Query Status tab in just the same way.


Tracking a partial or full request is fun, but you should track EVERY response you receive on queries sent. Why, you ask?

Because every time you record your query responses in QueryTracker.net you are also creating data points. And the data from all the 11,000+ strong QueryTracker.net members gives you access to powerful information in the Agent Reports & Statistics tab.



So let's take a look at the stats available for queries. The full basic query report shows how many QT users have recorded sending a query to this agent, what method they used to send it, and what the responses were by percentage overall, and by method of query.

In this entry, for example, you can see that this agent receives most of her queries by email, requests to see the manuscript about 22% of the time, and overwhelmingly requests a partial or a proposal, rather than a full manuscript from the query.


There are several other reports available that can give you even more information. You can break down the agent's request rate by genre or by manuscript length. You can also track the responses to those requested partials and fulls. But perhaps the most useful information is the Query Response Time report.

Once you've chosen "Query Response Times" from the dropdown menu and clicked "Generate Report," you will see a chart like this:


The chart shows that this agent has a very quick response time for emailed queries, averaging just 6 days for a postive response and 11 days for a negative one. The response times for snail mail queries are significantly longer. This information is helpful in judging whether you should resend a query to an agent you have not heard from.

If you'd queried this agent by email and 2 months or more had passed, chances are fairly good that internet goblins are involved. But for many other agents, 2 months or more may be standard. Having this data available can help you decide when you're considering re-querying.

There are also a lot of very cool reports that are only available to premium members. Tune in next week for the details on those.

And keep on Tracking!

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.