Top 10 Query Fails 

Jessica and James have said in some of their other videos that they would pass it on to an agent within their agency that would LOVE it, but not all agencies do that; I've been submitting a manuscript this month and on some agents' websites they state they do or don't in their submission guidelines. Sometimes they don't mention it, but they will say something along the lines of you should only query one agent or, "a no from one is a no from all". In those instances I think they probably do as well. Hope that helps :)

They came off as silly SJWs with that 🙄

As in having a different author ghostwrite your book? Or as in ending your contract because another book showed up? The latter I would think is illegal.

Hi! Recent and popular comps are good! It shows that you know the current market, and it's also more likely that the person reading the query will know something about whatever title you're comping to. If you use an obscure title as a comp, there's a chance that the reader won't know the book you're comping and therefore the comp doesn't help sell *your* book. But it's also usually okay not to put any comps in a query letter if you don't find one that fits/that you like!

@@BookEndsLiterary Thank you so much!

You can reply if they haven't closed to replies! These can be nice to see :)

Good question! The query letter is the place to build intrigue for your book, so this is where you don't want to spoil the ending. The idea of the query letter is to serve as the cover letter for your book, or like the inside book flap if it were published, and make the agent want to know what happens next. If they request a synopsis, then you are right that the synopsis should cover everything beginning to end. But the synopsis is like a companion to the sample pages. Everyone's process is different, but I think for the most part, if the query letter captures their attention and makes them want to know what's next, then they might dive into the sample and check where the story goes with the synopsis to know whether they are still interested.

That was so 🙄 of them....

@@whutzat Yeah, I have to agree :/ Lol

This is where we are now? Wow.

What if the gender identity is known, i.e., their website bio refers to them as "he" or "she"? Are we then still supposed to not presume gender identity? Jeez...

You can, but that's also something that you can bring up in an offer call!

@@BookEndsLiterary Oh, thanks! Noted !💕

Good question! We would always argue the easiest and most accurate bet is to avoid using a title! Titles are often about personal preference; for example, even for a woman that uses she/her pronouns, you don't know whether they prefer Ms., Miss, Mrs., or no title. Additionally, sometimes someone's pronouns are not an indicator of their gender the way we traditionally think about it. So, unless they specify how they'd like to be addressed, we think it makes the most sense to skip it :) Thanks for asking!

Hi there! You shouldn't be worried-most agents are understanding and won't hold it against your query, even if you did end up getting the honorific wrong or something. The only time it would be troubling is if you were to ignore their requests to use specific/no honorifics-which it seems like you are not doing, so you should be fine :)

@@BookEndsLiterary Thanks a lot for your kind response. I feel much better now.

The quote you're pulling sounds like Jessica and James may have been talking about a synopsis, not a query! Sometimes people conflate the synopsis and the blurb, but they're two different things. For example, a lot of people call the blurbs on the backs of books or on the front flap of hardcovers a "synopsis" but that actually is not a synopsis! A synopsis is a full outline/summary of the major beats of the story from beginning to end, including spoilers. A blurb is what you find on the backs of books: usually a short bit of exposition and a hint at the main conflict, meant to make you want to read more. So the blurb in a query should NOT spoil the ending (unlike in a synopsis) because you want the agent to think "I need to know how this gets resolved!" I hope this clarifies! If there was a misspeak in a previous video, apologies for any confusion!

@@BookEndsLiterary ah! Thank you for the clarification. Just to be super clear then: the query should contain a blurb, not a synopsis. Correct? PS: love your channel! 🥰

@@siouxsquaw The only entitled sounding person is you for lecturing me, simply because you disagree with me. Grow up.

@@siouxsquaw Sorry you think if I said Sir or Mrs, that my Querie is weird. Actually when I bait, 99% of the time, they just correct me like a normal person. Take this conversation for instance, you have told me who DM is by your responses to me. Both the one you wrote, and then the one you rewrote after you deleted your first one. which I do respect. Your second one was better. Let me tell you about my career. I am published both traditionally and now exclusively digitally as the money is way better. I'm just not published under Reggie. Reggie is just a random name I use so that I can have freedom of speech in a cancel culture. Listen, I like these two, and I listen to about 20 to 30 of their posts a year at 1.5 speed. Let me help you out though. They do this to promote their business, which is great, but they are also quite left leaning, and as such, will give you "personal" advice from that direction. If you haven't gleaned that, then you need to question more. Remember, everyone with a channel has agendas, and personal beliefs. Everyone. And that's fine, but don't just think because you like two people and they are correct a lot of the time, that they are right 100% of the time, nor that they speak for the whole industry. They have a lot of personal bias in their advice from time to time and even then know that. And thanks for the good wishes, but my career is doing great, and luck had nothing to do with it. If anyone is waiting to become successful in this business through luck, then they are probably going to "fail". My number one advice? Study writing. Number two? Write as often as you are willing to. Write anything! I wrote you a response, and then rewrote it, because why not! (You did too) I love to write! And finally number three, and this is just as important... learn to promote yourself!!! If you can't promote yourself, then your probably going to fail. Period. Getting your name out there is maybe even more important, the the first two combined. Unless you ironically DO in fact get lucky, like having Oprah or Reese Witherspoon slaps a sticker on your book and then WOOOOOWEEEEEE! Your in the money! Your in the money! We've got a lot of what it takes to get along! But that is not going to be you or I statistically speaking, so learn to promote yourself! Otherwise if you equate money to success, AND YOU SHOULD, at least when it comes to writing, your not going to make it no matter how many books you get published. Bye.

@@siouxsquaw sigh. Your a brick wall. Bye

@Reggie you can't spell, your sentences make no sense, and you're in the comments of a how-to-query video talking about "baiting" people. You imply you bait them when you query. And you expect anyone to believe you're traditionally published? Get outta here, man. 🙄

@@user83c9f49 When you pick a name other then "a google user", I'll talk to you, otherwise your just a troll. A lazy troll.