Recent Happenings In The Query Pile
I kept rough tabs on over 100 queries this weekend. They were from the end of February, about five/six/seven or so days. Some queries counted as two marks, some didn't count at all. This is a very unscientific survey. Make of it what you will.Memoir with no specific plot: 3
Good query/writing but with nothing to make the story stand out: 2
Awesome query, lackluster pages: 6
Awesome query, awesome pages, forwarded to agent: 0
Query with no pages that I requested pages for: 3
Query with no pages that I didn't request pages for: 10
Query with nothing but pages (no query letter): 3
Query with pages that are not the first ten (chapter 8 seems to be popular): 3
Query with wild formatting that I couldn't make heads or tails about: 2
Queries for memoirs about boring people: 6
Not a genre agent reps: 15
Query I was on the fence about and left in the inbox for another intern: 4
Attachment-only queries: 7
Queries that were so overwritten/convoluted/strange I couldn't understand them at all: 3
Queries that talk about everything but the actual book being queried: 4
Spam: 3
Queries with pages that are nothing but info dump: 2
Books with boy/man POV that describe a buxom woman in the 1st paragraph: 3
-Of these, those written by men: 1
Queries that are downright creepy: 2
-One about koala-headed humans depicting the greatest moments in sports
Queries that totally grossed me out: 2
-One describing a middle aged man's hard on in the first sentence of a YA novel.
-Detailed descriptions of a rape and murder of a child.
Queries that quoted their copyright case number at us: 1
Queries whose plots blatantly rip off other books/movies: 2
-Grey Gardens but with sisters
-The Bourne movies
Genre's
Paranormal YA:
-Angels/demons: 8
-Fairy tale retelling: 1
-Vampires: 5
-Witches: 3
-Vampire/witch hybrid: 1
-Half human/half demon "that we'll just call a vampire": 1
-Werewolves: 3
-Ghosts: 5
-with dead parents: 8
Women's fiction: 7
Mystery: 3
Thriller: 7
-With Mexicans forced to flee back to Mexico: 3
Sports: 2
Adult:
-Demons/Angels: 7
-Ghosts: 3
-About the recession: 4
-Greek Gods/Goddesses: 1
-Blaming banks for the bad economy: 3
Memoir/fictional memoir: 6
Posts
6 comments:
There are no words for how bizarre I find some of your stats. Middle-aged hard-ons and Koala-headed people? I thought I had a weird job.
I love these insights you give us. Thanks.
- Liz
So where do our Reapers fit here? Are they in the angel/demon category?
Oh, but koalas are so cute. How could you not request that one? ;)
Fun stats. Thanks for sharing.
I'm surprised every day, Liz. Utterly gobsmacked.
Jade, I haven't seen any reaper stories lately. Good news for us!
Cute, yes Karen, but not with people bodies. Besides, it wasn't a genre the agent reps.
"One describing a middle aged man's hard on in the first sentence of a YA novel."
What?! Query-reading sounds very entertaining!
It's very entertaining, Melissa. I learn new things everyday and am shocked everyday.
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