Querying Multiple Writing Projects
by Mary Kole | Former literary agent, now a freelance editor, writing teacher, and IP/story developer for major publishers and creators.
If you have a ton of writing projects in your pipeline, approach with caution before you start submitting to literary agents and publishers. One of our Good Story Learning members asked whether they should query multiple projects at the same time or focus on just one during a submission round.
My answer is clear: always focus on your single best project! Even if it's a picture book with “only” ten words—if it's your strongest piece of work, that's what you need to put out there first and foremost. Submitting one thing at a time is usually the right approach, particularly with picture books, but it also works for novels. Having a revised, solid submission will either get you an offer, a revise and resubmit letter, or get your foot in the door with an invitation to show the agent some other writing projects in the future.
Finding Focus Among Your Writing Projects
If your strongest submission nets some interest, a literary agent will likely ask you some questions. And one of those will likely be whether you have any other writing projects in your pipeline. At that point, feel free to talk about those other writing projects and ideas that you have. But this discussion of assorted manuscripts usually comes AFTER they are impressed by your initial submission.
When agents receive multiple submissions from a writer—covering a handful of writing projects, whether they’re presented in a single email or twenty—they tend to feel inundated. And it’s because the implication seems to be that you expect all of those projects to go out on submission.
But if you write multiple projects, it’s essential to know that It’s practically impossible for an agent to send twenty writing projects out in a year from one writer. Maybe not even two. They’ll want to focus on one, so they will want to see that you’re focused, too. If you can’t pick between your various writing projects, are you ready to take the next step in your publishing journey? Focus and realistic expectations are important pieces of the puzzle when you’re a professional writer.
Be patient, and truly examine all the writing projects you are considering sending to a potential agent or publishing house editor. Pick your favorite—the one you feel most passionate about, or the one you feel is most marketable. (Ideally, the project will be both!) Then submit that and put the others on the back burner. All of your writing projects may have their time in the sun, so be patient.
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