Ready To Query?

When you're at the querying stage it is important to take note of good advice.

Check out http://daniel-kaye.blogspot.ie/ for excellent advice re: social media and writing in general.

Check out Mike Wells' blog for some great tips about landing a good literary agent. Mike Well's Blog

Just to add to the above and follow on from my last tip, I'd like to share some more advice.

See if the agent/publisher you are querying has a regularily updated blog. You may find more useful information by checking their page. Also, see if they're on twitter, they may post helpful hints as to the genre they are accepting, at the time you're ready to query. It could save wasting your and their time by sending work that may be on their general submissions guidelines, but specifically they want the fifth genre down the list because they are inundated with the others.

Also, they may share information as to what stage they're at in relation to current queries. For example if their submission guidelines say to allow six to eight weeks before they let you know and the date six/eight weeks on is highlighted on your calender, before you send a follow up, check their blog/twitter/facebook. Here, they may be more likely to share that they're actally twelve weeks behind. This helps you plan your follow-up query in a more timely manner - and you'd never know you might hear in the meantime.

Of course, I am not advocating stalking any agent or publisher but, if they are good enough to share the above information on a public forum it would be silly not to make use of it.

Happy writing and happy querying.