Why Query Manager May Not Be The Best Choice

Greyhaus Literary Agency has always offered authors multiple ways to submit. Yes, can you believe it, I still look at snail mail. I have a form on my website. You can send a query directly to me at my dedicated email address for submissions. I attend conferences... in other words, contacting me is very easy. Still authors complain that it is impossible to get to agents. With that in mind, I decided to try using QUERY MANAGER which is associated with QUERY TRACKER. As of this moment, I have to say, it is horrendously failing. 

I have had information on Query Tracker for a while now. In fact, Greyhaus is on multiple sites like this. For every one of those sites, I tell people to "visit the website and make sure you project is right for you!" If you have followed this blog, you know this is something I say over and over again. I have said it on my FB site. I think I even posted it on TikTok. 

And yet, the submissions I have been receiving clearly are from authors who have not done their homework.

Authors are simply "clicking buttons."

Look, when we set up Query Manager, we have to click all of the genres we are interested in. For me, I only represent ROMANCE and WOMEN'S FICTION. But remember, there are sub-genres here which means I have to click those sub-genres as well such as Historical (hint that is Historical Romance), Suspense (hint that is Romantic Suspense), Contemporary (hint that is Contemporary Romance). 

And still, it is clear people are just clicking buttons.

Let me give you a hint of what I am seeing.

The first submission I received was from someone who has sent this same project to me 3 previous times at the agency. I rejected it the first time because it was something I did not represent. The next 2 times, I noted the days the author submitted previously and the days I rejected that same project. And what did she do? Submitted the same thing. I should note, I had 5 others just this last weekend who were attempting to submit to me projects already rejected.

I have to say, this confused me since Query Tracker was supposed to be "keeping track of your queries" to editors and agents. Apparently these authors don't pay attention.

I had another over the weekend that I thought was totally funny. In this case, the author had submitted a military/espionage project to me directly to the agency. Of course that person got a rejection. But get this. The author submitted the same project to me in Query Manager. But this time, decided to use a different name (and gender) and called it a Chick-Lit. Ummmm, no!

And these were the two that really stood out. I had projects that were in sub-genres I do not represent, and projects that, if the author had gone to my website, were on topics I just was not a fan of and probably would never acquire.

The point it, being a professional writer TAKES TIME. It TAKES WORKING AT IT. One-stop shopping sites like this are just not going to work for you. Sure, if you want to use Query Tracker, go for it, but you still need to go through all of the same things a successful author would do. Visit the agent's or editor's website. Know what they acquire. Know what they don't acquire. Know what the like. Know what they don't like.

And by the way, if you think using this site is going to keep you from having to write a query or proposal or keep you from having to write a synopsis, you are sorely mistaken. You still have to.