Pitch procrastination
25 May 2026 09:55 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
igenlodeI finally have a completed 'pitch' for Arctic Raoul, and continue to procrastinate about actually sending it off.
(I didn't want to send it in the small hours when it was completed, because that would look needy. Yesterday was a Sunday. Today turns out to be a Bank Holiday, so anything I email now will probably end up in a bigger heap of unsolicited messages than usual...)
This is for someone who was initially listed back in January as a 'new agent actively seeking clients', which was what prompted me into a renewed spasm of activity on this manuscript -- well, I think I've pretty thoroughly missed that window of opportunity! But he *does* sound too perfectly suited to give up on: he’s "looking for smart takes on genre and accessible literary fiction that engages with its social and historical context. He loves: original premises taken to surprising conclusions; epics of all genres; unique relationships; characters at odds with their time; a feel for the rhythms of the world; understated heartbreak; compassion; compelling sentences", in addition to being *English* (most of the agents highlighted in these listings are in the USA) and requesting submissions via simple email as opposed to requiring a QueryTracker account, a site which requires me to load a different browser in order to register (which may or may not work; if it doesn't then that will be another task that I need to travel in to the library to perform).
I have another possible (looking for "literary horror, suspense... genre mash-ups, whether they feature female or male protagonists. I'm also seeking historical fiction") who is at least not requesting Young Adult or 'LGBTQIA+ romance', despite being US-based, but that requires getting to grips with QueryTracker. Which I shall have to do, because it's the most common platform for agent queries, but this other agent is too good a match to miss.
Although the chances of getting any response the first time off are minuscule -- the *minimum* number of queries you're suppose to expect to send out before getting a successful reply is about eighty, and more likely several hundred. Which is an awful lot of agents to identify...
(I didn't want to send it in the small hours when it was completed, because that would look needy. Yesterday was a Sunday. Today turns out to be a Bank Holiday, so anything I email now will probably end up in a bigger heap of unsolicited messages than usual...)
This is for someone who was initially listed back in January as a 'new agent actively seeking clients', which was what prompted me into a renewed spasm of activity on this manuscript -- well, I think I've pretty thoroughly missed that window of opportunity! But he *does* sound too perfectly suited to give up on: he’s "looking for smart takes on genre and accessible literary fiction that engages with its social and historical context. He loves: original premises taken to surprising conclusions; epics of all genres; unique relationships; characters at odds with their time; a feel for the rhythms of the world; understated heartbreak; compassion; compelling sentences", in addition to being *English* (most of the agents highlighted in these listings are in the USA) and requesting submissions via simple email as opposed to requiring a QueryTracker account, a site which requires me to load a different browser in order to register (which may or may not work; if it doesn't then that will be another task that I need to travel in to the library to perform).
I have another possible (looking for "literary horror, suspense... genre mash-ups, whether they feature female or male protagonists. I'm also seeking historical fiction") who is at least not requesting Young Adult or 'LGBTQIA+ romance', despite being US-based, but that requires getting to grips with QueryTracker. Which I shall have to do, because it's the most common platform for agent queries, but this other agent is too good a match to miss.
Although the chances of getting any response the first time off are minuscule -- the *minimum* number of queries you're suppose to expect to send out before getting a successful reply is about eighty, and more likely several hundred. Which is an awful lot of agents to identify...