We Haven't Got What it Takes
M ost blogging literary agents discuss the proper way to write a query letter at some point or another. Some literary agents dedicate their blogs to that purpose, reviewing query letters and redlining anything they see wrong. Authors seeking publication seem to hang on every word. However, in response to a post by Rachelle Gardner that stated that she had received 10,000 query letters last year and had taken on 0 new clients as a result of those query letters, an Anonymous commenter said: That's why it's so funny - it's like the lie has been put to the whole query thing. What I always thought I knew instinctively about this aspect of publishing is true - the query system is a fruitless endeavor. The stats bear this out. All the blog posts, and all the discussion, and all the fussing about what particular agents prefer in a query - it amounts to nothing. It demonstrably amounts to nothing, according to these statistics. There is a little truth in what this person said. ...