Agents, Queries, and Rejections

It's a good thing I have a thick skin. I've been spending a lot of time getting my queries for potential agents to represent Huldufólk: A Modern Icelandic Folktale. Needless to say, for the uninitiated, the process is daunting even when one understands that literary agents are in the business of finding books they believe they can sell. It's as much about what the current market demands as it is about the story itself. So, my mantra? Find the right agent, and don't take the rejections personally.

It would be a mistake to take rejections to heart or view them as a reflection on the quality of the work. My God, it would be exhausting to sulk after every rejection! True, a writer pours their entire life into whatever project they're working on at the time, only to receive a three-sentence email thanking them for the submission, telling them it is a lovely work, but that it isn't a good fit. Dust oneself off and on to the next one.

I have a short list of about twenty agents I’m querying, and each query takes a significant amount of time to craft. Each agent has different requirements for what they want to see in a query letter. Some ask for a pitch or a "one-sentence sell" for the manuscript, often referred to as an "elevator pitch." Others require that, along with additional information about the author or previous works.

Some agents request a synopsis of no more than one single-spaced page or two double-spaced pages, even for a 100,000-word manuscript. Conversely, some agents want nothing more than the first few chapters or pages, while others will accept up to ten or fifteen thousand words.

At the end of the day, each agent has unique preferences, and what one agent rejects, another might accept. It’s a varied and often challenging process.

Huldufólk deserves an agent who will give it the best chance of reaching a wider audience than I can achieve on my own. I love writing, but marketing is not my forte. Huldufólk is an immersive, epic, and tender narrative that blends Icelandic folklore with the power of love and redemption when sword and shield cannot win the day. I hope it finds a home soon!