Querying the Same Agent With a Different Project

If you’re going to get an agent, you may have to query more than one book. But this is fine, because if you’re going to be an author, you’re going to write more than one book. (I absolutely, 100% promise that you have more than one book in you!)

So think about writing and querying multiple manuscripts* (consecutively, not all at the same time!) as practice for when you’re writing books and your agent is submitting them to publishers. Some of them are going to get bought, others aren’t. 

If you’re writing in the same age category and genre, though, you might be wondering - is it ok to query an agent who rejected you before, for a different project?

The answer is: absolutely yes. 

When an agent rejects your query, they’re rejecting that manuscript - they’re not rejecting you as a writer. You can send them another project down the line. There are lots of stories of agents who offered representation to someone whose first manuscripts they rejected. 

So don’t throw away that agent list you made for your first project! It’s perfectly fine to use it again, although you should make sure you check to see if the agents on it are still accepting queries, and make sure they fit your story if they’ve updated their Manuscript Wishlists.

*You can definitely query multiple manuscripts at the same time—just send each agent/agency one project at a time. This works best when you’re querying two distinct projects that differ across age range and/or genre.