The Querying Timeline (Plus When to Nudge)
Getting responses to your queries can take a long time.
If you’re an agent, and you’re getting hundreds of queries a month, and you have clients to work with, and you probably have a day job as well that’s paying the bills, reading queries is probably not your top priority.
So when querying, you need to be patient and understand that when the average response time for an agent is 6-12 weeks, there’s a reason for that!
How do I know how long an agent takes?
Many agents will state on their bios, in their Query Manager forms, or in their email auto-replies how long they’re currently taking to get to queries.
Another resource you can use to gauge response times is QueryTracker. Querytracker.com is a subscription site ($25/year) that also has free functionality. It lets you see the average response time of agents who use QueryManager (and if you pay, it lets you see the query “queue,” with your query highlighted in the agent’s timeline - we’ll have a Query Tracker how-to post soon).
If I get a full request, I’ll hear back right away, right?
Wrong. Many agents say that their average response time for requested materials, including full manuscripts, is several months (three months is the common average I’ve seen thrown around).
So when is it ok to check in? `
If an agent who promises a response to all queries has not gotten back to you in their stated time frame, it’s ok to send a polite nudge asking them if they received your materials. It’s possible that your query got lost in the shuffle, or that it was closed out and a response was mistakenly not sent. I generally set this benchmark around three months.
Follow up the way you sent your query - via email (sent as a response to your initial emailed query, so that it shows up below your nudge email) or via Query Manager (which has a form you can fill out to ask an agent a question).
If you’ve sent in a full or partial and haven’t heard back in three months, go ahead and nudge, again sending the nudge the same way you sent the requested material.
Here’s a template you can use to (email) nudge agents:
Subject line: Checking on status of query: TITLE, age range/genre
Dear AGENT:
I am writing to check on the status of my query for TITLE, submitted on DATE. For your ease of reference, I have re-pasted my query materials below. Please let me know if there is any more information you require from me.
Best,
YOUR NAME
*Make sure to send this as a new email. If your old email went to spam and you reply to it, the nudge will go to spam too. This is why you should re-paste your query materials!
Here’s a template you can use to nudge agents on Query Manager:
Dear AGENT:
I am writing to check on the status of my query for TITLE, submitted on DATE. Please let me know if there is any more information you require from me.
Best,
YOUR NAME
But check their Twitter before you nudge.
Many agents these days post updates on where they are in their query slush piles, and how much requested material they’ve gotten through. It’s always good to check for such an update first, because you might find that you don’t need to nudge if the agent posts that they haven’t gotten to queries or materials sent after X date yet.