The Chopping Blog

Research, research, research and choose agents thoughtfully! Better to query ten to twenty agents with queries customized to them, following their submission guidelines, reflecting why you’d love to work with that agent (but don’t be creepy…) than sending a hundred “Dear Agent” copy/paste queries to the whole industry.

Every book is different – sometimes it's timely and you go out to everyone at once, trying to get a competition going, and sometimes there's just a handful of appropriate options. But I never give up. Recently I sold something that took five years.

A good manuscript catches my attention right away and does not let it go. I am most drawn to voice-driven narratives, where I find something relatable about the protagonist right away, and I find myself invested in their journey from the start. I am also most interested in stories that feel fresh, where I am learning as I read, whether what I am learning is something about the protagonist and their perspective on the world or some new world in itself.

Keep things simple and to the point. Authors are trying to attract my attention, so a simple, straight-forward email is the best way to approach me.  I don’t need bells and whistles, just simple prose with a well-considered email and a well-presented synopsis and opening three chapters.

Learn to read. Read to enjoy, but learn also to think. Thinking as you read—about what and how the author is doing to craft the story and the experience—is the most essential lesson in storytelling.

Beyond the very basics of genre/market – hook me in with something about the story; I care much more about that than I do about you at this point (sorry, but I need to fall in love with your book first). A useful sentence to keep in mind is: When A (inciting incident) happens, B (character) must do C (action) otherwise/before D (catastrophe).

When you’re reading a great submission, it feels as if you’re in a bookshop. You’ve read a cracking blurb, opened the book, read the first couple of pages, and instantly taken it to the till to buy. 

Publishing moves in cycles and an area that’s struggling this year will probably be hot next year or the year after, when the wheel of fortune turns. In any case, for me, the most successful and commercial writing doesn’t come out of following trends, but out of authors digging deep inside and producing work that has the stamp of authenticity. I would say that is the connecting thread between all the most successful books I’ve represented.

The most polished projects coming into my inbox usually have had multiple critique partners read them. Make sure you get feedback from other writers instead of friends and family who don’t know much about writing and probably won’t tell you the truth. Feedback will help you improve faster and show you the flaws in your book that you can’t spot yourself.

One of the early warning signs I’ve seen a few times is when authors tell me in their query letter that they’ve “just completed my first draft.” The issue here is that people have a warped view of what writing entails. There’s a reason this industry takes as long as it does to publish books; it requires a lot of editing, rewriting, more editing, etc.

Keep submitting, even if you get rejections. Writing is so subjective and not every agent is going to like your manuscript and request it. It doesn’t mean it’s not good or you’ll never get published. Publishing is also a waiting game. It can take a while to hear back. In the meantime, start working on something new. Always be writing and always be reading.

If it’s a non-fiction project, I’ll work with the writer to polish the proposal and ensure the sample chapters represent their best writing. For fiction, I usually won’t take it on until the writer has already been through several revisions, ideally working with a professional editor, writing critique group, and/or beta readers.