How to Use My Agent Research Workbook
One of the first printables I thought of — and created — was the Agent Research Workbook. At the start of 2022, I began querying agents with my nonfiction book proposal. That query landed me my agent in February 2022.
You can read all about that journey here.
As someone whose been querying for years, and I mean YEARS, I know how nerve-wracking it can be. There's so much information to keep track of and wish lists change all the time.
I needed a method to keep everything together in one place. Research is exhausting enough. I didn't need to go crazy looking for where I stored it all.
That’s why I came up with the Agent Research Workbook. It's a place to keep all your agent information together so that when you begin drafting queries, it's ready to go.
Keep reading for the best way to use the Agent Research Workbook for your querying journey
Welcome to the querying trenches
Anyone who isn’t a writer will never understand what it’s like to enter the querying trenches. Submitting your work for others to read and critique is one of the most vulnerable things you can do as a writer. But if you want to add the title “Author” to your bio, it must be done.
This journey is going to be long. Most agents take 4-6 weeks to respond to queries. You’re going to get rejected. You’re going to get excited when you get your first full or partial request. And you’re going to obsessively check your email for responses.
Want to know how to not drive yourself crazy while querying? Check out this post for seven tips.
But before you can even begin to submit queries, you need to do some serious research.
Master Agent List
The Master Agent List is a page dedicated to brain-dumping all the agents you want to research. You may or may not submit to every single of them, but you want them on your radar.
So how do you know what agents are looking for?
QueryTracker and AgentQuery are databases filled with thousands of agents. They’re both user-friendly and available for free. Paid memberships do give you a bit more features, but I find they’re best for name gathering.
When looking for a list of agents, use one or both of these sites to search for people seeking your exact genre. You can find a list by selecting your genre. The database will then show you all the agents currently accepting that one.
Use the Master Agent List to write down as many agents as you can. Make sure to check the countries they're from. These two sites list agents from across the globe. This isn’t to say you can’t submit to agents in the United Kingdom or Canada. But to start, you may want to stick with your country.
Agent Information Page
Once you have the Master Agent List filled or partially filled, it’s time to do some hefty research. There are five Agent Information Pages available in the workbook, but you print out as many as you need.
This is where you’ll put each agent’s specific guidelines. Every agent will have different rules to follow so it’s important you read and note down them thoroughly.
Two agents from the same agency may have different guidelines. Or the agency as a whole will have one set of guidelines.
Is your head spinning already? Don’t panic. Just take things one step, one agent, at a time.
You’ll find Submission Guidelines on all agency websites. That’s the first place you should start gathering information from. Then you’ll want to read the bio of the agent you’re interested in. They may provide some more details about what exactly they’re looking for at the moment.
PRO TIP: If an agent is seeking Women’s Fiction with a focus on mother/daughter relationships and your book is Women’s Fiction but not that specific theme, go ahead and send it anyway. That’s just something they’re asking for. It doesn’t mean they may not fall in love with your book. Many agents say they don’t know what they’re looking for until they read it.
Outside of the agency website, here are some other places you can visit to gather information:
Agent personal websites
Agent and/or agency social media accounts
In this digital age, it can be easy to fall down a research rabbit hole. This workbook is meant to keep you on track. Once you have all the information written down, move on to the next agent.
Information Breakdown
The last page of the workbook is an Information Breakdown. This explains why you’re gathering the information you are. It’s pretty self-explanatory. But I wanted to include it because again not every agent will ask for the same thing.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many agents should I research before submitting?
I always researched a total of 40 agents at a time. This way when I started submitting, I would send 10 queries a week. 10 queries x 4 weeks = 1 month of queries. You don’t have to follow the same method, but I would cap out your search at 40. More than that and you run the risk of spending too much time researching and not enough time querying.
Should I create a Top 10 list of dream agents?
Unpopular opinion: I actually don’t like the idea of “dream” agents. I say this because most people’s dream agents are those who have a ton of clients and have been doing it for years. This isn’t to say you can’t land a dream agent, but they’re very picky about taking on new clients. If you have certain agents you want to send to first, that’s fine. But shift your mindset away from your “dream agent” because the agent you end up with may be the one you never thought of.
How long should I wait to follow up?
Many agencies will list their response times on their websites. The most common is 4-6 weeks, though it may take longer. This is where you need to read the guidelines carefully. Some agencies will encourage you to follow up if you haven’t heard back in a certain amount of time. Others will discourage following up as their response time may vary. Again, note down what you read on the Agent Information Page. And no matter what follow the submission guidelines to the letter.
If you’re about to embark on the querying process, I wish you all the luck in the world. It’s not easy and it takes a lot of patience and grit. But somewhere out there an agent is waiting for your story and they will see it when the time is right.
Until then, make sure you grab a copy of my Agent Research Workbook so you can start getting your research underway.
And if you haven’t already, sign up for my email list. I’ve got a really cool announcement coming soon. It’s a service created specifically for writers about to query. So if you want to be the first to know — and get first dibs on it — sign up for my email list here.
Good luck!
