Nerdology 101: Querying Update for Harem of the Heavens
Heyyy! So, this weeks topic requires some explanation for those who may not be familiar. Let’s get right into this Nerdology!
What is Harem of the Heavens?
The Harem of the Heavens (a.k.a HOTH) is the first book in a new series I want to write. It’s complete and edited already. Here’s a bit about it.
Vitals:
Word count: 87k
Genre: Romantasy - Mythological Romance
Comps: The Games Gods Play (Abigail Owen), Broken Bonds (J. Bree), The Serpent and the Wings of Night (Carrissa Broadbent), Dark Olympus (Katee Robert). (My personal favorite and the actual inspiration for the book: Record of Ragnarok (anime)).
Tropes: Why Choose/Reverse Harem (using both because it’s a Reverse Harem by premise, but the ultimate result of it turns into a Why Choose since the characters involved end up agreeing on polyfidelity), Trials, Black Cat x Golden Retriever.
More:
HOTH is a mythological romance where 5 warring pantheons have driven themselves to the brink of extinction. The lone survivor of the Mesopotamian pantheon steps in to mediate a treaty and save them from the fate that befell her pantheon. To bind her to her neutrality, the treaty dictates that she must select one god (gender neutral usage) from each pantheon to wed. To select these gods, she will hold a series of trials for each pantheon. In book 1, the Greek pantheon competes.
I’m not telling you which gods or what the other pantheons will be, but my whole goal for this series is to spotlight gods and pantheons who usually aren’t popularized in romantasy and other pop culture media. Thus, even for a pantheon as popular as the Greeks, the gods I chose are probably not the one’s you see featured in other books (HINT: Not Hades!!!!).
Okay, so what’s querying?
I don’t blame you for not knowing if you aren’t an author or industry professional—most people I’ve met who aren’t actively involved with industry don’t know. Querying is the process by which authors present their works to literary agents to seek representation. It’s also the first step to becoming traditionally published.
While I have been a self-published author for a few years now, this series feel different. To some extent, I’ve always wanted to go trad eventually (I love and support indie til the day die. It’s a perfectly valid choice even if you choose to stay indie your whole career. It just stresses my bandwidth more than I can manage effectively and that takes a toll when you’re doing it long term. Even just a few years have taken a toll on me.), but because of how commerical-friendly the premise for this one is, it also rings as something that can be merchandised beautifully by an entity with the funds to back it. My other works weren’t as commercial. So, to produce at that level and fulfill my vision for it, I would need A LOT more money than I can afford to fork out on my own. You know how has a lot more money than I do? Publishing companies. Thus, decision made.
Anyway, here’s what you need to know about querying in order to understand the stats and analysis:
When an author queries a lit agent, they must send -
A query letter containing basic metadata (most of the stuff I listed under “vitals”), a pitch paragraph (something similar to the “more” section, but usually shorter than that. The one I use in query letters is a lot more condensed), and a bio paragraph.
A synopsis (in most cases. Occassionally there’s an agent who won’t request one) containing a full description of the plot, including twists and the ending. Yup, they want ALL the spoilers.
Sample pages (again, in most cases. There’s always a rare agent who literally just wants they query letter). Usually, this is the first 1-3 chapters of a manuscript, it can be more or less though, they’ll let you know what they want on their website and wishlist.
When querying, this is the process -
Send requested materials in batches to several agents (10-15 at a time, typically)
Wait for a reply (varies a lot, but standard is 6-8 weeks)
If rejection, query more agents. If a lot of rejections (less than 10% of queries turning into requests), re-work query letter, synopsis, and opening pages)
If request, send additional pages (they give you an amount. If they want the whole manuscript, that’s a highly coveted full request, if they want some more pages but not the whole thing, that’s a still pretty freakin’ great partial request)
Wait again (varies a lot, but standard is 3 more months)
If rejection, keep querying. If the rejections pile up on full requests, you probably need to edit the manuscript more before you keep querying.
If the agent asks for a call, congrats! They’re considering offering you representation. Have the call. Then, ask for 2 weeks to make a decision. Nudge all other agents you have queries out to and talk to any who want to make offers.
Consider your choices and choose your agent.
Got it. Now, gimmie the details on where you’re at!
Total queries sent: 68
Total replies: 48
Of the replies, total requests: 4
Of the replies, total rejections: 44 (NOTE: I mark queries I make via email (since they aren’t autotracked by QueryTracker) as “closed/no response” FAST because of it keeps my anxiety from fixating on them. So, this number might be distorted by agents who are actually still considering the 23 I did that to.).
Of the requests, total replies: 2
Of the replies to requests, total requests for more material or calls: 0
Of the replies to requests, total rejections: 2
Of the rejections on requests, rejections that came with feedback: 1
Of the rejections on requests, the rejections that came with an offer of referals: 1
Of the rejections on requests, the rejections that came with nothing (otherwise known as a form rejection): 0
Queries still pending: 20
Requests still pending: 2
Numbers. Lot of em’. What do they actually tell you?
Actually, they’re tell me some good stuff. From this, I can determine the following with relative certainty:
My query letter, synopsis, and opening pages are working. No need to revise them.
1 of the 2 people who rejected me after requesting thought other people they knew would like my manuscript enough to make me an offer after reading it. While it wasn’t for that person, this reaffirms that it is commercially viable.
The 1 rejection with feedback tells me that it was a taste mismatch. To start, that agent only requested a partial (50 pages) and her feedback was that she wanted more backstory in the opening chapters. People who requested the full obviously read the same chapters and felt differently. That has nothing to do with my writing and isn’t a manuscript issue. Unless multiple people give similar feedback, it’s best not to take stuff like this to heart. The industry is subjective.
The 2 pending requests are both fulls. I probably still have a good shot with those agents because they haven’t said no yet.
I have referrals coming. I don’t know to who or when. It might be a minute before she actually sends them, but that’s good.
That’s all great. Do you think you’ll get an offer?
The reality: I don’t know. Maybe. Hopefully. Perhaps even probably, in time, since these stats are so good.
My hunch: Yes, absolutely. It could be tomorrow. It could be in a year. There’s no way of knowing when, but I do think this manuscript will be the one to get me an offer.
That’s about all for this week though! Hopefully you learned a bit about querying and got a little excited for my future works. Check back next week for more Nerdology 101. In the meantime, have a nerdy week!
