Yes, I made a pact to query 100 agents before I would quit! In fact, I probably would have kept on going had I not gotten two offers of representation by the time I hit 83 queries. (see Query 100 Agents) How did I find all those agents? How did I keep track of my submissions and responses? Here’s how:
Extensive research first
As of this date, there may be other resources, but when I was looking, I used Agent Query. The site is kept up to date, and you can narrow your search too. For example, you can search agents by genre, or agents who accept email queries. Online searchable databases are the best because anything in print risks being outdated as soon as it’s published. Agent Query also provides links to agents’ websites.
Publishers Marketplace is another excellent source. For a $20 monthly fee, you can research dozens of agents’ sales records and what publishers they sell to—both important details—in one month.
I also googled agents’ names and read online interviews so I could tailor each query to their interests. I queried established agents as well as newer ones that worked for an agency with a good track record. I looked for agents who represented fiction similar to my novel.
Keep track of everything
Word Excel was a great tool to keep track of names and what agencies they worked for, addresses, emails, and exactly what information they wanted with queries. I made a list of forty, and then started sending letters out in small batches. I marked the date that I sent the query, and when I got a response. Whenever I had free time, I did more agent research and added to my list.
I also logged comments that came with rejections from the agents who’d read a few chapters or the mss, such as “I wasn’t grabbed by the characters,” or “It didn’t draw me in as I’d hoped,” so I could see if a pattern arose that might indicate I needed to do further editing. After about four months, I trimmed the mss, tinkered with the point of view, and quickened the pace.
How often:
Typically I mailed (or emailed) a batch of 8 and then waited to see what kind of response I would get. After each string of rejections, I reworked my query letter, making it a work in progress. This is the value in not sending your query to 50 top agents right from the get-go: you lose that chance to readjust your letter.
That said, it’s really hard to wait.
Sometimes it would take three months to hear back from an agent. Some 
agents didn’t respond at all, especially to email queries. There are agents who state on their website that if you haven’t heard back from them in three weeks, assume they aren’t interested, which really sucks because you can’t help wondering if they even received your query. With sending queries USPS with a SASE, you might think you at least have a guaranteed response, but some of them never bothered to send my SASE back.
Then again, one of the agents who offered to represent me took seven months to respond.
The Query:
About the query letter itself: mine opened with a one sentence hook, followed by the genre and word count (which every agent wants up front), and then the pitch. In the pitch, I gave enough information about the main character to make the agent curious about her. It’s helpful to consider whether your story is plot or character driven.
Also, getting feedback on your query helps. A fellow writer told me I needed to add a line or two to make the agent care about the characters, which made a big difference. I also made the conflict in the story clear. I found a way to use colorful language to show what sets my writing apart. I constantly reevaluated my query it as I worked down my list, and as I did, I noticed got more requests for the manuscript.
The query letter is still the best way to get your work in front of an agent, unless you have a personal connection. I took my time writing it, and researching who to send it to.
Also Read:
Your Query: Plot or Character Driven
Sales Pitch: Query Letter
Why You Should Query 100 Agents
Linda K. Sienkiewicz is the author of In the Context of Love, about one women’s need to tell her story without shame. 
Publisher: BuddhaPuss Ink LLC
2016 Sarton Women’s Fiction Finalist
2016 Eric Hoffer Book Award Finalist
2016 Readers Favorite Book Finalist
2016 USA Book News “Best Book” Finalist
Angelica Schirrick had always suspected there was something deeply disturbing about her family, but the truth was more than she bargained for.
“With tenderness, but without blinking, Linda K. Sienkiewicz turns her eye on the predator-prey savannah of the young and still somehow hopeful.” ~ Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of the #1 NY Times Bestseller, Deep End of the Ocean
“At once a love story, a cautionary tale, and an inspirational journey.” ~ Bonnie Jo Campbell, author of National Book Award Finalist, American Salvage, and critically acclaimed Once Upon a River,and Mothers, Tell Your Daughters
Buy now: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound
Thank you for this Linda – With your permission I would like to add your blog address to a resource list I am making for my creative writing students. Also, I am taking part in a panel discussion on publishing at Bear River this year. Again, I’d like to point to this piece to help answer the question about queries. Thanks again. Joy Gaines-Friedler
Yes, please do, Joy. Hey, I was thinking about attending Bear River this year. It looks like a great conference… and I’m such a Laura Kasischke fan.
Linda, this is quite an accomplishment! I did all the things you mentioned, (and I did them for several years), yet I was still unable to snag an agent. Great job! Best of luck in the next phase!
Thanks, Shelley. Yes, it’s the next phase now that’s really got me feeling anxious. At least it’s in the hands of someone else.
Just FYI, Author Advance (formerly LitMatch) has an online submission tracker and agent information. Here’s the link:
http://www.authoradvance.com/whats-new
Oh, well, isn’t that handy?! Thanks!
Question. Can you be a bit more specific about what you mean when you say you “tinkered with the POV”? Thanks.
Sure, Susan!
The novel was written in a second-person address, so that the narrator, Angelica, addresses her long lost lover, Joe, throughout the story: You don’t know this story because it happened after you disappeared as if you’d been tied to engine block and dumped in Lake Eerie. It’s a POV that takes a little getting used to because it’s not often used. Marilynne Robinson’s GILEAD, Hamid’s THE RELUCTANT FUNDAMENTALIST, and Eudora Welty’s THE PONDER HEART are a few novels that have a second-person address, but it is more commonly used in short stories. (GILEAD is by far one of my favorite novels. I wrote a thesis on the POV because I thought it worked so well!)
The early comments I was getting from agents were along the lines of “wasn’t grabbed by the characters,” “just wasn’t engaged enough,” and “didn’t draw me in as I’d hoped.” I thought perhaps the POV was holding them at a distance. I asked one agent, and he said he’d prefer another POV, but added “that is just my opinion.” It was all the confirmation I needed, though, to switch it over to a typical first-person narrative.
Writing the novel in a second-person address was an experiment for me, I suppose, being that I studied POV and how it affects readers in my MFA program. I found I wasn’t as committed to it as I’d thought. Changing it was a hell of a lot of work, but I found I could actually do more with the story, and I grew to like it better.