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Friday, March 25, 2011

Ready To Query TODAY? Why you should wait until APRIL


Here's a Twitter post from yesterday~ it comes from amazing agent Sarah Davies of Greenhouse Literary Agency:
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*If you're thinking of sending me a query, you might want to wait till after 31st when I'm back from Bologna. No time to answer while away.*
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That's right~ Bologna is back, and tons of agents representing children's literature (Picture Books all the way to Young Adult) will be traveling to the world's largest trade show for kiddie lit (and some will be staying for a little bit after the Fair...you can't go to Italy for business alone).
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Even if an agent on your list isn't attending, they may be communicating with others who are there, eating gelato and schmoozing to find the next big thing.
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A few facts:
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In its 48th year, the Bologna Children's Book Fair Dates are Monday, March 28 through Thursday, March 31 in Bologna, Italy.
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There will be about 1300 exhibitors from 67 countries and 4763 international professional trade representatives.
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In addition to not being able to answer queries, many agents will have follow-up work concerning copyright exchange, etc. So...you might want to give them a week or so to come home and clear out their inboxes.
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That said, there's not really a bad time to query~ the worst that can happen is that you'll have to wait. I don't know that there's any time advantage to holding off on querying, but with agent tweets like Sarah's above, you may want to wait out of courtesy to their preferences. Again, not all agents are going, but it's something to keep in mind and a good reason to justify a longer wait to hear back...though if I tell myself that they're still buying leather shoes and strolling the streets of Verona come Sepember...I probably have been no-response-equals-no rejected :)
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IN OTHER NEWS:
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Click HERE for an amazing first line contest that ends midnight, April 2. The contest is at Chersti Nieveen's blog, and you can win query critiques, books, and $$ toward the Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers Conference in Utah this June!

27 comments:

  1. Good point. I'm going away for Spring Break and wasn't planning to send out anymore queries until I return. Perfect timing. :D

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  2. Thanks for the heads up on the Book Fair, and agents' schedules. I'm *this* close to starting to query!

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  3. THanks for the links. I'll bet that Bologna fair is something awesome. Wish I could be there!

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  4. Good point. I should wait until my query is polished anyway! Thanks.

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  5. Thanks for posting this. Not that I'm querying, but that's definitely good to know!

    Have you been following the story on Natalie's blog? It's hilarious...mostly because it's ALL OVER THE PLACE! It's been a lot of fun reading everyone's responses.

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  6. Thanks for the advice, although if everyone else is holding off it might actually be a good time to submit. (Hmm ... am I over thinking this?)

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  7. A book fair in Bologna? I want to go!!! :) I'm...."ish" on querying right now. I think I'll wait until after my conference. Thanks for the info, though. Have a great weekend!

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  8. Darn it! Now I'm craving a bologna sandwich and I don't have any lunchmeat at all. Guess I'll just settle for salad--guess that's more healthy anyway.
    So guess I'll take a break and go. Not to Italy, but downstairs to fix lunch. It's about that time.

    Lee
    Tossing It Out
    Twitter hashtag: #atozchallenge

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  9. Thanks for mentioning the contest! We have so many great lines, and I can't wait to see the next entries.

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  10. Italy, oh I can dream. I LOVE Italy. :) I hope she has a fantastic time and fills up on Gelato. :)

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  11. I don't tell you enough but I LOVE your blog. It's one of my favorites. Thanks for the excellent advice.

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  12. Hi Jes, please see below for the award I gave you : :)

    http://thefarseas.blogspot.com/2011/03/lovely-blogger-award-woo.html

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  13. Hi Jess, I nominated you for a blog award. You can pick it up on my blog. Thanks for all the great info!

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  14. Thanks for the tip about the agents (though I'm still months away from querying! It's still good to know) and I loved the gelato and schmoozing comment! Heading over to Christi's blog for the contest now, cheers!

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  15. Good tip! I've been seeing a lot of them head off. Wonder if they need anybody to carry their bags... or assist with excess gelato. I could do Italy in March!

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  16. Thanks for the info... and the contest link!

    If you head over to my blog... You got a blogging award! :)

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  17. It is such an amazing book! But in Little Women Beth didn't die, and Amy was still a little girl...I remember all that happening in the 1994 film, and I was craning out for it in the book, but it never happened...weird!
    MAybe it happens in book 2, Good Wives which is set 3 years later.
    Anyhow, Jo loved the man she married in the end, so that's fine by me!

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  18. Thanks for the reminder about Bologna! Not that I'll be ready soon anyway. :)

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  19. Thanks for the tips as always Jess. I'm YEARS away from querying but it's always good to know agents' habits. :D

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  20. I would love to experience Bogogna. I've got nine queries already out that I sent last week, I guess I'll wait a little longer. It was ten but I got a quick rejection in two days by one of them!

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  21. Thanks for the post. I'll keep those dates in mind. Ah, Bologna! What a combination: Books and Italy.

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  22. This just makes me want to hop a flight ... I miss Italia! Hope the agents are rested and ready for the flood of queries that await them on their return. lol

    Thanks for the heads-up!

    EJ

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