Here's how my agent life stacked up in numbers for 2016:
Queries (unsolicited) rec’d:
Request rates (based on above):
This means, roughly, that I requested a partial on 6 out of every 1000, a full 8 out of every 1000, and offered on 3 out of every 1000 queries I received.
This year, I was 11% likely to request the full from a partial
I was 33% likely to make an offer on a full request
Requested genres by number:
Hot buttons: humor, science, adventure, mystery, gritty, fantasy, assassins, poison, LGBT, gothic, romance, magical realism, #ownvoice
Avg. response time: 11 weeks
THIS IS DEPLORABLE.
Months with most queries: January, August-November
Months with most requests: March-April, June-July
Most active period of offering and signing: Feb-April, June-July
My agent resolution last year was to Grow, Sell, Grow - and I really lived up to that! I was on a requesting SPREE last year; I got double the submissions but I tripled my requests and client signings. Unfortunately, I fell horribly behind in unsolicited reading and response times. Which really leads into...
My 2017 agent resolution: SELL!!!! And respond to submissions in a more timely manner. AND SELL!!!
This is so helpful. Thank you! And good luck this year!
ReplyDeleteNatalie, this is amazing information. Thank you for giving us a window into your job, and all that you balance. It's so helpful, and truly just straight-up interesting. I'm a numbers and goals girl myself.
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