Found the first agent I’m going to send the new and improved, dedicated query to. FYI: I found a list of agents here.
Here’s my first quandry: I planned to submit to a publisher who requested a query, a 10 page synopsis, and 3 chapters. I buckled down and got my synopsis finished. This agent wants a query containing a one or two paragraph(!!!) synopsis and the first 3 chapters/50 pages.* Now, I love when agents will accept pages. I feel like I’ve skipped the request for a partial and gone for the good stuff. But how am I supposed to condense 10 pages into one or two paragraphs?
I wonder if the agent is referring to something more like back cover copy as opposed to a synopsis, which–as I understand–tells the entire story. Wouldn’t it be awesome if you could input some info and some website would generate award-winning, sure-to-get-pubbed back cover copy? *sigh*
Update: Sent it today. Also found a very cool website for tracking submissions and finding agents–litmatch.net**.
*Another update: I’ve adapted my query into one that includes a synopsis by using the first 2-3 paragraphs of my synopsis if they ask for a brief synopsis in the query. Maybe that will help you.
**Litmatch.net is now authoradvance.com.