In the first post I shared how I compiled my list of agents, and in the second I explained what I used to select agents (or rank them if I had multiple agents for an agency). This third and final post is about how I send out my queries and how I keep track of them, since I’m still querying.
The selected agents I pasted onto either tab ‘A’ or tab ‘B’ in Excel. This does not mean that agents on my B list are not my favourites, but I had to split them up to create a balance for the queries I was going to send out. All of these were agents I'd like to work with. And then, when sending out my first batch, I chose to query seven agents – so I picked three from my A tab, and four from my B tab.
This is also where I started to use Excel a little less. Once I sent the query, I highlighted said agent in orange (pending). If I got a reply, I’d either change it to red or green. I think you can figure out what I mean with those colours yourself… ;-)
For me the easiest way to keep track of the agents I queried and their responses is to use QueryTracker. Seriously, people, this website is worth the sign up, and even paying to get the pro version. There’s so much information!
I work as an account manager and run a lot of reports to keep track of performance, and I absolutely love the reporting tool that they offer. I can spend hours just playing around with that. I also like the ‘comments’ part, where users can add their experiences, as well as how easy it is to select agents and add them to your list, and add the date you queried them, as well as when you received a response. QueryTracker keeps track of the days since you send your query, which comes in handy if you would like to nudge an agent after a certain amount of time (always check the agency’s website for this).
As for time between rounds: I send around one round per month, although it's increased slightly what with personalized feedback offers from agents (seriously, these are amazing opportunities!). But take your time querying -- you'll want to see how your query is doing and have time to tweak it, without having queried all your favourite agents!
And… there you go, my three steps for the querying process.
Hope it’s been of use to you, and GOOD LUCK. Don’t give up. Keep writing.
The selected agents I pasted onto either tab ‘A’ or tab ‘B’ in Excel. This does not mean that agents on my B list are not my favourites, but I had to split them up to create a balance for the queries I was going to send out. All of these were agents I'd like to work with. And then, when sending out my first batch, I chose to query seven agents – so I picked three from my A tab, and four from my B tab.
This is also where I started to use Excel a little less. Once I sent the query, I highlighted said agent in orange (pending). If I got a reply, I’d either change it to red or green. I think you can figure out what I mean with those colours yourself… ;-)
For me the easiest way to keep track of the agents I queried and their responses is to use QueryTracker. Seriously, people, this website is worth the sign up, and even paying to get the pro version. There’s so much information!
I work as an account manager and run a lot of reports to keep track of performance, and I absolutely love the reporting tool that they offer. I can spend hours just playing around with that. I also like the ‘comments’ part, where users can add their experiences, as well as how easy it is to select agents and add them to your list, and add the date you queried them, as well as when you received a response. QueryTracker keeps track of the days since you send your query, which comes in handy if you would like to nudge an agent after a certain amount of time (always check the agency’s website for this).
As for time between rounds: I send around one round per month, although it's increased slightly what with personalized feedback offers from agents (seriously, these are amazing opportunities!). But take your time querying -- you'll want to see how your query is doing and have time to tweak it, without having queried all your favourite agents!
And… there you go, my three steps for the querying process.
Hope it’s been of use to you, and GOOD LUCK. Don’t give up. Keep writing.
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