Help with query letters?

Question

In your opinion, does it matter if you send query letters to agents that don't even live in your state? I am an aspiring author and I just don't know if that sort of thing usually matters or not.

Answer 1

The state the agent operates out of shouldn't have any bearing on your decision to query them or not. Many successful writers have never met their agents in person! However, if your book is specifically targeted for a regional audience (like the South), it wouldn't hurt to first query agents in that part of the country. But, if your novel's target demographics are not so restricted, feel free to query any agent specializing in your book's genre.

Be sure to only query agents who are members (or that abide by the ethics and standards) of the Association of Author's Representatives. There is a database of reputable literary agents at the AAR's website:

http://www.aar-online.org

Keep queries to one page. Capture the agent's attention in the first line.

Write books worth reading!

Answer 2

Most agents are located in New York where the major publishers are. You will be hard-pressed to find very many in whatever state you live in, unless it is California or New York. But you must get used to long-distance relationships. Most agents work this way. You may never even meet your agent. The closest you may get is a phone call unless you meet your agent at a book signing or some similar event. Agents are very busy and have many clients, and juggling them along with all potential candidates for representation is a very hard job! So, in short, most people send out queries to agents outside their state and are very successful with it.

Answer 3

It doesn't matter where the agent lives.  You want to submit queries to agents who can best represent the type of work you are producing.

Check out Writers Market in your local library.  They have a good section on query letters with lots of examples.

Good luck.