When Melody [WCWF President] reached out and asked me to write something for the blog, the only thing on my mind these days is the process of “querying” i.e. pitching literary agents for my debut novel. It’s probably too soon to say that I’m fully in the querying trenches, and it feels a bit presumptuous to even write about this experience while going through it, but I’m going to put this into the universe:
I’m looking for a literary agent who believes in my book. I’m looking for someone who will be a solid business partner and who will sell my book to the right editor who also sees the same vision for this book that we do. I want to work with someone who will see my novel in conversation with other novels and writers whom I also see my book in conversation with. I want someone who will want to be part of my career with next projects and who will champion my work and help me navigate everything that comes with publishing and launching books.
Even though I have an MFA in fiction from a respected program, the business side of writing wasn’t emphasized in the years I studied there.
We focused on craft. We focused on making art. And I loved it.
This was pre-social media, when there seemed to be more mystique about the publishing world (at least for me and my colleagues). And aside from some advice and encouragement about post-grad fellowships and submitting to lit mags, we didn’t discuss the process of finding an agent, mostly because I think the program wanted to protect the artist and keep the business side of things separate. I remember meeting an agent at an artist residency years ago when I was finishing my MFA thesis (a different novel) and feeling totally unprepared to have a conversation about my work.
But here I am now, with an 85,000-word debut upmarket novel with book club potential. Trusted mentors and colleagues have advised me that it’s a work that should and can follow a traditional publishing route. It’s important to note that as an artist, I did not strategize or plan this. I didn’t build a brand or write a book for the market.
I wrote the book I wanted to write.
I wrote the story I was obsessed with.
I’ve spent four years working on this manuscript and participated in many different fiction workshops, receiving feedback on the novel-in-progress from a variety of other writers. I even participated in a full draft workshop through Writing by Writers, where I received feedback on the full project in one fell swoop rather than workshopping it in chunks. After all of the workshops and revisions, I had a handful of trusted friends/readers from my writing community read the manuscript before I started reaching out to agents.
WHEN do you query fiction? (The advice I followed)
- Debut novels need to be complete manuscripts, not drafts, in order to formally start querying agents. Have you taken it as far as you can?
- Know your genre. Where would your book sit on the shelf?
- What comp titles is your book in conversation with? Read widely in your genre. Listen to and participate as much as you can in book launches and interviews with writers you admire.
Tidbits that helped me prepare to query
- Reading widely, and in my genre (literary/upmarket) (and knowing what genre my novel is), and noting who my favorite writers thank in their acknowledgements. They almost always thank their agents.
- Attending writing conferences that offer meetings with literary agents. I was just at Litfest in Denver (put on by Lighthouse Writers), where I had a great meeting with an agent and attended some business panels. Many conferences will ask for your query letter and pages a month ahead of time, which can be a useful exercise if you aren’t ready to query but would like agent feedback on a letter and pages.
- Finding your people: There’s a lot of fantastic info out there on writing the perfect query letter and navigating the process. I love the guidance of writer Courtney Maum, author of Before and After the Book Deal. In addition to her book, Courtney also has an awesome Substack.
- As my family can attest, I have listened to hours and hours of the podcast “The Shit No One Tells You About Writing” where literary agents read query letters live and give valuable feedback.
- An incredibly useful tool for figuring out WHO to query: Publisher’s Marketplace. I didn’t allow myself a subscription until my book was ready, and it has proved to be a valuable tool in accessing the daily deals in the industry and using the search features provided.
- I listen weekly to several literary podcasts and draw a lot of information about the publishing industry through these. I love Brad Listi’s interviews on Other PPL, and First Draft: A Dialogue on Writing with Mitzi Rapkin.
In today’s publishing climate, it isn’t easy to break through, so in the end, I’m trying to just lean in and enjoy the journey. It’s a privilege to make art and put it out there. It’s a privilege to receive rejection and feedback–how else do we improve, and how else do we find the right fit? Cheers to you if you are also going through this too. I’d love to connect, and I’ll be giving a talk on this and more at Writer’s Night on August 5, 2025!
Paige Kaptuch is a writer based in Western Colorado. Her work has appeared in Runner’s World/Apple News Narrated, The Forge Literary Magazine, Swamp Pink, Epiphany, Door is a Jar, Masters Review and Hayden’s Ferry Review, and has been nominated for a Best Small Fictions and Longreads Top Five. She has an MFA in fiction from the University of Arizona and was named a 2025 Tennessee Williams Scholar in Fiction at the Sewanee Writers Conference. Her work has received support from the Virigina Center for the Creative Arts, The Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, Wildacres, Foundation House, PLAYA Summer Lake, The Volland Foundation, Jentel, and Vermont Studio Center. She’s at work on a novel.
