QueryTo Society Papers, Vol. 25: War Widows, Literary Matches & the QuestPit Numbers

Dearest Querying Community,

Without further ado, pull up a chair and pour yourself a cup of tea. It is time for The QueryTo Society Papers, Volume 25.

The literary marriage market has been particularly lively this week. We have debutantes collecting rejections in quantities that would alarm a reasonable person, manuscripts returning from the front, new literary alliances, and an extraordinary number of writers who appear to believe that refreshing their inboxes constitutes a productive afternoon.

And then, of course, there is QuestPit.

We have brought spreadsheets. Several, actually.

But first, we should like to note that debutantes with manuscripts in romance, romantasy, fantasy, historical fiction, speculative fiction, and other eligible genres may wish to prepare their calling cards. Fernanda Martinez of Fernanda Literary remains open to queries through QueryTo. We recommend checking her interests before making an introduction.

Whispers from the Query Trenches

There are two types of debutantes. Those who, after firing off thirty queries and receiving thirty rejections, march into the public square, clear their throats, and deliver a stirring farewell address announcing their permanent retirement from the literary marriage market. There are tears. There are speeches. Someone has brought a violin.

And then there is @veejohare, who apparently looked at thirty rejections and thought, Light work. Following yet another full manuscript request, our lady has published her querying ledger: “400+ queries sent,” “350+ rejections or CNRs,” “36 agent requests,” and “5x editor interest (including Big Five).” We should note that the literary marriage market has several perfectly serviceable exits. @veejohare has apparently inspected every single one, nodded politely, and proceeded to send another query.

“Boy howdy I picked an interesting career path for someone with control issues and 0 patience,” observes @haileyevansauthor. We couldn't agree more, and we daresay the literary profession ought to come with a warning on its application form: Must be comfortable relinquishing all control. Must tolerate prolonged uncertainty. And above all, must not interpret silence as a personal challenge. We suspect the number of applicants would decline considerably.

@charlotte_dante_author has taken to staring wistfully out her window, “wondering when their full requests will come back from the war.” She has even begun playing “My Heart Will Go On” on the harmonica. We fear the trenches have produced an entirely new class of war widow. There is the tearful farewell, the prolonged silence, the desperate hope of a letter, and the terrible possibility that the next correspondence will begin, “Thank you so much for thinking of me.”

“for not being numbers people, querying authors are sure obsessed with stats,” writes @dr.samchung, who is attempting to stay away from QueryTracker. Surely, we can all understand why. A debutante may have no idea whether her manuscript will find representation, but she can at least calculate that she has a 4% request rate. Whether this knowledge improves her prospects is uncertain. Whether she will recalculate it tomorrow is not.

@vallovell.author has issued what we consider a most charming missed-connections announcement: “My dream agent is out there. We just haven’t met yet.” Somewhere, her future patroness is going about her business, entirely unaware that she has been cast as the romantic lead. We do hope someone remembers to inform her.

“My phone autocorrected 'query' to 'worry',” reports @aleshia.westgate.writes. We suspect her device grew tired of watching its owner check her inbox and has decided to call the activity by its proper name. We await its next correction: submission to suffering.

@kristinlatts has developed a rather touching pre-query ritual: “Kissing my manuscript on the forehead and whispering ‘please don’t embarrass me’ before sending it to agents.” We understand completely. You feed it, nurture it, correct its grammar, and sacrifice years of sleep to ensure it has every advantage. And how does it repay you? By revealing, after submission, that the romantic leads have been kissing in a chapter you deleted six months ago. Such ingratitude.

Dear debutantes, the trenches have become a military operation. @imjustseanna has donned a military helmet and shared a GIF depicting patronesses dodging incoming manuscripts with extraordinary skill. “It's rough on the frontlines...” she declares.
We're not sure what to make of this. Most soldiers are eventually rotated off the frontlines. Querying authors, on the other hand, have been known to remain at their posts long enough to finish an entirely different novel while awaiting news of the first. At this rate, they may have an entire trilogy ready before reinforcements arrive.

@ms_stephens would like to know whether the conclusion of the midterms means she is officially safe from another rejection citing “I’m not taking on works this subject matter right now.” We admire her optimism, but truth be told, publishing has a peculiar relationship with timing. Submit too early, and the subject is sensitive. Submit during the event, and it is overwhelming. Submit afterward, and someone may wonder whether the moment has passed. One begins to understand why so many debutantes turn to fantasy. At least dragons have predictable motives.

@binamariangeles has received word that her query is officially “in review” at a literary agency. One might imagine this would bring her peace. Quite the contrary. “It’s actually worse than not knowing if they’ve even opened it yet,” she confesses, having spent the hours since refreshing her inbox. We liken it to receiving a note from a potential suitor reading, Madam, I have begun forming an opinion of you. Further correspondence may follow. A most encouraging development, certainly. One that nevertheless renders the recipient incapable of eating breakfast without checking the post.

“I'm in a bad mood and would really like a request for representation today,” declares @dr.samchung, adding her thanks to the universe in advance. The querying gods have already received offerings of husbands, prayers to the stars, and various other appeals. Now they are being given deadlines. We admire the audacity. Though we fear the gods may respond with their customary message: Thank you for your interest. Unfortunately, we must pass at this time.

Requests, Rumors & Other Encouraging Developments

@laceyolson2 has received a full manuscript request after several months of waiting. “I got a full request today (yay!),” she announces. We rejoice! One of our war widows has finally received a letter from the front. But it appears she did not spend those lonely months merely staring out of windows. Oh no.
She revised the opening chapter, moved the inciting incident forward, and now wonders whether to tell the patroness. We imagine the accompanying letter might read: Dear Patroness, you may remember this gentleman from our correspondence several months ago. Kindly disregard your previous impression of him. He has since acquired a much more interesting entrance.

Hear ye, hear ye! @kathaleengrace has received TWO approaches from literary agents through social media in ONE WEEK, including a full manuscript request. “Keep posting guys!!!” she declares.
We would like to remind debutantes that this is precisely why we keep encouraging them to share their work. We have made announcements. We have offered examples. We have practically hired a town crier. But we expect that come Wednesday, a new debutante will ask: “Does sharing agent guides on Threads actually do anything?” Fear not! We shall send the town crier again.

@akosswrites received a query rejection and declared, “I didn't even blink. Too busy being ECSTATIC ABOUT TEXAS 💙.” The querying gods evidently overheard this alarming display of emotional independence and convened an emergency meeting amongst themselves, saying: She didn't blink? Not even once? Good heavens, send her something encouraging before she finds another hobby. We are pleased to announce she subsequently received a full manuscript request.

@aitkentowrite has informed the querying gods that their usual methods of torment shall no longer work. “Publish me or don’t...I live in a blue state!” she announces, positively overflowing with hope. Thus forcing the gods to stare at their carefully prepared collection of form rejections, wondering what to do with them now. Imagine spending centuries perfecting the art of literary disappointment, only to be upstaged by an election.

“When I was querying, I loved scrolling through the success stories of writers who'd climbed the mountain before me,” recalls @byelsieraymond. Having received FOUR offers of representation for Chain Reaction, she has now published her own QueryTracker success story, complete with her querying strategy and letter. Debutantes are encouraged to visit her profile for the link. We appreciate anyone who reaches the summit and remembers to leave directions for those still climbing.

The Literary Marriage Market

A toast to @caracastro_, who is now represented by Alex Land of Mad Woman Literary Agency! “So excited to work with Alex on my NA spec romance and other projects!” she writes. Another literary match has been made, and another debutante may officially retire from the exhausting business of seeking a patroness. We trust the celebrations will be suitably extravagant.

“Guys. I'm officially agented!” announces @ava.do.author, who has found representation with Jenna Satterthwaite of Storm Literary Agency. “I would be lying if I said this wasn’t on my 2026 bingo card, but it was definitely an achievement I didn’t expect to realize.” We demand to inspect the remaining squares immediately. If one of them reads six-figure book deal, we should very much like to know where she purchased this extraordinary card.

Cidney Mayes has secured representation with Kelli Marshall at Storyteller! The author credits her new patroness's enthusiasm and vision for her dark academia fantasy, declaring, “I can’t even believe this is real life!” A toast to them. A literary partnership founded upon a shared enthusiasm for dark academia seems especially promising. We trust the celebrations will involve considerably less intrigue than the average fictional university.

Reese Sherron, known as @author_reesesherron, has announced that she is now represented by Tali Shammas of Storm Literary Agency! “Pinch me. I still cannot believe it,” she declares. The announcement is accompanied by a magnificent celebratory cake. We're delighted to see that at least one debutante has correctly understood the proper response to securing representation. One must mark the occasion with something considerably sweeter than another form rejection.

Emily Bean has secured representation with Andi Twaddle of Spencerhill Associates! Her new patroness calls her a “poster-child for tenacity” and invites the public to scroll through her social media feed for confirmation. This is a useful reminder that one never knows who may be observing one's literary endeavors. We shall now be considerably more careful about what we say during our third rejection-induced tantrum of the week.

@kathrynannkingsley has signed with Jenna Satterthwaite of Storm Literary Agency. “She's already been so fantastic, and it hasn't even been two weeks,” declares the delighted author. We are pleased to see the honeymoon proceeding so splendidly. We trust nobody has yet uttered the words perhaps we should revisit the opening chapter.

Invitations from the Patronesses

Lori Galvin of Aevitas Creative Management is once again accepting queries! Her interests include contemporary fiction, suspense, literary fiction, and more. “Please read the mswl in the querytracker link to see what I'm looking for,” she advises. A perfectly reasonable request. We nevertheless anticipate that someone, somewhere, is already preparing to send a manuscript bearing absolutely no resemblance to her stated interests.

Earlier this week, we published a list of 26 literary agents accepting queries this November. We rang the bells. We issued the invitations. We practically sent a footman to every debutante's residence.

Alas, some patronesses accept callers only during the first seven days of the month, and a few doors have already closed. The full list remains available in our roundup, 26 Literary Agents Open to Queries This November. We encourage debutantes to consult it promptly and verify current submission guidelines.

In this marriage market, one can spend six months awaiting a response but be granted only seven days to introduce oneself.

An Invitation to Improve One's Prospects

Applications for Round Table Mentor are officially open through November 20! Shout out to Amanda for recommending this event in QueryTo!

The program pairs writers with mentors for a year of manuscript revisions. Imagine having someone read your manuscript, offer thoughtful feedback, and actually expect to hear from you again.

We advise eligible writers to investigate immediately. A year of thoughtful literary companionship is a rather attractive proposition, particularly in a profession where one sometimes waits three months for an email containing eleven words.

The QuestPit Numbers Are In. And We Have Questions.

QuestPit came and went on Wednesday, and naturally, we brought a spreadsheet. Several, actually.

We collected 1,648 original posts from the November 4 event on Bluesky. After filtering out automated hashtag roundups and posts that didn't meet our analysis criteria, we were left with 1,241 posts from 550 accounts.

Those posts accumulated 40,346 likes, 14,025 reposts, and 3,236 comments. That is 57,607 interactions across the posts we analyzed.

And because we know what querying authors really want to know, we also examined literary-agent activity. We identified eight literary agents who collectively left 58 likes across 57 posts from 50 different accounts.

The Early Birds Had a Very Good Day

Posts published between midnight and 5:59 a.m. Eastern averaged 53.5 likes.

Posts published between 6 p.m. and midnight? 17.2 likes.

And the literary-agent numbers followed a similar pattern.

Nearly 9.7% of posts published in the earliest six-hour window received a like from one of the identified agents.

For posts published in the final six-hour window, that figure was 1.4%.

Four Pitches or One?

Of the 550 accounts in our analysis, 199 posted once, while 120 posted exactly four times.

4% of accounts that posted once received at least one identified agent like.

Among accounts that posted four times, that rose to 16.7%.

But the average likes per individual post? Almost identical.

Posting four times didn't mean each post received more engagement. It did mean more opportunities to be seen.

And What About the Pitches Themselves?

We examined everything from manuscript genres and stages to emoji, comparison titles, word counts, and the ways writers introduced their stories.

A few things caught our attention.

Work-in-progress pitches recorded a slightly higher identified agent-like rate than querying pitches.

Posts liked by agents were more likely to contain emoji and comp-style language than other posts. But when we compared posts with similar popularity, those differences almost disappeared.

And while every post in our analyzed sample received at least one like, 361 posts received no comments.

Apparently, hitting the heart button was considerably easier than starting a conversation.

The Investigation Continues

Sometime next week, we shall publish our full QuestPit 2026 report.

We intend to examine which genres appeared, how they performed, what the eight identified agents liked, whether posting more frequently helped, what popular pitches had in common, and how attention was distributed across the event.

There will be charts. There will be statistics. There will be methodology and caveats.

There may be an unreasonable number of spreadsheets behind all of it.

The full QuestPit 2026 report arrives sometime next week. Until then, we leave you with one observation: querying authors may claim to be terrible at mathematics, but give us 1,241 pitches and eight literary agents, and suddenly everyone has become a statistician.

And with that, dear readers, we must take our leave. The patronesses have manuscripts to consider, the debutantes have inboxes to refresh, and we have a rather alarming number of spreadsheets to attend to.

Until next Saturday, I remain...

Yours in the Trenches,
Lady QueryTo