I like to find out as much as I can about an agent before querying him/her, and one of the things I look at is his or her "favorite books" list.
Of course, nearly everyone has Hunger Games on their list (and rightfully so, it's an amazing book) but there are a few other books that hit the favorites list pretty often, and one of those books is one that I HAAAAAAAAAAAAAATED. Seriously, like, gouge my eyes out hated it.
When I see that book on an agent's favorites list, no matter what else is on their list, I worry that there is no possible way that we'll see eye to eye about anything, and I do a lot more research before deciding whether to query or not.
What about you? Does an agent's favorites list make or break your decision to query them?
Past Missteps
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Several years ago, when I was much stupider, I briefly interned for a
reasonably well-known agent. I let her know ahead of time that I had a
v...
2 months ago
Not at all. I think it does mean that you have a different eye. Plus if you worked with them, you'd have to hold it in when that particular book pops up.
ReplyDeleteNo. I know that agents are salespeople, too, and sometimes you gotta sell some crap to pay for the good stuff. At least that's what I tell myself.
ReplyDeleteIt can be a factor, but very rarely. If I'm trying to query my literary fiction book and the agent says they like literary fiction but list their favorite authors as Stephenie Meyer and Jodi Picoult (I know I murdered the spelling of those names), I'll probably query anyway, but be pretty perplexed as I do. Now, if they say they love Geraldine Brooks - who is closer to my genre but whose books I HATE - that wouldn't stop me at all.
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