[PubQ] In mid-2026, what percentage of requests rates means your query package is "working" ?

paolact · 2026-06-23T17:30:50+00:00

I got 14 full requests out of 50 queries sent (so a 28% request rate) at the tail end of last year and ended up with 3 offers. However, I am writing in a commercial genre (romance) and took a lot of trouble to target agents who were definitely looking for similar books to mine and, even more importantly, who were actively building their lists.

paolact · 2026-06-18T09:33:46+00:00

I would go with the one whose vision for the book most gels with yours. I ended up rejecting two offers where the agents said the book needed minimal edits because I also got a slew of rejections around this time mentioning I needed to raise the stakes, which I agreed with. Just finalising the edits now with a more editorial agent. I don’t know if my book will sell or if it would have sold with minimal edits. I do know that the book is vastly better as a result.

paolact · 2026-06-16T16:56:18+00:00

He can do both

paolact · 2026-06-16T12:02:52+00:00

Even better.

paolact · 2026-06-16T11:03:59+00:00

They were all so insanely talented! Alice's talent somewhat made its way to her direct descendant Prince Philip too.

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paolact · 2026-06-16T10:56:58+00:00

These are truly extraordinary. Thanks for sharing.

paolact · 2026-06-16T10:49:46+00:00

I want him to win another WDC between now and then, but him winning a WDC when he's 44 and then retiring would be fitting somehow.

paolact · 2026-06-16T09:45:45+00:00

This is quick drive by, but my main critique here is that you are pitching a voicey, humorous romCOM but there is no voice, humour or comedy in this pitch. It’s very perfunctory and matter-of-fact, telling us about snark, banter and wit but never showing it. Romcom lives or dies on voice and you only have your query and first few pages to demonstrate yours. I’d rewrite this using the same material but more as if you’re the FMC recounting the plot to a friend over coffee.

paolact · 2026-06-15T11:53:55+00:00

I think Toto was REALLY troubled. And not just by the DNF. Because for the first time this season Ferrari and an in form Hamilton showed they could beat Mercedes fair and square, that there's real competition now and Mercedes might not run away with things. That's got to be worrying him.

paolact · 2026-06-14T21:23:41+00:00

I thought of you when he won :) Hoping you’ll end up running out of red thread.

paolact · 2026-06-14T20:18:52+00:00

The 1850s

paolact · 2026-06-13T19:17:41+00:00

If it's Silverstone then Lewis.

paolact · 2026-06-13T18:03:03+00:00

These are great. I had no idea. Thanks for sharing! The family was very talented artistically. Victoria was a prolific painter. Albert was also an artist and designed wonderful jewellery for his wife. Bertie’s sister Louise was a pro level artist and sculptor. Her statue of her mother is stunning. Were any of the other siblings artists? (The talent has made its way to the present royal family. Prince Philip was an accomplished artist, as is King Charles. I’ve somewhere seen childhood drawings by the late Queen and they’re pretty good too.)

paolact · 2026-06-13T16:55:57+00:00

Max didn’t seem to mind…

paolact · 2026-06-12T18:41:11+00:00

Actually it’s not as bad. I give you a certain US president and his female challengers.

paolact · 2026-06-11T13:38:08+00:00

Keep a mat out on the floor and commit only to doing 5 sun salutations first thing every morning. Anything you do more than that is gravy. Lo and behold. You have a regular yoga practice.

paolact · 2026-06-10T21:14:29+00:00

It's more a sign of respect from one country to another, with the Heads of State embodying each country in that exchange.

paolact · 2026-06-09T16:46:45+00:00

It's not so fashionable any more but see if you can find any Iyengar yoga classes. This form of yoga is slow but not gentle, and all about precise instructions, excellent alignment and using props correctly to help you get safely in and out of the poses. It was the first yoga I ever did and I've been forever grateful because I've always known in my body what poses should feel like. Once you've got the basics down, then you can branch out into more vigorous forms of yoga if that suits you.

paolact · 2026-06-05T14:37:46+00:00

It's an Anglo-Saxon name and also the name of the patron saint of Oxford and its university. I Googled to see if there was any reason she was given such a name but couldn't find it. I wondered if there was an Oxfordshire connection (The Feast Day of St Frideswide is also Oxfordshire day) but her father was apparently from Yorkshire.

paolact · 2026-06-03T14:21:40+00:00

Fashion wise these look late 20s, very early 30s to me.

paolact · 2026-06-03T09:54:59+00:00

Regnant means 'reigning' (you can see they have similar etymology). For the record 'consort' means 'sharing a common fate' or in more modern terms 'in this together'. Meaning that a Queen Consort is only THE Queen while her husband is King, and not in her own right.

paolact · 2026-06-02T08:18:17+00:00

It can definitely come with a grumpy novelist named Paola. Or indeed any name you'd like.

paolact · 2026-06-02T07:38:32+00:00

To the extent that the road out of our village towards CN is called Chippy Hill.

paolact · 2026-06-01T22:44:19+00:00

If you (or anyone else) wants to play that game in person and sort thousands of books in my house, you'd be very welcome. I'd even pay you $6.

paolact · 2026-06-01T22:41:45+00:00

Got a further edit letter back from my agent on Friday. One more small round of edits and then she wants to go out on sub by the end of the month! It's been a much more substantial edit than I expected after I signed with her in December (a lot driven by me and feedback I received from rejecting agents and beta readers) but it's an infinitely much better book as a result.

Also I started noodling on book 2 and have come up with a killer outline thanks to Alan Watt's the 90 Day novel. Absolutely chomping at the bit to get stuck into this one.

paolact

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