Friday Night At The Question Emporium 4

I love your blog, and I would love to query you, but unfortunately I don't write mysteries. I do have a question, and I am hopeful that you will be able to answer me in your usual straightforward, no-nonsense manner. I'm not good at making up hypotheticals, so I'll just use my own example.

I have an urban fantasy novel for which I'm trying to find an agent. Of course I'm querying the normal run of agents who rep fantasy, but what about branching out from there? I know urban fantasy isn't a new genre, but it is one that seems to be gaining popularity. Could I target agents who rep commercial fiction? Or what about agents who want action with a strong female protagonist? Am I shooting myself in the foot by querying those agents too? Or what about Stephany Evans, of your own agency, who is interested in women's sports. My female protagonist is a marathoner. Would I be stupid to query someone who might want to read about someone who shares their same interests, even though it's outside their wheel house? I mean, look at Jeff Somers, who even said he thought his book was sci fi. He won you over with great writing, I'm sure, but did he pitch it as a thriller? If I'm querying someone where my work isn't usually what they rep, should I pitch it as something they might rep, and slide the whole paranormal angle in there later?

Am I wasting time I could be spending sending query letters by just asking you this question?

Thank you for your time.

First, Stephany Evans represents a lot more than women's sports books. She discovered and launched Emily Giffin just for starters. She recently sold, at auction, Single Undead Female, a book I'm salivating to read. You'd do well to query her.

I think you should query everyone who represents fiction. Your job is not to keep an agent's slush pile manageable. Your job is to write such an enticing query letter that someone who hasn't liked urban fantasy before will want to read your work.

I've actually done that myself. I took on a debut YA author recently cause her book was so marvelous I just had to have it. I had a lot of fun calling up new editors and introducing myself and the book.

Obviously you don't query agents who only handle non-fiction, but everyone else is fair game. If they get annoyed cause they don't handle urban fantasy so what. They weren't going to take it anyway. (Notice that very few if any of the posts marked "annoy me" are about people querying me for something I don't represent)

Your job is to write well and query widely.