Weird submission guildlines

[Carakasla]

Okay, during my mounds of research (I like to do it, leave me alone) I have come across a couple of, say, weird submission guildlines. I won't name names, but hopefully you'll help me decipher what these agents want. ('A' = Agent)

A1 wants, along with a standard query letter with genre and word count (standard), subject (uh...?), target audience (if this is a MG/YA/Adult thing, uh...helps!), and unique elements (psycho gods possessing children, dragons, decaying magic, quite advanced technology for an epic fantasy?). She also wants your vision for marketing (I dunno, social media, interviewing everyone, conventions, book signings, the whole works including signing my soul to the devil?), writing experience (none), who recommended them (Querytracker?) and if you are submitting to other agents (like, one other one? Okay, so yes).

A2 wants standard query letter, contact info, a brief bio of writing achievements (nnoooonnneeee), first four pages, and oh, a submission history (uh, 43 rejections and one partial request? Don't reject me on that!)

Oh, and if anyone else has weird submission stories, feel free to add them! I am sure lots of people have come across agent's submission guildlines and went 'Huh?!'

[bodwen]

A few agents said they want to know if the manuscript is finished or not.  Someone asked me to critique her query letter where she said she wasn't finished writing her novel yet but she thinks she's about 3/4th of the way done.

 She couldn't understand why my hair was standing on end.   

[Carakasla]

I actually heard a story from another site of someone who's friend wrote an MG novel and wrote about 24k of it and sent out a query letter (where they said their novel was 40k, their projected word count) before the book was finished, and two days later, got a full request! Apparently they scrambled to finish the book and sent it out (and it was 32k) and then the agent sent back asking if they sent her the wrong version! It was crazy! Dunno what happened next. It was BAD.

Any suggestions on those submission guidelines?

[Tabris]

subject (uh...?), "about a half-dragon and an insane goddess who would save the world, if only they felt like it today."


 target audience (if this is a MG/YA/Adult thing, uh...helps!) "female fantasy readers between ages 16 and 24"


, and unique elements (psycho gods possessing children, dragons, decaying magic, quite advanced technology for an epic fantasy?)  "a blend of high-tech and fantasy magic"


. She also wants your vision for marketing (I dunno, social media, interviewing everyone, conventions, book signings, the whole works including signing my soul to the devil?), "I will market through the novel's website and Facebook fan pages, a blog tour, blog interviews, and networking through my college alumni association."  (I hate sentences like that because it all sounds the same after a while.)

 writing experience (none) "I have been writing since age three, but this is the first novel I have submitted to literary agents"

, who recommended them (Querytracker?) "I discovered your agency through QueryTracker, and I was suitably impressed by the experiences of others in the comment section."

and if you are submitting to other agents (like, one other one? Okay, so yes). "This is a multiple submission."

A2 wants standard query letter, contact info, a brief bio of writing achievements (nnoooonnneeee), first four pages, and oh, a submission history (uh, 43 rejections and one partial request? Don't reject me on that!) "This novel has never been submitted to a publisher."  I think it's more likely that the agent wants to be sure the novel hasn't been self-published OR that you haven't already sent it to every publishing house under the sun and then thought, "I'm sure an agent would open all these doors that just got slammed in my face."

[Carakasla]

Thanks Tabris!

I just wasn't completely 100% sure and I'd rather ask and get clarifications than jump into the submissions blindly. That's part of the research!

I will make a mental note of those for when those agents come up next on my list.

[AshK]

I believe I queried someone who wanted a submission history...I answered that I'd submitted to agents only, no editors. I took it to mean the agent doesn't want a book that had already been shopped around.

[Sarah Ahiers (Falen)]

I believe I queried someone who wanted a submission history...I answered that I'd submitted to agents only, no editors. I took it to mean the agent doesn't want a book that had already been shopped around.

Yeah when i had the same thing, i also had fulls out with other agents at the time, so i just told them that the MS was under consideration by so and so agencies.