Query Letters

I figured since I did submissions in the last post, I'd better follow up pretty quick with the querying process. It can be kinda confusing.

The query letter can be (is) the most daunting task of getting your novel published. I'm still learning how to perfect a query letter...and I only have 1 darn completed book. (I'm already stressing the query for my next sci-fi epic novel.)

Querying is a one page letter about your book you write to agents seeking representation of your novel. Some publishers also request querying first. The basic framework of a query letter:

Paragraph 1: The Intro/Hook (Keep this paragraph only 1 or 2 sentences...I know, I know, but it's important.)

Paragraph 2: Summary of story (It's good to keep this 1 paragraph, but I've seen 2 paragraph successfully done.)

Paragraph 3: Biography (Only those things that tie to the story or you as an author. Not about your life as a kitty wrangler if the story is not about kitty wrangling.)

Closing: Say thank you for time and consideration. ENTER. ENTER. Sincerely, Your name. (Keep it professional people; no begging or bribery here.)

Most importantly, make sure you put the name of your book, word count, and genre in the query letter. This can be either in the first paragraph or last. Tip for you, not in the middle. It'll get lost.

Sounds pretty simple, right? But trust me and thousands of other querying writers, it's very hard. No cliche sentences. Interesting without being corner. Professional without boredom. Courteous without brown nosing or "bowing down to them"...and the list of "eeks" goes on.

There are some great resources to help you get started putting a query letter AND see examples of not-so-good ones:

Agent Query's "How to Write a Query"
Query Shark
Guide to Literary Agents "Successful Queries" series

Good writing all!

Unbelievable Success

I've been subbing Duty and Devotion the last few months without the request for partials and fulls I'd like. It's been a little disappointing, so early last week I was reading through the new queries on Query Shark and came across QueryTest.com in one of the comments.

I knew that my query was not as good as it could be, but I couldn't pinpoint the issue. Hmmm...maybe QueryTest might be helpful. I looked through the site and decided to upload mine and see what happened. The site was very helpful with a good response volume (13 in total).

The summary...my query sucked. And not only did QueryTest help me out with that realization, readers gave the reason why.

I went back to the drawing board and after a major revision and resubmission through the site, I sent out a new batch of agent queries and a couple publisher submissions.

Eureka!

Within the first hour (not kidding you) I got a request for full. This morning I woke up with an email from another letting me know my submission was going from the slush pile to editorial review.

If you're looking to diagnose your query, try out this great new site. Totally worth the ego deflation...at least you'll understand where you're going wrong with it.

Good writing all!