Meaning the first one discussed? It’s from 2015. The guideline I remember from Janet Reid (Query Shark) was that the plot summary should max out at about 250 words; this was ~230.
How important is it to match the voice of the query to the voice of the book?
Rebecca
1 year ago
It is so helpful to see a successful example, thank you for sharing! What resources did you use to learn how to write your query?
Rebecca
1 year ago
I’ve seen stats about pitching in person being far more successful than submitting query letters. I get the elevator pitch… but what do you say next? And do you need business cards?
I think Rosiee’s example here was actually good! One paragraph for one character, one for the next. Both with their own hooks, etc., and hints at the ties between them.
I’m Very Organized so I made a spreadsheet with about 30 agents, in order of “most likely” to “least likely.” Normally this involved a lot of stalking on #MSWL to see what agents were looking for and flagging the ones who wanted something that meshed with my manuscript. I sent out queries in batches of 3 or 4 at a time, if I remember right.
I actually signed with my agent in a weird way — through that university anthology and the speed-date pitch-in-person deal. So I didn’t end up signing via my query, personally.
Maybe Rosiee or Amelinda could chime in with their stats?
SheilaS
1 year ago
Is it off-limits to add in an informal and personal line in a query letter? Is it a complete no-no.
No, I think that’s good! You don’t want to be weird about it (I think one time I said “You like chai lattes — me too!”) but you can say something that relates to your project/you that you think they might like to know (“I saw you represent xxx book, and thought you might be interested in mine” or “I just want to say I love the writing advice you share on twitter — especially the thread about xxx”).
Thanks for filling in, Alyssa!
I feel like this query is longer than what agents want these days. I’m curious about how old this query is?
Meaning the first one discussed? It’s from 2015. The guideline I remember from Janet Reid (Query Shark) was that the plot summary should max out at about 250 words; this was ~230.
Ah! I was wrong in my commentary, then. Everyone pay attention to Amelinda and ignore me.
How important is it to match the voice of the query to the voice of the book?
It is so helpful to see a successful example, thank you for sharing! What resources did you use to learn how to write your query?
I’ve seen stats about pitching in person being far more successful than submitting query letters. I get the elevator pitch… but what do you say next? And do you need business cards?
How do you know if you need to fix your pitch BEFORE showing it to an agent?
Do you send your queries to critique groups?
What are some of the most common mistakes writers make when they start querying?
Any tricks to writing multiple POV queries?
I think Rosiee’s example here was actually good! One paragraph for one character, one for the next. Both with their own hooks, etc., and hints at the ties between them.
Do you have any tips or tricks to help relieve the pressure that comes with writing something as important as The Official Query for Your Book?
Write it with music or a TV show on. Something that distracts you a little bit. I don’t know why, but that helps me.
Also, you can write out the main hooks on note cards and then go from there.
Most of the time it’s about just pounding it out and then returning to revise it into shape, though.
How did you select the agents you submitted to? And how many did you send to?
I’m Very Organized so I made a spreadsheet with about 30 agents, in order of “most likely” to “least likely.” Normally this involved a lot of stalking on #MSWL to see what agents were looking for and flagging the ones who wanted something that meshed with my manuscript. I sent out queries in batches of 3 or 4 at a time, if I remember right.
I actually signed with my agent in a weird way — through that university anthology and the speed-date pitch-in-person deal. So I didn’t end up signing via my query, personally.
Maybe Rosiee or Amelinda could chime in with their stats?
Is it off-limits to add in an informal and personal line in a query letter? Is it a complete no-no.
No, I think that’s good! You don’t want to be weird about it (I think one time I said “You like chai lattes — me too!”) but you can say something that relates to your project/you that you think they might like to know (“I saw you represent xxx book, and thought you might be interested in mine” or “I just want to say I love the writing advice you share on twitter — especially the thread about xxx”).