A query letter may be sent separately, before you send in your entire proposal, or it may take the form of a cover letter. It can be sent via email (check to make sure your intended recipient – agent or editor – accepts email format!), or hard copy. A query letter is your pitch…the what, why, and how’s of your story. What makes a good query letter? 1. A compelling, succinct first paragraph hook (aka, premise/big bang) 2. A summary of your book in two-three sentences 3. An explanation of where your manuscript fits into the publishing world 4. Who you are and why you can successfully pull off this book 5. The mechanics of the manuscript – where you’re at in production. Again, I cover this in […]
Read the RestTag Archives | Proposal
The Knock on the door: Query Letters!
Now that you are tying up your threads for your synopsis, and packing it with a punch, have written those amazing sample chapters…now it’s time to put it in a cheery, compelling package and knock on the agent’s door. Aka: the Query letter. A query letter is that first meeting, (unless, of course, you meet at a conference!), where you pitch your idea to an editor. It’s what will get your toe in the door, so it has to be something that makes the editor take notice, and shows them how your book will be the Next Hot Thing. What makes a good Query Letter? Let’s take it apart…. 1.. A compelling, succinct first paragraph hook 2.. A summary of your book in 2-3 sentences 3.. Where […]
Read the RestGive me a sample! (Sample Chapters)
Let’s talk just a moment about Sample Chapters. Every proposal package include sample chapters for the story you are proposing. Even if you are a multi-published author, you will have to write sample chapters for new contracts with new publishers, so it is wise to learn how to write them now. There are so many elements to writing decent sample chapters, and we’ve covered most of those topics over the past year, but I felt we needed to touch on them in order to fully cover the proposal package. When new authors read “Sample Chapters” in the submission requirements of an editor or publisher’s website, sometimes they are tempted to think… “I’ll pick my BEST chapters…chapter one, chapter eight, and chapter twenty-two.” Delete that thought. Editors DO […]
Read the RestHighlight it! Synopsis writing day 4
It’s Christmas decorating day here at the Warrens – I love it when our house goes from dreary to dazzle! We already have the red wall, and I jazz up the rest of the house with ribbons and ornaments and pine boughs, suddenly the season doesn’t seem so…filled with to-do lists. It seems, well, jolly. Color adds life! Yesterday, we talked about adding color WORDS to your synopsis. Today I want you to add actual color. When I first started writing a synopsis, it felt so…overwhelming. Weaving in all those threads, and helping my editor see the main plot, as well as knowing whether I’d sufficiently explained all the turning points and the black moment…arrgh! For example…through your synopsis, you should have three different story threads […]
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