2. The Query Letter Process
If you fall asleep for the rest of my presentation, at least remember this:
Your query is a marketing tool not a synopsis
Once again, for the guy in the back:
Your query is a marketing tool not a
synopsis
3. Queries - When Should You Start?
If we’re talking about writing the query itself, anytime during the writing process for your
novel.
If you’re a plotter, see if you can write one before you start!
If you’re a pantser, see if you can write it when you start revisions
Why? No better test to see if you have a central conflict, theme and plot! If you can’t get it
down into a nutshell, you’re novel has a problem, not your query.
I began in earnest to study and work on my query several months before my MS was ready. I
used the ‘set-aside’ time, between major drafts, to do this.
But when to send it out? Not until:
You’ve finished not only revising your novel, but also copy edited and polished and it’s abso-
fricking-lutely ready for an agent to see. I had several agents request a FULL the same day I
sent the queries! Agents (in general) are acting quicker now if they’re interested. Some are still
slooow. But the smart agents (and don’t you want a smart one?) know they have to act quick.
You’ve sent your query to a few others (who’ve not read your book) for feedback.
You’ve trolled advice sites and read some truly bad ones and some stellar ones and can start
critiquing theirs well. When you start to see what works and doesn’t and can articulate it to
them, you get better with your own. Just like critiquing manuscripts.
You’ve got your list of agents ready and divided up into groups of 5-8. And this is assuming
you’ve researched these agents and determined they’d be interested in your book! It also
wouldn’t hurt to be following these agents on their blog/twitter a bit before you query. Many
blog/tweet about what makes them reject, what they’d like to see, etc.
4. Queries – What’s its purpose?
It’s ONLY purpose is to make an agent request material. That’s it. It’s not
some undertaking where you need to distill the plot of your book, give your
life story, show all the cool worldbuilding you came up with, tell them all
about your characters, etc.
Just get in and get out.
Earlier I said it’s a marketing tool, and that’s what I meant by this. You just
want to intrigue them! But not by telling them what a great writer you are,
etc. Not that kind of marketing/sales pitch. Think Back Cover Blurb
5. Elements of a Successful Query -
External
You’re querying an agent who represents your genre. Seriously. Please. Don’t
machine-gun blast agents hoping one will hit. Show you’re a professional and
have done your research and aren’t wasting their time. Yes, this takes more
time, but the payoff is better.
You’ve read their submission guidelines. I know some writers suggest always
appending the first 5 pages, but I didn’t do that. I sent exactly what the
agent specified on their website and no more.
If you do these two, you’re already doing better than a majority of other
writers querying right now. So take a deep breath and internalize that. Now
we just need to up your chances even more by focusing on the query itself
6. Elements of a Successful Query -
Internal
The time you take to craft your query shows the agent you take your writing seriously
Title (in CAPS), genre, word count somewhere
Personalized to the agent, if possible, but don’t fake it.
Hook
One paragraph that makes your story sound so compelling, they have to check your novel out.
Keep it to 250-300 words. Needs to include protagonist, his/her goal, conflict, and stakes.
List two comps (and pick these well)
Short bio. Short. And only keep it relevant to how it affects this book.
Thank them
Query tone matches the tone of your novel
Only concentrate on the first quarter of your novel (up to your Act One Turning Point)
Use paragraphs and white space effectively
7. Don’t
Address the query to Dear Sir/Madam, or Dear Agent
Talk more about yourself than your book
Tell the agent they’d be stupid not to represent you
Misspell words or use poor grammar
Make your hook a rhetorical question. Why? The answer is obvious to the
agent and takes the mystery out of it.
Send any email with an attachment unless asked
Give away the ending!
Talk about how much you’ve wanted to write or tell a cute story about your
first story written in first grade. You’re querying, ergo you’re a writer. A trap
some fall into if they feel their bio is skimpy.
Forget to tell them your title, genre and word count.
8. Let’s take a breath
Before going into more detail, know this: if you do what the previous three
slides say, you’re in the top 10% already.
Boom!
Nice, huh?
Disclaimer: that percentage is not scientific but what I’ve seen bandied about
by agents. 9 times out of 10 a query that lands in their inbox is an automatic
rejection before they’ve even read the whole query. Mainly, queries get
rejected when it’s not a genre they represent, they have no clue what the
story’s about, it’s obvious you bulk sent your query, poor writing, etc.
9. What does this mean?
It means if you’ve been panicking about seeing statistics from agencies
regarding number of requests vs number of queries, keep the previous point
in mind!
They’re throwing out 90% of queries right off the top, which puts you in a much
smaller pool of candidates
Now you just need to find the agent that is a potential match for your book
and you.
It also means your query letter doesn’t have to be perfect. Get those
essentials across in a professional, well-written way, and if it sounds up their
alley, they’ll request.
Feel better now?
10. So What Do I Mean by Hook?
One sentence, but no more than 40 words or so, that quickly conveys what
your novel is about and makes an agent want to read more
Answers the question: What is your book about?
Mimics tone of novel
Weaves in the protagonist
Bonus points if you can infuse it with irony.
11. Story Paragraph
250-300 words
Setup
Protagonist, slip in age or occupation if you can
Setting/Story World (essential if sci-fi/fantasy)
Catalyst (Inciting Incident) that leads to the conflict
What do they want? What’s their quest/goal? Sometimes this is a vague want/wish that
then gets sharpened to a specific goal when the conflict comes onto the scene.
Conflict (what/who stands in their way)
Not all conflicts. What’s the central conflict? A lot of times this is introduced by “but
when…”
Who stands in the way of their goal/quest?
This becomes the Story Question—Will s/he overcome [obstacle] and get/find [goal]? This
drives all your scenes in Act Two up until the Climax/Resolution, which then answers the
question, i.e. “Yes” “Yes, but”, “No” etc.
Consequences
What’s at Stake? (what happens if they don’t succeed?) “Now she must ___ or ___”
12.
13. Polish Your Query
Spend time doing the same polishing techniques as you would do with your
novel
Look for redundant words
Look for throwaway words
Look for vague/weasel words
See if you can use stronger verbs (but don’t get too writerly)
Tighten phrasing. Can you get away with one word there instead of two or three.
Check your spelling and grammar
Why?
If they see stuff like this in your query, they’re going to assume it’s in your MS
14. Strategies
Send in blocks of 5 agents at a time; 7-8 at the most.
Why? You want to be able to adjust strategy by response
On my first round, I submitted to 15 agents (actually 18, but the other 3 were
live pitches) and I had 3 requests, which was a 20% success rate, which is
pretty good. When those 3, and the 3 pitch agents rejected it, I knew not to
continue querying, though I DID know my query worked. I did another Beta
round and polished, polished, polished my manuscript.
Second round, blow-by-blow.
Day 2: 8 queried, 2 requests
Day 9: 42 queried, 3 requests, 7 query rejections, 2 MS rejections, and 1 partial
converted to a full
Day 10: 3 more queried, 1 request, and first offer! (ended with 3)
Summary up to First Offer: 53 queried, 6 requests, 7 query rejections=46% success
rate
