Bits O' Wisdom: Bye Bye Query

While our previous posts on query letters have covered most of the dos and don'ts, I thought I'd give a quick refresher on the top 7 sins that will get your query tossed out so fast it will make your head spin.

1. Voice
Just because you're writing a children's book, doesn't mean you should sound like one in your query. Or like a teen if you are a YA author. Inauthentic voice will make any agent cringe.

2. Open with a Question
What would you do if....?? The dots aren't for you to finish the question. They're there because the agent/editor is no longer reading.

3. TMI
If there are too many plotlines, characters, etc...the agent might feel like your story is too all over the place. You'll get the boot.

4. Cliches
Avoid them. Especially cliched plotlines. Cynical girl meets the 'right' boy and changes her mind. Or stuff like: "On that day, his/her life will be forever changed." *gags*

5. Word Vomit (not the good kind)
Going on and on won't help you. Don't mistake your query for a long winded synopsis. It's not. Stick to the basics. Hook, MC, What's at stake.

6. Bragging
Don't describe your writing. Let your voice shine through and your writing speak for itself.

7. Vampires
Unless you TRULY have a UNIQUE take on them, most agents/editors nowadays won't even read once they see that word.

Have you committed one of these sins? I've been guilty myself, I'll admit it. What others would you add to this list?

Guest Blogger Al Lamanda: Rambling Musings of the Mistakes I’ve Made Along the Way to Being Published.

**Please welcome author Al Lamanda, who is this month's guest blogger.**

You’ve sweated, stressed over, lost sleep because of, skipped meals, stood up friends and family, wrote, rewrote, gave up on, went back to, and finally finished the book you started out to write.

Finally, it’s finished. Your book. Now what?

When I first started writing, there weren’t the choices there are today. My choices were traditional publishers and that was it. Today, if you so choose, you can self-publish on a dozen different eBook publishing sites.

Before you try the eBook route, you want to take your best shot at getting you book scooped up by an agent, who will then in turn sell it for the best deal possible to a publisher. Where do you start?

Why, at the beginning, of course, because very little has changed in the world of traditional publishing. Your best chance of selling your work to a publisher is to get an agent who believes in you, and that isn’t easy. In fact, it’s very difficult. Not impossible, but difficult.

So, with that in mind, here are some of the things I did wrong and what I did to correct them along the way.

First, assuming you’ve finished your book, you must write a perfect query letter to an agent. One page or less, preferably less. An agent may receive hundreds of query letters in a week, how much time do you think will be spent on your six page rambler? My first query letter was almost seven pages. I included everything but my height and weight in it, and guess how many responses I got in return?

So what’s in a perfect query letter? Who you are, what your book is about, your contact information and a short bio of your work, if you have one. You can find many good examples of query letters on the sites I will list below. Note they are all one page or less. Practice yours until it’s the best query letter you can make it. Remember your query letter is your face, your introduction and your first impression. Make it a great one.

Now you have a query letter, so what do you do with it? Send it to an agent, of course. I mean, how could they not love it? After all, it’s your book. Right? So what I did was send my query to about five hundred agents. I figured volume query lettering would have to work if you send out enough of them. Of course, that proved to be the exact wrong thing to do.

Here’s why. If you do your homework, you’ll find that most agents represent the type of books they are interested in. So why query an agent looking for women’s fiction and tell them about you great mystery/thriller? Why query an agent looking for action/suspense with you great new western or romance novel? Do you homework and find the agents interested in your genre and query them. If you check the websites I’ve listed below, you can locate the agents interested in your genre. Those are the ones to target.

So you written the perfect query and sent them to your targeted agents and yikes, an agent wants to read your work. What now?

Simple, you do what the agent asks. Some will want to see a synopsis and first three chapters. Others will want a synopsis and the entire manuscript. Most, if not all will request a synopsis. The first time an agent asked me for a synopsis, I sent one nearly the size of my book. I never heard back. A synopsis should be two to six pages and no more. An agent doesn’t have the time to read a twenty page outline. If you had to read twenty or thirty of them a day, would you? Check the websites I list below for samples of some good synopsis writing. Practice writing yours and make sure it’s the best it can be before sending it out.

You’ve gotten this far, but you’re not there yet. When the agent asks to see your manuscript, what is expected is a manuscript formatted to industry standards. Nothing fancy in the least. Just 12 font, double spaced and as mistake free as possible. They don’t expect perfect, but they do expect industry standards and good. If the book is sold, a professional editor will take it from there. Check the websites below for samples of industry standards.

After that, it’s a waiting game. Don’t bug the agent. Normal response time is three months to get back to you, some as much as six months. After all, yours is not the only manuscript they have to read on their desk.

One final note on a doozy of a mistake I made early on. I took rejection personally. It isn’t. Resist the temptation to let that agent know what you think of their rejection notice. Rejection is just part of the business. Every reader won’t love your book and neither will every agent. Keep in mind that the agent who rejected your first book just might love your second one, but they will never read it if you make them an enemy.

Remember, when it comes to agents, it only takes one. If you don’t make the mistakes I did and your book is good enough, you will find that one.

Thanks for letting me share some of my mistakes with you and I hope they help you along your way.

http://www.agentquery.com/
http://www.guidetoliteraryagent.com/
Predators & Editors

Al Lamanda is the author of the books Dunston Falls, Walking Homeless, Running Homeless and Sunset (release date 2012.)

Query Letter Do's and Dont's

So I thought I’d start my first post with something close to my heart, or maybe close to my nightmares.  I’ve just finished my second ms and have started the editing process, and it’s time to focus on the dreaded query letter.  Now admit it, who wouldn’t be nervous to rest all their hopes of publishing the next great novel on one short letter?  You’ve only labored on your ms for months and months. Trying to sum up that work in three paragraphs is a painful process.

After much research on agent blogs and writing sites, I reached a scary conclusion—nobody agrees on what a query should be.  From the smallest parts to the main content everyone has a different expectation.  One agent might want you to keep the query to one page, or, even more definitive, 250 words, and another doesn’t care about the length.  Some want to know a little something about you and others couldn’t care less about your past if it doesn’t relate to writing.  Most agents insist you put your first pages in the body of the email, but some demand them as an attachment.  There isn’t even agreement on where to put the word count and genre information, first thing or at the end.  And one and all, they don’t care if you break all rules if your query has that awesome ‘it’ quality of voice.

Where exactly does that leave us poor writers who are just trying to impress?  How do we know if we’ve got the perfect query or a dud in the making?

Here are a few tips that may help. 

Most agents want you to concentrate the query on the storyline of the ms and leave off the personal information.  Don’t tell them your husband dared you to see if you could write a novel. Oops, guilty.  They don’t want to know, and it sounds amateurish.  Don’t include that you have three children and four dogs or that you went to Harvard.  The only personal information should be what is related to writing or publishing credits.  If you don’t have any yet, then it’s better to say nothing about yourself and don’t sweat it.

Don’t include how the novel teaches about friendship and the value of self-esteem.  Agents don’t want to hear what lessons your novel inspires, they want to be entertained and to sell books.  If the ms has lessons that’s great, but it’s not why people buy books.

When writing about the ms, be specific.  Don’t fill up space with a lot of clichés.  Avoid phrases like, "Then Lassie was confronted by more problems."  Instead try, "As Lassie made his way home, Timmy fell in the well."  Which is more exciting?  "Sarah Conner ran for her life pursued by enemies," or, "Sarah Connor fights extinction at the hands of a ruthless humanesque machine."  Putting in those details and making them enticing is crucial, just don’t give away the ending.

Lead with your main character and the hook.  Don’t bury the name of your mc in the third paragraph.  We need to know what your mc wants and what keeps them from getting it.  Motivation is important; it’s what defines your mc.  Are they motivated by pride, revenge, saving a friend, or something less heroic like saving themselves? 

Avoid throwing too many names into a query.  Giving out names for every character or country makes the query confusing.  Limit yourself to the main story plot and avoid mentioning side plots.  You’ve only got one page.

Don’t worry about giving a physical description of your characters.  Again space is important, not the fact that your mc has big blue eyes.  Personality traits trump looks in a query.

Keep your query in the present tense instead of past tense.  Avoid those ‘ed verbs. 

Include your title, genre, and word count and personalize by including why you’re submitting to that agent.   

Don’t forget to include the agent’s name after the greeting.  Put in a simple thank you and avoid gushing.  And for heaven sake, don’t freak if you make a mistake when rushed.  At one time you’re going to forget and put Mr. when you meant Ms. or leave off the requested pages or synopsis.  It happens to everyone.

It’s all right to say your ms’ style is similar to so-and-so’s fantastic novel.  Just don’t write that’s it’s as good as or sound like you’re boasting.

On the other hand, no matter what stage your career is at be sure to sound confident.  ‘I hope you will like this poor ms of little old me’ is a turnoff and putting yourself down.

Use interesting verbs and nouns.  Think of the query as an action scene from your novel.  You want to add emotion and interest. Avoid flat verbs like was/were, are, is and had.  “Kindar is a princess with a disease and she is dismissed by her family,” versus “The gods marked middle princess Kindar with a devastating disease that leaves her shunned by her family.”  

The best advice is to not be in a hurry to get the perfect query.  Take lots of time to write a first draft, put it aside for a week or a month and then look over it again.  Show it to as many people as you can.  Get all kinds of advice on your wording.  There are great sites where you can get review of your query.  Sites like Query Shark and Evil Editor post and comment on queries by industry insiders.  Phoenix Sullivan, a writer and editor, evaluates queries and has great advice at her blog.  At Agent Query Connect, you can get advice from all kinds of writers from beginners to experts.  Nathan Bransford has a forum just for query letters. 

Don’t be frightened away from getting advice.  It’s a mistake not to take advantage of it.  You might not write the perfect query, but it won’t be a bomb either.

Let me hear your pearls of wisdom on queries.  Lord knows help is welcome on this subject.  Anyone know other great sites for query reviews?

Back Away From the Ledge!

We're all going to face it at one point or another and as big as we talk about how thick our skin is or how we can handle it--the truth is that rejection hurts. We may be able to swallow the bad news right off the bat but then again we might find ourselves gazing wistfully at that ledge. Maybe a nice bridge....

Don't do it!

Instead, consider this: Most agents receive 30,000+ queries a year from writer's who are dying to be published. At most, a tenth of those actually receive requests for partials or fulls which means we're looking at a very small percentage of writers whose dreams aren't crushed during the first round. Chances are if you received some form of rejection letter, it doesn't necessarily mean you suck or that you'll never be published. It's true when they say agents really have to LOVE your story.

Does that help the pain a little? No, probably not, but it does make us feel just a teensy bit better that we aren't alone in that rejection club.

So what does it mean when you open that letter from that agent only to have your heart broken? Is there a way to read between the lines?

Honestly--unless there is a personal note somewhere on the rejection form...Nope. But after doing some research, I found these helpful tips:

• Standard Rejection Form:  Here is where we automatically assume we suck. No writing, no tips, zilch. Now isn't that something to freak out over? Don't. Remember those 30,000+ queries a year? Yeah...how many would you be able to personalize? Maybe you just need to hone your skills a bit more?
• Rejection With Advice:  Okay, so they didn't like it but at least they gave you a reason for it instead of letting your imagination run wild while you teeter dangerously on that balcony. (Or was it a bridge?)
• Rejection With A Personal Note:  So they liked it enough to write with their own pen--eh, so to speak. Still a no but this time the agent took the time (and they don't often have a lot) to give you some encouraging words. Perhaps it's a: "Not for me but hope to see something else of yours in the future." Which means they want to be subjected to the wicked way with words you have. Yay! Or a "Liked it but not sure if people will buy it." So you got a good story, unfortunately so does every other Tom, Dick and Harry. Dern.

And then finally--the golden ticket of rejection letters!

• Needs Revision but Please Submit Again:  Sure it needs work but they're willing to wait for you to make the suggested changes to make a final decision. Which means you got a second chance to win them over!

Even the greats have seen their fair of rejection. JK Rowling's beloved Harry Potter was rejected more than ten times before finally making it into print. Stephen King's Carrie was rejected more than 20 times.

Can you imagine if they'd given up? Thrown in the towel and went on to do other things with their lives? I'm feeling dizzy just thinking about it. They didn't give up and neither should you. Keep at it and hang in there when rejection comes a-calling. Keep in mind that what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger. And while it might hurt your ego, a lot, it's not the end of the world or your writing career unless you allow it to be.

I hope this has lifted your spirits and given you something to think about. Until next time...

Happy Writing!

Query Letters

That's right. Oh the horror!

But oh...the importance of them. Yes, they are important. Yes, agents really read them. Yes, they can be a pain. And, yes, there is a right and wrong way of writing one.

Unfortunately there are also dozens, if not hundreds, of books and articles that claim to 'know the art of query letters.' So it can be frustrating when you're trying to get answers to your questions because they'll be coming from so many different directions that you won't know which one to take. Believe me, I've been there. Which is why I decided to blog about it. This is not the only way to write a query letter, but I'm hoping this will put the do's and don'ts in a way you all can understand.

Alright, first things first. In order to understand what a query letter is, let's talk about what it isn't.

• It is not a resume
• It's not an opportunity to regail the agent with your ups and downs as an aspiring author
• It's not a comparison letter so don't go rambling about how you are the next Stephen King, Danielle Steele or JK Rowling.
• It's not an informal "Hey you" friendly letter
• And it's never more than one page

A query letter is simply this:

• The hook (the one line, attention grabbing line of your book that reels the agent in)
• The synopsis (the fun part, where you get to condense your 100k+word novel into one/two paragraph)
• Your biogrophy (the easiest part...it's about you!)

And it's all in a nutshell. Not an eggshell, not a coconut shell...a nutshell.

So now that you know what a query letter is and isn't, let's dive deeper.

A hook. Ah, yes, the one line that is supposed to make the agent want to read your book. It is your book's tagline. Straight to the heart of the story. No beating around the bush when it comes to the hook. That is how you write a hook. This might require some thinking though. Here's a few examples:

"Bridges of Madison County"
When Robert Kincaid drives through the heat and dust of an Iowa summer and turns into Francesca Johnson's farm lane looking for directions, the world-class photographer and the Iowa farm wife are joined in an experience that will haunt them forever.
 
"The Da Vinci Code"
A murder in the silent after-hour halls of the Louvre museum reveals a sinister plot to uncover a secret that has been protected by a clandestine society since the days of Christ.

"The Perfect Storm"
The true story of the meteorological conditions that created the "Storm of the Century" and the impact the Perfect Storm had on many of the people caught in its path; chiefly, among these are the six crew members of the swordfish boat the Andrea Gail, all of whom were lost 500 miles from home beneath rolling seas.


The second paragraph-mini synopsis. And I do mean mini. One or two paragraphs is definitely the way to go. This one is going to be trickier to do. Chances are you have a 200-300 (maybe more) page manuscript in your hands. Now you have to take that MS and condense, condense, condense, until you have a single paragraph. So here is where you must resist. Resist talking about how beautiful a blue your MC's eyes are, or how they are a family trait. How she has this quirky habit of stomping her foot every time she gets angry. How he likes to play pranks. Or even how there is this amazing tear jerking scene in chapter 7 that the agent just HAS to read. Resist! Get to the point of your story, even if you have to start with five paragraphs and work your way down.
 
And now the final paragraph. The mini bio that is all about you! Don't be scared when you get to this part. Even if you don't have any awards to brag about, or if you're not published. It's okay. Be truthful and tell the agent a little about yourself. The less you say, the more space you have for your synopsis. And please, for the love of all that's good, don't talk about your day job. Unless your character is also a nurse, teacher, or lawyer (which means you have been able to write a story that is true to the facts)...the agent doesn't really care. I know this sounds harsh, but it's true. They aren't going to say yes to your book just because you spent years in school, or because your job is super cool.
 
 
Congratulations! You've successfully written a query letter! Now for the formalities, random tips, and other stuff....
 

• Always address the agent specifically. Writing 'To Whom it May Concern' could very well wind your query in the trash or in the trash box of the agents email account. Probably on accident. So make sure you take the extra time to look up the agent and figure out if it's a Mr. or Ms. Oh man, I cannot stress enough how important this is! You do NOT want to address C. White as Mr., when in reality her name is Cornelia White.
• Please don't forget to mention the title of your book, the genre, and word count. After putting all that work, sweat and tears into your query...If you forget the title, well, wouldn't that just suck? So don't forget to do that! (oh and please note that most, if not all, agents will NOT look at first time novels that are more than 120,000 words long, so make sure of your word count before submitting)
• Don't sound like you have a stick shoved up your butt. There is a right and wrong way to write a query, but it should also carry the tone of your book. Is your novel a supernatural romance with an arrogant hero? Or maybe your heroine is a sappy love sick puppy who just got jaded. Wait! What if your novel is more mysterious? No...don't write the letter through your MC's point of view...but yes, do show your voice in it. Your style. Give that agent a taste of your writing!
• One page! One page! Single spaced, 12pt font, left margin, no paragraph indents. Extra space between paragraphs. I'm saying this because I was even freaking out about this and I don't want anyone else to wonder but feel too embarassed to ask. Also, keep in mind that when emailing your query, the fonts tend to change when pasting so sending yourself a 'preview' email might help get all the quirks out beforehand. Oh and btw...using a smaller font isn't the way to go.
• If using snail mail...include a SASE (self addressed stamped envelope) Don't use a speedy mail delivery service. It doesn't make you look more awesome than the other aspiring authors.
• Include your name and email and other contact information. Never include sample chapters unless the agent's submission guidelines say it is okay to do so. If you really, really think you need to send something, try not to send more than five pages of your novel until you get the go ahead.
• No smelly, neon colored paper. For the love of everything good...please don't do that!
• Make sure you don't compare your novel to other novels by famous authors. It's just not going to help you. Though, it is okay to let the agent know how your novel is similar to those she/he has sold.

Well, I really hope I've answered some of your questions about query letters. If you have anymore that weren't covered, feel free to leave a comment or email me directly.

Happy Writing!