Comments on: Query letters that worked

By: Lynn

Lynn — Fri, 30 Aug 2013 08:57:26 +0000

Queries are so hard because there is no one way or correct way of doing one. I clicked on the link in your post and the first query I read in “query letters that worked” did everything I had read you’re not suppose to do! We’re told to avoid character soup and not to give a laundry list, yet that’s exactly what I read and the query worked for someone. It just goes to show that the query you write may not resonate with some agents, but it will with others.

By: Kevin A. Lewis

Kevin A. Lewis — Thu, 29 Aug 2013 19:45:00 +0000

Creative, snappy query style is every bit as important as good, marketable material; that plus the realization that there’s no commercial calculus on the query-reading end; all decisions are made on a whim-driven basis and subject to no rational planning process. (Well, mabe a little occasionally, but don’t factor it into your plans) So, aside from a flashy, irresistable (scratch that word-you could send some of these guys a gold ingot and still get a form autojection) query, what else can you do? Well, I’ve had great results from waving a Hand Of Glory over my keyboard at moonrise, although finding a murderer’s hand is tricky these days with everyone being so squeamish about the death penalty… At this point, most agents decide to knock off early and head for a power lunch with the parent of a 13-year-sensation who’s got a brand-new Wimpy Kid knockoff to plug. Oh, well, back to the Hand Of Glory…

By: Heather Villa

Heather Villa — Wed, 28 Aug 2013 22:16:29 +0000

Thank you for the gem of a link!
One author shared she revised her query letter over 20 times.
Not only do manuscripts beg for revisions, but so do query letters.