Yes, I know it’s been a month and a half since my last
update where I immediately fell on my face. That was painful but instructive,
and I’ve since fine-tuned the opening of my story.
But that’s not what took me a month and a half. No, I’ve
been revising (and revising and revising and revising) my query letter.
The query letter – well, email these days, yes, stay with me
– is the writer’s initial introduction to an agent. This is very much a
business correspondence as opposed to a creative endeavor, so I rolled up my
sleeves and dug into the nuts and bolts of a query letter. Turns out there’s
not a lot of mystery around it. Generally, here’s what everyone expects:
- Opening salutations with the essentials: the story’s genre and word count, and why you’re writing that agent specifically. Yeah, form letters aren’t going to cut it.
- Story pitch: A synopsis that touches on the characters and stakes, and includes a hook that makes the reader want to learn more. Oh, and maybe call out a few well-known titles that are similar in tone and scope to your story, too. If you’re picturing the write-up on the back cover or inside flap, you have the right idea.
- The wrap-up: A bit about yourself, any pertinent experience or awards, etc. Thank the agent for his or her time, and you’re out.
So, that. In about 400 words.
Here’s the thing: The query letter is also very much your
first impression. And I desperately want to avoid botching my first impression,
so I tinkered and tinkered and tinkered and then showed the letter to some
people and revised based on their feedback and tinkered and tinkered again. Suddenly it’s six weeks later.
That’s all good, because the first bunch of queries are out
the door. If I get a good response, I'll post my query letter for anyone bumbling through this process. And if not... more tinkering!
Fingers crossed.
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