HOW TO WRITE A QUERY LETTER

So, you or your homeschool writer have completed and polished a manuscript, and are ready to have the story or article published. The first thing thing to do is study market guides. You can find agents and editors to query in such books as Sally Stuart’s Christian Writers’ Market Guide, Writer’s Market published by Writers Digest, and the 2013 Guide to Literary Agents edited by Chuck Sambuchino. All can be found on Amazon. For convenience, editors and agencies are presented by genre.

Each publisher or agency lists the types of fiction and/or nonfiction it handles. Follow their contact instructions. Some only accept referrals or contacts they have made at conferences. Others request a synopsis and sample chapters. Many will only accept a query letter.

So what is a query letter? It is a one-page sales pitch whose purpose is to entice the agent/editor to ask for the full manuscript. This is one's opportunity to make a good first impression. Whether by e-mail or paper mail, use Standard English and follow a business letter format.

Set up pages with one-inch margins. The lines should be single space and paragraphs should be block style. Use Times New Roman and 12 font size. Center align your letter head. List your name in slightly larger font and your contact information—address, phone number, e-mail, web address—in slightly smaller font.

Align the inner address against the left margin. Always spell the agent/editor’s name correctly and use his proper title.

The first paragraph in the query’s body is a hook that is supposed to catch the agent/editor’s attention. It needs to contain the story’s title, genre, and word count. It can mention the name of a referral, part of the story line, or some fact within the story. To show that the query isn’t a form letter, mention something gleaned while researching the company.

The second paragraph resembles a book blurb such as seen on the back of book jackets. Summarize the first quarter of the book and name the protagonist, describe a bit of the setting, reveal his inner conflict, and explain the story problem. End the paragraph with a question.

The next paragraph is the writer's bio. Tell the agent/editor why this story is different from others of its kind and why the author is the one person who can tell it. Present credits, if any. Describe work or life experience that’s pertinent to the story and how the writer can promote the book. In the last paragraph, politely thank the agent/editor then ask whether they'd like to see a synopsis or proposal and sample chapters. When sending a paper letter, be sure to include a self-addressed stamped envelop.

Then the writer waits for the listed response time. If nothing appears, send a polite e-mail with the submission’s name and date and ask whether they received the query or whether a decision had been made. Once I waited twice the allotted time before contacting an editor who had requested my manuscript. She told me her computer had died, and she lost all her data. She asked that I resubmit. I would have lost out on a publication had I not e-mailed her. So, unless requested otherwise, make contact.

The following is my idea of how L. Frank Baum might query the Acme Agency if he was looking for a home for The Wizard of Oz today:

 L. Frank Baum

1 Writers Lane

Kansas City, Kansas

L.F.Baum555@searchengine,com

www.L.FrankBaum,com

 

C.C. Smith

Acquisitions Editor
Acme Agency
121212 Park Place #4
New York, New York

February 28, 2013

Dear Mr. Smith,  (Note: Double check the title and spelling)

Your client John Rabowski recommended that I query you about my 60,000-word fantasy novel The Wizard of Oz. It is the story of Dorothy Gale, an unhappy Kansas farm girl who learns there is no place like home.

Dorothy dreams of evading her problems by escaping to a land over the rainbow that is a much happier place. To her surprise, a cyclone picks up her house and carries her to a sparkling land filled with music and flowers and happy munchkins. Though she is welcome, she misses her family and wants to go home. The only one who can help her is the great and mighty Wizard of Oz. But he lives faraway at the end of a yellow-brick road that’s fraught with dangers from winged-monkeys, witches, fighting trees, and a deadly poppy field. Can a young girl survive such obstacles and return home?

Having grown-up in Kansas and having studied American Folklore, I believe I am uniquely qualified to tell this American fairy tale. My short stories have appeared in such publications as The Story Teller Magazine and Knights and Dragons. I am on Face Book, have 3,500 Twitter followers, and receive 5,000 hits per month on my blog.

Thank you for your consideration. May I send a synopsis and sample chapters?

Yours truly,

L. Frank Baum

 

So when should a writer query? For a novice, after he/she has completed and polished his/her manuscript. It is a good idea to have others read it before submitting. Moms will love it no matter what, so find objective readers who can give sound advice. Next, we'll look at the proposal.—Quinn

What is Plot?

I’ve finished my 90,000-word novel Kokoweef. So, for the last couple of weeks, I’ve been working on a book proposal. The hard part of writing begins soon. Pitching to agents and editors.

Now that your nest is empty, you too may have dusted off that old dream of becoming a world-class novelist. But, you ask, where do I begin? With a plot and characters. These basic elements create the narrative, which consists of a beginning intent, a middle that contains a series of actions and reversals, and an end that is the logical outcome.

Let’s look at plot today. Plot isn’t the same as story. The story consists of a chronology of events. For example: She got up, grabbed some coffee, and caught the bus to work. This is all action, so it is story. Plot is the story, plus it answers the question why by using a pattern of actions and reactions. Example: Exhausted from cleaning offices all night, she overslept. She grabbed some coffee so the children could have the last of the cereal then rushed past her broken-down car to catch the bus to work. The story tells us about a woman that is late for work. Plot is revealed as we see a single mom struggling to provide for her family.

Basically, there are only two types of plots, either ones that address the physical or ones that address the mind. Physical plots are action driven and usually don’t answer any great moral or intellectual questions. They include adventure, mystery, thriller, western, sci fi. Those that address the mind are character driven. They explain ideas, human nature, relationships, beliefs, attitudes, and the search for meaning.

What fuels plot is tension. Tension in turn is created by opposition. As opposition grows, the tension grows until the narrative reaches a climax where there is some change to the main character.

Deciding on your plot is the first step in writing your novel. We’ll explore character next time.—Quinn

Do You Have a Story?

Today, I shall complete the final scene for my third adventure/suspense/speculative fiction novel. It took me about a year and a half to write Kokoweef. But the main character, Skip Jackson, had been flitting around my mind for several years before I had a plot.

How about you? Do you have a story you are longing to tell? It could be factual or fiction. It might be just for fun, and you’d never dream of sharing it with anyone except your family. Or maybe, like me, you’d want it published.

Now because of the way I am, I started by jumping in with wild enthusiasm. After I had completed a 122,000 word novel, I thought I’d read a how-to book on writing, just to confirm what a fabulous author I was. My ego deflated in about a half chapter. By the time I finished reading, I realized I had broken almost every rule there was, and I had an incoherent mess. Humbled, I spent the next couple years revising, devouring books on technique, and taking writing courses.

I found there are many classes available through colleges and universities. What fit my lifestyle were online courses where I could work at my own pace. Writers Digest offers several. A big one that is Christian is Jerry B. Jenkins Christian Writers Guild. I chose the Long Ridge Writers Group. It is secular, but there are many Christians in it and I didn’t find anything offensive.

In many areas across the country, guilds and writers conferences offer critique groups, workshops, and mentoring clinics for all levels of writing, novice through professional. Many specialize in non-fiction or particular genres like mystery or romance. A couple of the biggest Christian conferences are the American Christian Fiction Writers Conference and the Mount Hermon Christian Fiction Writers Conference. In addition to teaching, editors, authors, and teachers are on hand to give participants advice on their works in progress.

When a manuscript is ready for publication, it is time to write a proposal and find an agent or editor. The competition is stiff, so it is best to meet them face-to-face. So this fall, I am off to a conference to “pitch” Kokoweef. Wish me luck.---Quinn