Writing a 50,000
word novel: easy peasy (Well, not exactly).
Writing a one page query letter: Impossible.
Anyone else feel
this way? Have you spent hours and hours
perfecting your query letter, only to get feedback that it’s boring or too much
like a summary or too gimmicky?
Yeah, it happens to
the best of us.
I’d say don’t stress
about it, but your query letter might be your only chance to make a first
impression for agents.
So do we panic now?
Of course not (Okay
maybe a little).
I’ve started a new
yahoo group to help with the querying process. Basically, it’s a bunch of
people serious about their query letters and serious about helping others with
their query letters.
While we might not
have any query experts, we have eyes. Eyes to see and evaluate queries. We have
several people set up to be mock agents. (You can sign up to be one too!)
Basically, you send your query package to them and they evaluate it. It’s sort
of like sending it to a real agent, but
a.
none of our mock agents can represent your work
and
b.
the mock
agents give feedback.
Here’s the link:
Join us!
This is a great idea! We all could use help with those evil queries.
ReplyDeleteGood idea. There's a website called AgentQueryConnect. One of its main forums is critiquing query letters. Might want to take a look at it if you haven't already.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea! I'm off to join :)
ReplyDeleteQuery letters ARE tough, especially for epic fantasy! It's definitely a process, but once that pitch is done I feel very accomplished. ;)
ReplyDeleteWhat a cool idea! My CP and one of my betas are awesome at rewriting my queries. :D
ReplyDeleteIf you think writing queries is tough, you should see writing blurbs for books. I'm taking a workshop on writing them. Man, it's tough!!!
Did you intentionally make the title similar to "Cutie Mark Crusaders"? Because if so I think you're really cool now.
ReplyDeleteAwesome idea! Writing queries are definitely hard, but the more feedback you get, the better your query will be. Best of luck with your writing journey!
ReplyDeleteQueries can be tricky for sure! Query Shark is my absolute favorite agent blog on the matter. I once spent several weeks reading through several years of her blog posts, and my life as it pertains to queries changed forever. No joke!
ReplyDeleteNice idea. Good luck with it! They're definitely one of the hardest things to nail.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great idea! Why is 50k words so easy compared to 250? :)
ReplyDelete