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Hi y'all, thanks for tuning in today.
This video is to give you tips, tricks, and information about how to write query letters for fiction projects.
Now, a query letter is the first contact that you'll be writing
to try to get a literary agent interested in your project.
My last video discussed why you'd want a literary agent and what they do for you,
whereas this will discuss the details on how to construct that all-important document
to try to get the attention you need.
Disclaimer first: I'm not an agent and I'm not an expert,
but I am a writer who during my time in the query trenches did get multiple full
manuscript requests and I did eventually sign with an agent, so I must know at least a little bit
about what I'm doing. Um, and I also once judged a writing contest which part of it was writing query letters,
so I will share that link with you in the video description,
so that you can look at some examples of the public feedback that I provided
and maybe get a little bit of specific information about how these letters tend to look.
First, some pre-querying basics.
Your book needs to be done. And I don't mean first draft, I mean polished,
it needs to have been read by your critique partners, edited,
and it is ready for a professional opinion.
Second, you'll want to come up with the core of your query letter,
which is your synopsis. You have to describe your book in a couple of paragraphs;
it should read something like the back of your favorite paperback.
I'm gonna go into this in more detail later, but for now you should just know
that you're gonna be setting up a basic introduction to your characters
and their situation, and show us a problem and hint at how it might be solved
in about two paragraphs. And ideally you're gonna have a really good hook
that will draw us right in and make us wanna read your book.
You're gonna want to show your synopsis to some other people
who are willing to offer their opinions.
And one really good way to get feedback on it is to have two slightly different versions at least,
two or three, and show them around.
Because if you show people just one version of your synopsis,
they tend to say stuff like, "Oh, it's good!"
but if you have two or three to choose from, people can usually explain to you which one they liked better and why,
and that is what you need to know.
Third, you're gonna start doing agent research.
You can pick a literary agent database online and use the tools
to help you find agents who represent what you write.
You can use Query Tracker, Writers Market, Association of Authors Representatives, AgentQuery,
or any other resource you prefer. Many of them have places where you can search your genre.
Always make sure you check them for warning signs of scams as well.
Fourth, make a list of some of your best possibilities
and get ready to keep track of when and whether you have contacted them.
I always just kept a private database of the agents' information,
the dates, and what their responses were,
but utilities like Query Tracker will let you keep track automatically.
A couple of optional steps:
You might consider writing a synopsis, one or two pages for your book,
because some agents do request that information,
and you may consider writing a short bio for yourself.
Some agents like that to be sent right along with their query letters or with partial responses.
And you might consider making yourself an e-mail address that's JUST for your querying.
You should probably make it some variation of your first and last name or your pen name.
And that way the agent won't be getting e-mails from an unprofessional-looking e-mail address
AND you'll always know when you have an answer if you get mail at that address.
Once you do all that stuff, you're ready to actually start querying.
Get ready to wait and get ready to be rejected.
Okay, so first: The letter starts with a greeting.
You should use the agent's name.
Do not make it an impersonal letter and don't write anything cute.
If you're unsure of the gender of the agent, use their whole name.
Don't assume gender based on a name. Look at their profile on their site if you can and be sure.
You want your letter to be personalized, and that goes beyond getting their name right.
Open by offering them your book, name your title, genre, and word count,
and throw in a sentence or so about why you think your book is appropriate for them
so they know you're paying attention to their preferences.
Then comes the meat: your synopsis.
The MOST COMMON mistake I've seen
is people trying to squeeze their whole book into a couple of paragraphs and get in every plot element. Way too much detail.
We need broad strokes.
You can't sit there and explain how your fantasy world works or give us a long history of your troubled couple's marriage.
You basically need to open with something that interests us about your character
or their situation right away and then get busy telling us where the story goes from there.
Show us a problem in the first half and hint at how it might be solved in the second.
But you don't want to be too vague either.
Clichés sometimes slide in there, and sometimes we have no idea what you're talking about
if you don't give us details. You don't want to spoil the ending,
but you need to tell us enough that we find out where it goes from here.
Beyond the synopsis, you want to close up your letter by including any RELEVANT biographical information.
You can use this paragraph to show you have some idea how your book will work
in the market--like a note about what audiences will appreciate the book and why,
and if you have any connection to the intended audience.
If you do decide to compare your book to existing books to show what's already out there that's similar,
don't compare yourself to the authors or your writing to theirs.
Just say that it'd be enjoyed by the same audiences.
And while we're at it, this is also where you may want to include any previous publishing credits
or contest wins, but if you don't have any,
don't try to include something that'll sound like you're reaching.
Don't include quotes from reviewers or ramble about how you got five stars on Amazon when you self-published
or refer to yourself as a "brilliant new voice."
The agent will want you to go away.
So, then you're closing the letter.
If the agent indicated in their submission guidelines that they want any attachments or additional material,
indicate that it's included. Tell the agent you hope to hear from them soon,
sign your name with a professional greeting,
include your contact information, and you're done.
Make sure you keep it short.
If it's more than a page when you print it out, you need to shorten your synopsis.
You're trying to prove that you can get people's attention very quickly,
so you need to keep it very brief.
So, those are the basics. You're gonna want to put that letter together,
shine it up, and make sure every letter that you send out is modified for the agent that you're sending it to,
and follow those submission guidelines to the letter.
If you send out a whole clump of queries at once, you're probably going to get a few immediate rejections,
and then on others you're probably going to be waiting quite a while for any kind of response.
Don't take this personally and don't get discouraged.
If you're doing everything right, you should start getting some partial and full manuscript requests,
and responding to those should be pretty self-explanatory.
You just have to hope that your manuscript can deliver, and that the agent is looking for something like what you wrote.
Now here are some don'ts to keep in mind.
Do not put a copyright notice on your book when you send it to an agent.
Do not respond to agents' rejections with sassy backtalk.
The publishing world is small, so other people could hear about you being a jerk,
plus it's not nice and accomplishes nothing.
Do not send a query letter asking if you can send a query letter.
Do not query agents who aren't taking new clients.
Do not attach files if you haven't been given the go-ahead.
Do not query agents who don't represent your genre, and do not tell them they should start.
If they don't represent your genre, they don't have the connections you need anyway.
Do not bug the agent with follow-ups unless it's past their usual window of response.
Do not kiss the agent's butt at any point in the information exchange. Just be polite.
Do not praise yourself--you can describe yourself and list publishing credits
or accolades you've received, but do not talk yourself up
and do not make promises about how many millions of copies your book will sell.
Do not belittle yourself or ask for them to cut you a break
because you suck at querying. Not everyone who's a good writer is a good querier,
but you need to get good enough at it to make it to requests.
Do not call your book a fictional novel. Seriously.
All right, so, that about wraps it up.
I have a version of these query tips on my website in essay format if you prefer that,
so I'm gonna leave the link in the video description.
And if there's anything that I haven't addressed in this video or on that document, you can feel free
to leave any comments, questions, or requests in my YouTube comments here.
I regret to say that I am not available to critique individual query letters,
I just get too many requests of that sort,
but hopefully my resources will be able to clear up anything that I haven't addressed.
And for those of you who are about to jump into querying, um, good luck,
you have my best wishes on finding representation, and thank you for watching.