Query Letters to Agents
Folks trying to interest a literary agent must write a query letter. When I wrote my first one, I lamented that I'd spent so much time writing my novel and not one word of it would be read by an agent; my novel would be judged by my query letter alone. It didn't seem fair. When I learned that agents receive hundreds of queries each week, I came to understand why they had to lean heavily on query letters. Somehow, I thought only a small handful of people wrote novels. Hah!
Operation Awesome (http://operationawesome6.blogspot.com/) runs a Pass or Pages contest in which random query letters are critiqued by a panel of literary agents. The following take-aways are from those critiques, as written on that site (not by me).
Gimmicky queries are not impressive. Just because you've never seen it done before doesn't mean an agent hasn't! They get hundreds of queries a month.
Some agents are willing to overlook a query's flaws in favor of the strength of the sample pages. Others are not. Evaluate which agents are requesting from you: Are they the ones that ask for sample pages with the query? Or the ones who ask for query only? This can help you narrow down if there is a problem with your querying materials.
It can be hard to stand out in a crowded market, such as YA contemporary. It is important to include your story's unique elements in the query letter, but to do so naturally will require that those unique elements affect the plot! That's why it is useful to write your query letter after your first draft, but before your final edit. It helps you see places where you can improve.
Dual POV can be hard to show in a query, even if it is well done in the book. Remember to show the conflict and stakes for each character, as well as how their stories come together.
"Beautiful writing" (or "purple prose," depending on your feelings toward it) can definitely add to your narration, but be selective about when you use it to maximize its effectiveness. Too much right up front can make your book seem overwritten.
Happy writing and querying!
George..
Operation Awesome (http://operationawesome6.blogspot.com/) runs a Pass or Pages contest in which random query letters are critiqued by a panel of literary agents. The following take-aways are from those critiques, as written on that site (not by me).
Gimmicky queries are not impressive. Just because you've never seen it done before doesn't mean an agent hasn't! They get hundreds of queries a month.
Some agents are willing to overlook a query's flaws in favor of the strength of the sample pages. Others are not. Evaluate which agents are requesting from you: Are they the ones that ask for sample pages with the query? Or the ones who ask for query only? This can help you narrow down if there is a problem with your querying materials.
It can be hard to stand out in a crowded market, such as YA contemporary. It is important to include your story's unique elements in the query letter, but to do so naturally will require that those unique elements affect the plot! That's why it is useful to write your query letter after your first draft, but before your final edit. It helps you see places where you can improve.
Dual POV can be hard to show in a query, even if it is well done in the book. Remember to show the conflict and stakes for each character, as well as how their stories come together.
"Beautiful writing" (or "purple prose," depending on your feelings toward it) can definitely add to your narration, but be selective about when you use it to maximize its effectiveness. Too much right up front can make your book seem overwritten.
Happy writing and querying!
George..
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