Tag: how to write a query letter

20 great FREE online resources for writers

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Photo by Rocky

Photo by Rocky

I’ve amassed a lot of resources over the years – here are some of the best ones I use both for copywriting and fiction writing. Some you’ve seen in previous posts; some are new!

 

Staying Sane

Evernote

I sometimes refer to Evernote as my best friend. It’s a notebook program you download to all your computers. I add a note from work, and when I get home, there it is. I have separate notes for blog post ideas, prompts, story ideas, daily life to-do lists and more. All bundled in one notebook and accessible with one click. This program saved me from sending myself email notes all day.

Tick Tock Timer

A simple online timer. Set it for any amount of time, and it alerts you with three gongs when the time is up. You can use it to block out time for writing, cleaning, whatever. I use it to remind me to look away from my computer screen every hour or so.

 

Finding the Right Word or Phrase

Thesaurus

I love MS Word, but its synonym tool isn’t very good. This online synonym finder is far better. I use it several times a day.

Thsrs (The Shorter Thesaurus)

If you are specifically looking for a simpler or shorter version of a word, this is the thesaurus for you. I sometimes use it for writing Google or Facebook ads (which have tiny character limits).

Idioms at The Free Dictionary

Enter a word and get a list of common phrases in which the word appears. Another tool I use daily, mostly for writing headlines. But it could also be used for story, novel, and chapter titles as well. Anything that requires a play on words (change the original idiom slightly to give it a new and witty meaning).

WordHippo

This tool does several things, but I mostly use it for the rhyming dictionary and the “words that start with” feature. I use it mostly for writing headlines, but I imagine it would be super useful for poetry.

Urban Dictionary

This user-generated slang dictionary is 90% crass. However, you can use it to ensure a word or phrase you are using doesn’t have a secondary meaning that is negative or disgusting. If the term you search does come up with a bad meaning, check the number of user votes it received. If there are more thumbs down than thumbs up, you’re probably still okay to use it.

 

Fun & Inspiration

My Favorite Word

A long list of fantastic words. People submit their favorites, usually with explanations why. I chiefly use it for naming projects.

Wordsmith’s Anagram Generator

Enter a word, it scrambles the letters into other words. Use it to come up with names or aliases of characters or places. Or just type in your own name for a laugh. I’m Anti-Sheep, apparently.

Six Word Stories

Inspired by the story Hemmingway reportedly considered his best (For sale: baby shoes, never used.), this site allows users to submit their own six word stories. The good ones get posted on the main page. Read for inspiration – and submit a few of your own.

 

Rules & Grammar

Daily Writing Tips

This blog will grow your vocabulary and improve the way you use it.

Grammar Girl

Quick and Dirty grammar lessons. I go here when I can’t remember the difference between affect and effect.

The Elements of Style

The free online version of the writer’s bible, penned by Strunk & White.

 

Character Development

Meyer’s-Briggs Personality Test from HumanMetrics

Answer a few yes-or-no questions on behalf of your main character, get a detailed outline of his personality traits. So insightful.

Baby Names

To name all those characters!

 

Getting Published

Duotrope

Helps you find a literary magazine to publish your short stories.

Miss Snark

A literary agent ruthlessly tears apart query letters submitted by her readers. She’s no longer snarking, but the archives are a gold mine for those looking to learn how to write a good query.

Query Shark

The savior for those bereft of Miss Snark, this lit agent is still critiquing queries with gusto.

Agent Query

A database of literary agents with an easy-to-use search that makes it easy to build your submission list.

Preditors & Editors

The site writers have long relied on to ensure agents aren’t con artists. Look up your agents here before querying.

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What are your favorite online resources? Share in the comments!

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Do I Need a Literary Agent and How Do I Find One?

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Image by Marco Arment

Image by Marco Arment

Do I need a literary agent?

Short answer: yes. If you want to be published traditionally, you absolutely need an agent. (I’ll post about self-publishing vs. traditional publishing later on.)

Why do I need a literary agent?

  1. Few publishers (maybe none) will read anything unless it comes to them from a literary agent.
  2. Agents have in-depth knowledge of the publishing industry and will know which editors/publishers are most likely to be interested in your work.
  3. Your agent may give you feedback to help you to polish up your work before it gets submitted to said publisher.
  4. Your agent really believes in your work and will fight to get it out there.
  5. Your agent will negotiate your publishing contract – and because they work off of commission (they don’t make money until you do), you know they’ll negotiate it to your greatest advantage.

How do I find a literary agent?

The traditional (and still legitimate) way to find an agent is to look them up in the latest edition of Writer’s Market. But now we have the Internet; it’s much easier to look them up on AgentQuery. Start by searching by the genre you write, and make a list of the agents who are accepting submissions. Find out everything you can about each agent before you query. Visit their website (follow submission guidelines!), read their blog, and read any interviews they’ve done.

A great way to pinpoint agents who might like your book is to look up the agents who represent authors with work similar to yours. I don’t know of any standard place to find this information, but you can try the acknowledgements page of the book, the author’s website, searching by author on AgentQuery, or simply Googling it (comb through the results carefully, though; see below).

How do I avoid getting scammed?

DO NOT simply search “literary agents” on Google. I love Google, but there are droves of scam lit agents out there, and AgentQuery is a safer bet. To really protect yourself, here are a few more steps to follow.

  1. AAR– The agent’s AgentQuery profile will specify if they are an Association of Author’s Representatives member or not. Members of the AAR adhere to strict ethical guidelines. (Though there are legitimate agents who aren’t in the AAR, so don’t throw out an agent just because they aren’t a member).
  2. Predators & Editors – Look up every agent on this site before you query. It’ll tell you if they are legit or a scammer, have made recent sales, and if they come highly recommended. The website isn’t very professional, but writers have depended on it for years.
  3. Run Away from Fees – No legitimate literary agency charges writers up front. Period. If you see a reading fee, run. If you see administrative fees, run. A legitimate agency takes a commission from your publishing profits, and will not bill you until you make money.

More resources:

Learn how to query in these other posts: writing your hook, sample hooks, and what else goes in a query.

Learn more about agents, including what to ask an agent interested in representing you at AAR’s website.

Read about “spaghetti agents” and how to avoid them on former agent Nathan Bransford’s blog.

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Everything you need to know about writing a query 3

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PART THREE: Everything else

Wrapping up the series with an annotated sample query! Feel free to ask questions in the comments.

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[Your contact info: name, street address, phone number and email address (include email address even if sending snail mail; the agent may request pages by email. If sending an email query, move your contact info to the bottom]

[The date (spell out the month)]

[The agent’s contact info: their name, their agency’s name, their agency’s street adress. If sending an e-query, do not include date of agent contact info.]

Dear Mr. Snuffleupagus, [use accurate spelling and designation in the salutation. If querying a woman and unsure of marital status, just include her full name: “Dear Sally Snuffleupagus,”]

[Jump right into your hook. In high school, you learned to start a business letter with an introduction and a short explanation of the letter’s purpose. Forget that. Literary agents get dozens or hundreds of queries daily; they don’t need to read “My name is X and I was wondering if you’d be interested in representing my book.”]

[Summarize your book’s stats: title, word count (taken from your word processor and rounded to the nearest 500), genre, if it’s a first novel, and if it is part of a series. It’ll look something like:] Crime Time is an 80,000-word crime drama, and my first novel. It is the first in a trilogy, but can stand alone.

[If you’re querying this specific agent for a particular reason, like you talked to them at a writers’ conference, are a regular reader of their blog, or a fan of another author they represent, say so. Also mention whatever qualifies you to write the book, like an English degree, or any publishing credits or writing awards. Don’t bring up self-published work unless you sold a heck of a lot of copies. Briefly mention any life experience related to the subject of your book, like if your book is a crime drama and you’re a police officer, or if it’s about special needs children and your son has Down Syndrome. Otherwise your personal life is irrelevant.][List any materials you’re including with the query – NO MORE AND NO LESS than what is outlined in the agent’s submission guidelines (these can usually be found on the agent’s website, in Writer’s Market, or on AgentQuery.com). If it’s a snail mail query, include an SASE (self-addressed, stamped envelope – so the agent can respond without copying your address and paying postage).]

 Thank you for your time and consideration. [or craft your own thanks]

Sincerely,

[Your signature (if snail mail)]

[Your Name]

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Remember: the query must stand on the strength of your story alone. No fancy paper, weird fonts, illustrations, or writing the query from a character’s perspective.

BONUS TIP: a goofy email address like writergirl15 or lollipopsandbazookas can kill your professional image. You can get a secondary email address based on your real name (like john.smith or jsmith) free through a webmail provider like Yahoo or Gmail.

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Learn about writing a hook and read sample hooks.

Everything you need to know about writing a query 2

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PART TWO: Hook Examples

As promised, here are some hook examples I wrote based on four of my favorite books. I made them as short as possible – one or two sentences – because expanding from there is the easy part.

Death himself narrates the story of a foster child in Nazi Germany who steals books from bonfires.

For The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak. Actually, she only stole a book from a bonfire once, but you don’t need to be exact in the hook. Take some poetic license. The expanded version could talk about the Jewish fist fighter hiding in the basement, but it is still perfectly intriguing without.

A servant searching for a quiet lifestyle is relieved when he lands a position under a man whose boring habits have not changed in decades – but is shocked to find himself dragged on a wild adventure when his master makes an offhand wager that he can travel around the world in only eighty days.

For Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne. This one is a little longer, but still fairly simple. I leave out the fact that this master is also being pursued by a detective who thinks he robbed the Bank of England. There’s enough charm just in the first twenty pages to arouse curiosity.

A bookbinder who can make stories come alive by reading them aloud is pursued by the villain from a fantasy novel.

For Inkheart by Cornelia Funke. This story is much more complicated than Book Thief or 80 Days, but it still boils down to one sentence nicely – so long as I leave out what the villain is after, that the bookbinder’s wife disappeared into the same book the villain sprang out of, and that the main character really isn’t the bookbinder at all, but his daughter. None of that is important in the hook.

Charles Darnay is accused of crimes against the Republic when he returns to revolutionary France to save a friend from the guillotine. An alcoholic genius in love with Darnay’s wife may be the only person who can save him from a death sentence.

For A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. I would be remiss if I didn’t pick at least one truly complicated story, just to prove it could be done. This one actually went to two sentences, and required a name! We can leave out how Darnay’s father-in-law was rescued from the Bastille, how Darnay escaped death once already when he was accused of being a French spy, how Darnay came to know said alcoholic genius, why the genius is the only one who can save him, and whether or not he succeeds or even tries.

Overall, notice that I tend to use descriptors instead of character names, and I keep the wording simple and fluff-free. No gimmicks. Just story.

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Now you’ve got the hook part down – here’s what else you’ll need in a query letter.

Everything you need to know about writing a query

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PART ONE: THE HOOK

A hook, a.k.a. elevator pitch or logline, is 2-3 sentences explaining what your book is about. It’s the heart of a query letter, the thing that gets the agent to request pages. It is also the second hardest thing you will write (next to your synopsis, which we’ll discuss later). But here are some tips that made it easier for me.

The Technical Stuff

Write in third person, present tense. Anything else will get you in trouble. Even if your book is in first person, past (“I did this, I went there”), write the hook in third, present (“He does this, he goes here”).

Keep it short. The entire letter should fit on one page in Times New Roman, 12pt. That means the hook is one or two short paragraphs.

State facts, not opinions. No fluff phrases like “thrilling page-turner,” “harrowing adventure,” “heart-wrenching tragedy” or any of the things you want reviewers to say after you’re published. That’s bragging. Don’t include your book’s theme (e.g. “about trying to find hope amidst despair,” “about love conquering against all odds”). That’s telling, not showing, remember?

 

How You’ll Really Get it Done

Start with one sentence. I took this advice from Nathan Bransford. It’s painful, but it works. Write in one sentence, as short as possible, what your book is about. Then, expand in one or two more sentences, including whatever makes your story different from everyone else’s.

Write what it seems to be about, not what it’s really about. If your story seems too complicated to narrow down to a hook, this tip is your magic key. I struggled with the same thing for years. In one book I had two storylines and at least five major characters, three of whom had back story to be explained before any of it made sense. In 2-3 sentences? Impossible. So I turned my thinking around. Yeah, when all is revealed, it’s really a complex political chess game involving secret organizations and entire worlds, but what it seems to be about, what happens in the first chapter – is a bunch of kids stranded in the wilderness. So I went with that. And it worked.

You’ll know when you’ve found The One. I read this somewhere and then experienced it myself, so I swear by it now. I sent out multiple versions of a query letter thinking each version was alright, but I never got page requests back. That was my problem; it was decent, okay. But I wasn’t in love with it. Then when I finally hit upon The One, I felt it, deep down – and I got page requests days or even hours after submitting it. So learn from my mistakes, keep rewriting your hook and don’t submit a query until you know. And none of this “I think I know.” You’ll know.

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Still confused? Read some exciting hook examples!