Hello my friends! :)
Some of you may remember that a few months ago I posted about a new blog I had started, called "Aspiring Endnotes", in order to talk about publishing - publishing advice, articles, things I've learned along the way - in a way that didn't make me constantly feel like I was blaring self-promotion all over this blog. Here's an excerpt from that post:
Some of you are probably wondering why I would set up a separate blog for that, when I could just post everything here at the P&P. But the truth is, every time I posted something about Magpie Eclectic here, I felt like I was self-promoting – advertising. That’s not really the purpose of the P&P, so I thought I would set up a separate blog for that sort of stuff… for talking about publishing through the eyes of one who is learning how to become a publisher. This blog here (the P&P) is for my personal journey as a writer… the Aspiring Endnotes blog is for my personal journey as a publisher. I’ve found that I look at the world of writing and publishing through different eyes, depending on which subject I’m working on, and which role I take on as I’m working on it (writer, or publisher). So I feel like it’s just better to have my two views on the subjects separated... to keep them from getting mixed up. :)
Well, today I officially opened my "Aspiring Endnotes" blog with an article about writing query letters. If you are curious about it, you can find the article here. In this article, I talk about some things I've learned through research and trial and error while working on my own query letters, and I also talk about several issues I've come across while reading query letters and acquisitions from authors who have submitted to Magpie Eclectic Press. I hope this article is helpful to you. :)
Please note, however, that this blog is not currently the blog linked to through the Magpie Eclectic Press website. However, I'm working to get that changed. ^_^
Thank you everyone! Happy writing, and God bless,
Nichole White
Showing posts with label queries. Show all posts
Showing posts with label queries. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Some Good Advice on Crafting a Good Query Letter
I don't have much to post today due to homework and lots of small projects that I'm working on. But as I was checking the updates of blogs I follow, I came across this post: On Query Letters, Part 1. It has some really good advice for crafting a good query, and also for setting decent stadards for yourself -- you know, not getting completely discouraged when you get a form rejection and things like that.
Again, I appoligize that this post is so short. But somedays the words flow, and other days they just don't.
Enjoy the read.
Again, I appoligize that this post is so short. But somedays the words flow, and other days they just don't.
Enjoy the read.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
My Exciting Moment
Time is running short! Though not so much for me. It is now the 25th; that means there are only 7 days left to enter the C.S. Lewis contest. Finish those last few critiques, but remember… while it is preferred that the story has good grammar and whatnot, you can only do so much with it in a month. I know I’ve been pounding ya, but I can’t help it! I’m just as excited as you guys! *happy grin*.
But no more pounding, I PROMISE. I’ll hold off as long as I can.
On a completely different note, how many of you out there have heard of Marcher Lord Press? It’s a relatively new Indie Press specializing in Christian Spec-fic, and rapidly growing. Right now it has published 12 fiction titles, several of which have gotten rave reviews and are bestsellers. The founder of Marcher Lord, Jeff Gerke, also hosts a website titled, “Where the map Ends”. And, as a fiction writer, I was immediately intrigued by that title. After all, where the map ends there are usually dragons… and monsters… and whatever else can be conjured by imagination, because no one really knows what’s beyond the edge of a map (unless you have satellite or GPS, but for the present we are going to try and ignore such technology). “Where the Map Ends” is filled with writing advice, interviews with authors, spec-fic art, and a forum for fiction writing discussions. I have been following both “Marcher Lord Press” and “Where the Map Ends” for little over a year now, and have not been disappointed yet.
As some of you know, Marcher Lord Press has been one of the publishers I’ve been looking at for “Song of the Daystar”. I have had some correspondence with Mr. Gerke concerning SOTD’s content. Since SOTD was originally written for YA, I was unsure if I would be allowed to submit it as MLP does not publish YA. However, Mr. Gerke told me that some of his authors have had similar questions and told me to go ahead and submit it, which I did yesterday.
Yes, that is my exciting news!
I was so excited to finally finish filling out the form, and then to send it in. I received a confirmation email soon after. However, Mr. Gerke made it clear that MLP is really swamped with submissions right now, and he told me to expect at least a year before he can get to my submission.
A whole year! How am I ever going to wait that long?!
But no more pounding, I PROMISE. I’ll hold off as long as I can.
On a completely different note, how many of you out there have heard of Marcher Lord Press? It’s a relatively new Indie Press specializing in Christian Spec-fic, and rapidly growing. Right now it has published 12 fiction titles, several of which have gotten rave reviews and are bestsellers. The founder of Marcher Lord, Jeff Gerke, also hosts a website titled, “Where the map Ends”. And, as a fiction writer, I was immediately intrigued by that title. After all, where the map ends there are usually dragons… and monsters… and whatever else can be conjured by imagination, because no one really knows what’s beyond the edge of a map (unless you have satellite or GPS, but for the present we are going to try and ignore such technology). “Where the Map Ends” is filled with writing advice, interviews with authors, spec-fic art, and a forum for fiction writing discussions. I have been following both “Marcher Lord Press” and “Where the Map Ends” for little over a year now, and have not been disappointed yet.
As some of you know, Marcher Lord Press has been one of the publishers I’ve been looking at for “Song of the Daystar”. I have had some correspondence with Mr. Gerke concerning SOTD’s content. Since SOTD was originally written for YA, I was unsure if I would be allowed to submit it as MLP does not publish YA. However, Mr. Gerke told me that some of his authors have had similar questions and told me to go ahead and submit it, which I did yesterday.
Yes, that is my exciting news!
I was so excited to finally finish filling out the form, and then to send it in. I received a confirmation email soon after. However, Mr. Gerke made it clear that MLP is really swamped with submissions right now, and he told me to expect at least a year before he can get to my submission.
A whole year! How am I ever going to wait that long?!
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Queries Runnin' Wild
Ok, I've had a few people ask me about queries. Now, granted, I haven't been in this particular stage of publishing for very long yet, so I'm not very experienced with it. But I have been looking into it for several years. Hopefully this post will be helpful.
A query (for those who don't know) is an official letter than an Author sends out to literary agents and publishers, pitching his/her book. The agent or publisher will read the query and decide whether or not they are willing to represent/publish the book.
But as some people might know, agents and publishers are usually very picky about what they represent. After all, your writing is what is getting them paid; their reputation is on the line. You need to convince them that your book is worth all the time and money they will invest into it (and believe me when I say they will invest A LOT of time and money into it if they choose to represent/publish you). You need to prove to them that your book will sell and let them know what audience it will sell to. And you need to let them know that you're not just throwing yourself into the publishing process blind: show them that you know what you're doing and that you're willing to work for your success.
All of this will be shown in your query. (Pluss pitching the book)
Daunting, isn't it?
"But how", you ask, "will I fit all of that onto one page?! It'll never work, I tell you! I'm doomed!" (and actually, that's really close to my first reaction.)
Well, for starters, a lot of what was mentioned above can be shown through how you approach your query. Though I hate to say it, words alone can't save you here. Well, actually they can... but ONLY if you approach your query with a sense of business. The query is your writing resume and the publishers/agents will look at your query much as a potential employer will look at a resume to see whether or not they want to hire you. So your query must sound professional.
But you must also use your own writing voice. The agent/publisher wants to get a small glimpse at your writing style and see if it fits their taste. Never believe that an agent or publisher doesn't have good taste because they rejected your work; maybe it just isn't what they prefer to read. Or maybe they've even recently published something vaguely familiar to what you're offering (which happens all the time).
That said, the first and foremost thing that every author must do before sending a query into the critical jaws of a litterary agent is to do your research.
That's right: homework.
You want to show the agent that you know what you're doing so make sure you DO know what you're doing! Look into litterary agents. Look up agent and writing blogs. Ask questions. Check out books. Look into Writers Market. Ask questions. Study potential queries of other writers. Go online for help if you need it. Ask questions, ask questions, ask questions...
I think you're starting to get the idea.
Only after you've researched, when you think you understand the process of querying and publishing pretty well... only then can you write and send your query.
Here's a basic form for a query letter that I found on Nathan Bransford's blog. (Here's the link if you would like to check out the actual post: Query Mad Lib. And if you haven't checked his blog out yet, please be sure to do so: it's filled to the brim with all sorts of helpful writing advice.)
Dear [Agent name],
I chose to submit to you because of your wonderful taste in [genre], and because you [personalized tidbit about agent].
[protagonist name] is a [description of protagonist] living in [setting]. But when [complicating incident], [protagonist name] must [protagonist's quest] and [verb] [villain] in order to [protagonist's goal].
[title] is a [word count] work of [genre]. I am the author of [author's credits (optional)], and this is my first novel.
Thank you for your time, and I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Best wishes,
[your name]
Surprisingly simple, isn't it? But believe me when I say that it works.
Of course, you would have to work with it in order to make this form really become your query, but this form has helped me a whole bunch in working on mine. Nathan also gives two good examples of query letters that have caught his interest in the past.
Check, check, and double check your queries! This is so very, very important. Because agents will be looking to see how well your letter is written, you must make sure that there are no grammatical errors. Also. be sure to spell the agent's name correctly; they tend not to like it if you just assume they'll overlook that small detail. Make sure that you aren't over embellishing your query; these letters need to be short, sweet, and to the point. A good idea to keep in mind is to summarize your book using only three sentences. Now, sometimes these sentences run over... but if that's the case, just make sure that everything you've written is extremely important to the storyline.
After you've finished writing your absolutely wonderfully perfect query letter, you must begin sending it out to agents. I started searching for agents using QueryTracker which lists names and companies of thousands of different potential agents. However, Query Tracker does NOT ensure that every agent listed on the site is a true agent and not just out for your money or (even worse) your story. Even so, the site does provide a list of links where you can look up the agents and check out their credentials thoroughly. If you decide that you'd like to query that agent, you can add the agent to your "agent list". You can even change agent status (when you sent the query, when a response came in, and whether you were rejected or accepted), and leave comments about your satisfaction with the agent for other users to view. I also discovered the other day that I could back up a query on the site that I had sent to a certain agent.
Then, after many rejections, you finally get an answer! They want a partial, or a full manuscript, or they really, really think that you're the new Cornelia Funke or Jame's Patterson and can't possibly wait to represent/publish your book. :)
A query (for those who don't know) is an official letter than an Author sends out to literary agents and publishers, pitching his/her book. The agent or publisher will read the query and decide whether or not they are willing to represent/publish the book.
But as some people might know, agents and publishers are usually very picky about what they represent. After all, your writing is what is getting them paid; their reputation is on the line. You need to convince them that your book is worth all the time and money they will invest into it (and believe me when I say they will invest A LOT of time and money into it if they choose to represent/publish you). You need to prove to them that your book will sell and let them know what audience it will sell to. And you need to let them know that you're not just throwing yourself into the publishing process blind: show them that you know what you're doing and that you're willing to work for your success.
All of this will be shown in your query. (Pluss pitching the book)
Daunting, isn't it?
"But how", you ask, "will I fit all of that onto one page?! It'll never work, I tell you! I'm doomed!" (and actually, that's really close to my first reaction.)
Well, for starters, a lot of what was mentioned above can be shown through how you approach your query. Though I hate to say it, words alone can't save you here. Well, actually they can... but ONLY if you approach your query with a sense of business. The query is your writing resume and the publishers/agents will look at your query much as a potential employer will look at a resume to see whether or not they want to hire you. So your query must sound professional.
But you must also use your own writing voice. The agent/publisher wants to get a small glimpse at your writing style and see if it fits their taste. Never believe that an agent or publisher doesn't have good taste because they rejected your work; maybe it just isn't what they prefer to read. Or maybe they've even recently published something vaguely familiar to what you're offering (which happens all the time).
That said, the first and foremost thing that every author must do before sending a query into the critical jaws of a litterary agent is to do your research.
That's right: homework.
You want to show the agent that you know what you're doing so make sure you DO know what you're doing! Look into litterary agents. Look up agent and writing blogs. Ask questions. Check out books. Look into Writers Market. Ask questions. Study potential queries of other writers. Go online for help if you need it. Ask questions, ask questions, ask questions...
I think you're starting to get the idea.
Only after you've researched, when you think you understand the process of querying and publishing pretty well... only then can you write and send your query.
Here's a basic form for a query letter that I found on Nathan Bransford's blog. (Here's the link if you would like to check out the actual post: Query Mad Lib. And if you haven't checked his blog out yet, please be sure to do so: it's filled to the brim with all sorts of helpful writing advice.)
Dear [Agent name],
I chose to submit to you because of your wonderful taste in [genre], and because you [personalized tidbit about agent].
[protagonist name] is a [description of protagonist] living in [setting]. But when [complicating incident], [protagonist name] must [protagonist's quest] and [verb] [villain] in order to [protagonist's goal].
[title] is a [word count] work of [genre]. I am the author of [author's credits (optional)], and this is my first novel.
Thank you for your time, and I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Best wishes,
[your name]
Surprisingly simple, isn't it? But believe me when I say that it works.
Of course, you would have to work with it in order to make this form really become your query, but this form has helped me a whole bunch in working on mine. Nathan also gives two good examples of query letters that have caught his interest in the past.
Check, check, and double check your queries! This is so very, very important. Because agents will be looking to see how well your letter is written, you must make sure that there are no grammatical errors. Also. be sure to spell the agent's name correctly; they tend not to like it if you just assume they'll overlook that small detail. Make sure that you aren't over embellishing your query; these letters need to be short, sweet, and to the point. A good idea to keep in mind is to summarize your book using only three sentences. Now, sometimes these sentences run over... but if that's the case, just make sure that everything you've written is extremely important to the storyline.
After you've finished writing your absolutely wonderfully perfect query letter, you must begin sending it out to agents. I started searching for agents using QueryTracker which lists names and companies of thousands of different potential agents. However, Query Tracker does NOT ensure that every agent listed on the site is a true agent and not just out for your money or (even worse) your story. Even so, the site does provide a list of links where you can look up the agents and check out their credentials thoroughly. If you decide that you'd like to query that agent, you can add the agent to your "agent list". You can even change agent status (when you sent the query, when a response came in, and whether you were rejected or accepted), and leave comments about your satisfaction with the agent for other users to view. I also discovered the other day that I could back up a query on the site that I had sent to a certain agent.
Then, after many rejections, you finally get an answer! They want a partial, or a full manuscript, or they really, really think that you're the new Cornelia Funke or Jame's Patterson and can't possibly wait to represent/publish your book. :)
Monday, May 3, 2010
First Rejection
Hello again.
I've told people I would keep my blog updated with news about Song of the Daystar. As some of you know, I started the Querying stage of the publishing process at the beginning of the week, and now I can say I received my first ever rejection notice.
The notice was very polite but not overly so. It was actually pleasant (and this coming from the rejected author!). To be honest, I didn't really expect this agent to represent my work, but I was curious to see if he was even a tad bit interested. Apparently he wasn't. But I'm ok with that.
Some of you may be wondering who exactly I'm talking about. Well, it's no secret: his name is Nathan Bradsford and he's one of the top agents at Curtis Brown, LTD... a very highly recommended literary agency. I follow his blog consistently: it's completely filled with helpful and useful tips for writers. I suggest that other writers look into it.
One of the things that Nathan says on his blog is, "If in doubt, query me." Which is exactly what I did. I have to say that I think the reason I wasn't hurt by the rejection in any way, shape, or form is because I've been steeling myself for my first rejection letter (and probably the many others that follow the first), for several years now. I've know it was bound to happen, so when I read the letter, all that came to mind was, "Alright then. He must not be the right agent, but that just means that the right agent is still out there and God will help me find him."
Below, I've posted the rejection so that you can see for yourself how polite he was about it:
Dear Nichole,
Thank you for your recent e-mail and for reading my blog, I appreciate it. I regret to say that I don't feel that I'm the most appropriate agent for your work.
However, opinions vary considerably in this business, and I wish you the best of luck in your search for representation.
Best wishes,
Nathan
So, I guess that means I just wait for the next response... *taps fingers impatiently on the computer desk.* Waiting can be so hard!!!
I've told people I would keep my blog updated with news about Song of the Daystar. As some of you know, I started the Querying stage of the publishing process at the beginning of the week, and now I can say I received my first ever rejection notice.
The notice was very polite but not overly so. It was actually pleasant (and this coming from the rejected author!). To be honest, I didn't really expect this agent to represent my work, but I was curious to see if he was even a tad bit interested. Apparently he wasn't. But I'm ok with that.
Some of you may be wondering who exactly I'm talking about. Well, it's no secret: his name is Nathan Bradsford and he's one of the top agents at Curtis Brown, LTD... a very highly recommended literary agency. I follow his blog consistently: it's completely filled with helpful and useful tips for writers. I suggest that other writers look into it.
One of the things that Nathan says on his blog is, "If in doubt, query me." Which is exactly what I did. I have to say that I think the reason I wasn't hurt by the rejection in any way, shape, or form is because I've been steeling myself for my first rejection letter (and probably the many others that follow the first), for several years now. I've know it was bound to happen, so when I read the letter, all that came to mind was, "Alright then. He must not be the right agent, but that just means that the right agent is still out there and God will help me find him."
Below, I've posted the rejection so that you can see for yourself how polite he was about it:
Dear Nichole,
Thank you for your recent e-mail and for reading my blog, I appreciate it. I regret to say that I don't feel that I'm the most appropriate agent for your work.
However, opinions vary considerably in this business, and I wish you the best of luck in your search for representation.
Best wishes,
Nathan
So, I guess that means I just wait for the next response... *taps fingers impatiently on the computer desk.* Waiting can be so hard!!!
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