Guilty By Gutterball

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By Joe Moore

Yesterday, Kathryn gave us ten things not to do if you want to get published. I’d like to build on her theme with 8 tips on writing a strong query letter.

For writers, the query letter is probably the most important letter you’ll ever compose. Unlike an email to your mom or BFF, you must spend a great deal of time molding and shaping it into the same caliber of perfection as your manuscript. In fact, it’s even more critical than your book. If you sell your book, it will eventually get into the hands of an editor to be further refined and cleaned up. Your query will not.

So here are a few points to keep in mind before you seal the envelope and lick the stamp or press the send button in the case of an email query.

Length. Agents and editors are busy professionals. They have little time to read long query letters. It’s important that you make your case in one page or less. If you can’t, the agent might assume you won’t be able to grab a reader in the first page of your book, either. So don’t ramble on, just cut to the chase.

Attitude. Don’t come across as arrogant or condescending. Humility can go a long way to gaining respect. You should give the impression that you would be easy to work with. Listing your credentials and credits is part of the query process, but it should be done in a business-like manner and only the ones that contribute to your writing qualifications. No need to mention that you’re president of the local bowling league unless your protagonist is a professional bowler solving a string of murders committed with bowling pins and your book is called Guilty by Gutterball.

Poor punctuation, grammar and spelling. Check, recheck and check again. Let someone else check it. Let 5 people check it. Bad grammar and misspelled words are not a sign of a professional writer. If your query contains mistakes, you’re just making it harder on yourself to gain the attention and respect of an agent.

Unprofessional presentation. There are countless reference guides and writing manuals on how to compose a proper business letter. Query letters are business letters. Showing a lack of knowledge on how professionals communicate will not score you any points.

Be brief. As stated earlier, the agent or editor has a few seconds to devote to your query before moving on to the other dozens she received that day. Get to the point, and do it fast. Identify yourself. What is your desired outcome of the letter? Why did you choose that particular agent? What is your book about? Why would someone want to read it? Why are you qualified to write it? Close with a thank-you and offer to send more. Each of the above items can be stated in one or two sentences. The entire letter should be on one page. And if it’s an email query, it should still be about the same length as a physical letter.

Be ready for the follow-up. Are you prepared to supply the agent whatever she requests; full manuscript or sample chapters, short synopsis or complete outline? If not, you may not be ready to start the query process. And assume that each agent will ask for something different, so have all variations ready to go. Follow the submission guidelines on each agent’s website. Don’t be surprised if they might differ somewhat.

Identify your genre. You must know the genre into which your book falls. Know the difference between a thriller or mystery, cozy or procedural, or any of the other dozens of sub-genre. And please don’t refer to your work as a fiction novel. ALL novels are fiction. Using terms from the department of redundancy department screams amateur.

Billboard. Your query letter is a single-page billboard advertising your book. It very well could be the only shot you’ll get at SELLING yourself and your manuscript. It must be perfect. Just like your story, every word has to count. You may not get a second chance. And just like that billboard on the highway you see as you speed by, the agent has just about the same amount of time to devote to your query letter. Give yourself a fighting chance and make it perfect the first time.

How does your query compare to these points? Any other query letter tips out there?

11 thoughts on “Guilty By Gutterball”

  1. Many writers make the mistake of not telling the agent what their book is about.

    At the Pennwriter’s conference in May, there was a panel of agents who critiqued queries. Anyone who wanted to handed their letters over to the moderator who then read the query aloud. The agents raised their hands when they would have stopped reading the query.

    MOST stopped before the first paragraph ended. Many after the first sentence. Out of the twenty or so queries submitted, only one was read all the way to the end. One agent liked the letter so much she snatched it out of the moderator’s hand.

    The points they made: Begin with what the book is about. Don’t start with why you’re querying that agent–unless it’s a referral from one of their clients. Don’t ever mention themes, or what readers will get out of your novel. Never compare your book to bestsellers.

  2. This is pre-query letter advice, but don’t call the agency ahead of time to ask if it’s okay to send a query. And if you make the mistake of doing so, don’t mention that you called in your query letter. If you’re lucky, they forgot your faux pas.

  3. That’s a sad but true commentary, Joyce. And I have no problem believing it or picturing the scene with the agents hands going up. Your additional tips are well made. Thanks.

  4. Excellent advice, Kathryn. The only reason you might call the agency in advance is to clarify contact info if it is not available on their website.

  5. Great advice, Joe. And as Joyce said, I advocate starting your query with a one sentence “logline.” Could be a “What if” sentence, or a provocative ad line: In space, no one can hear you scream.

    Then do a paragraph on the plot. Because you’re showing them you can hook readers, which is what they want to see.

    Then briefly sum up the genre, who you are, why you’re contacting them, etc. Brief.

    Then get out of Dodge.

  6. That was a great tagline from the movie Alien, Jim. Wish I’d written it. An equally good one was from the 2004 AVP: “Whoever wins, we lose.”

  7. Have twice as many beta readers for your query letter as your manuscript. Your query critters should be folks who have not read the story.

    Ask them if the letter makes them want to read more.

    Also ask them what they think the story is about (main character, genre, tone, etc.) If you don’t get more or less correct answers to these questions, then it is back to the query drawing board.

    Then find a good quality query crit group like “Query Letter Hell” at http://www.absolutewrite.com and prepare to face the wrath of the Query Squirrels.

    Also, Miss Snark may have departed this virtual veil, but the Query Shark is alive, well, and hungry. Check it out at http://www.queryshark.blogspot.com

    My own logline? “Jo is faced with every attorney’s greatest nightmare, a truly innocent client.”

    Terri

    PS: Also, in cool news. I am on Amazon’s mailing list and guess who was on today’s “hot recommendation” list in the newsletter? “Hostage Zero” by John Gilstrap.

  8. Thanks, Terri. Great additions to the gutterball tips. I agree, that’s a tough crowd over at Absolutewrite. They’ll pick your query down to the bone and then eat the marrow for dessert. But it’s worth it.

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