Writing the Query Letter/The Rules for Success.
Ann Smith
Do not query an editor or agent until you have a completed manuscript.
Make sure you are sending the right query to the right person. This means that you will have to do some homework. If an editor says she handles paranormal and urban fantasy, do not send her your inspirational.
Make sure the publisher, editor, or agent you are submitting to will accept your submission or your query.
Don’t say that all your family loves it. Your family will love everything you do. Don’t say that your critique partners think it’s the best story they have ever read.
Don’t compare your book to another famous book like Twilight, New Moon, or The DaVinci Code. Don’t say that you write like Patricia Potter, or Nora Roberts. Don’t say that your novel would make a wonderful movie. It might, but you need to sell the book first.
Who should you query? This depends on which publisher or line you have targeted your book to, what do you write, and who’s acquiring that type of book.
Do your homework. Pick the right agent or editor--who is looking for what.
Should you query agents or editors? The answer is both. It’s difficult to get an agent. Sometimes it’s easier to sell your book yourself.
Make sure that the publisher you are submitting to will accept your submission or your query. The number of publishers that will accept unsolicited submissions is shrinking at an alarming rate. Some publishers will accept only agented queries.
For this reason, contests can be important. If you place, it’s an opportunity to get your entry in front of an editor, and, hopefully, she will ask to see more.
In addition, conferences are important as a means of pitching your manuscript to an editor or agent. They will almost always ask to see a partial and a synopsis unless what you have written doesn’t fit them.
Send only what they ask for.
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The Mechanics of a Query Letter
Set up a letterhead with all your contact information at the top. Keep everything in black ink.
Make sure you use good quality paper and envelopes in a white, off white, gray or ivory. Remember, you are writing a business letter.
Keep it to one page. Do not use weird typestyles. Stick to the classics—Times New Roman, Courier, Bookman. Do not use anything larger than 12 point type. Remember, it’s a letter, not a brochure. And be sure to enclose a self addressed stamped envelope (SASE).
Email Query
Skip the letterhead format, and include your contact information under your name at the bottom. Do not get chatty—it’s still a business communication.
And what are you going to get for all this effort? Sometimes a polite thanks, but no thanks. Sometimes a letter with specifics about what didn’t work for them (which is good--it shows that your submission had some merit and was worth commenting on). And sometimes nothing—no response at all. Sometimes a request for a partial and that is worth working for. It’s your chance to shine and hopefully sell that book!
April 2009
Tips on E-publishing
Linda Rettstatt
Electronic publishing is a growing trend, especially for new authors. Many small, electronic presses are more accessible to new and non-agented writers. Here are some tips for approaching and working with a small electronic press.
1. Research the publisher: Do they have a proven track record? What have they published, and what genres do they accept?
2. Know the difference between publishing with a small e-publisher and self-publishing. Some electronic publishers are full-service publishing houses and provide cover design, editing, copyediting--the works--as part of your contract (just like the traditional large presses.) Some are nothing more than a conduit between you and a printer, and you end up footing the bill for all services to prepare your manuscript. Be cautious and use sites like Writer Beware and Preditors & Editors to research.
3. Once you’ve narrowed your search to a few seemingly reputable publishers, contact a few of their authors and ask questions. Most authors will be happy to respond about their experience, and most have websites through which you can contact them. Ask if the publisher is easy to work with, accessible to the writer, and about the quality of editing services and the end product.
4. Read submission guidelines carefully--and follow them! Most electronic publishers accept electronic submissions. It’s easy and cost-effective.
5. Know that you are not going to get rich by publishing with a small electronic press. Royalties are generally a small percentage of the download price of the book. (If it sells for $6.00 and you get 30%, you make $1.80 per book.) And know that you will be responsible for much of your own marketing (this varies from publisher to publisher). This is a downside.
6. So what’s the advantage? Electronic publishers are very open to new authors. It’s easier to get your foot in the door without publishing credits or an agent. It’s a place to start. And e-book technology is expanding into the world of traditional publishing houses.
7. Some electronic presses publish only in electronic formats; some also make books available in trade paperback. Know what the publisher offers and what you want before you enter into a contract.
Some Resources:
EPIC - The Electronically Published Internet Connection - offers guidance to those considering e-publishing, and provides an online community of electronically published writers and publishers. They also provide sample contracts and cautions.
www.epicauthors.com
Fictionwise - an online warehouse for e-books. Here you can see books that are available in electronic formats, and you can browse a list of electronic publishers.
www.fictionwise.com/
August 2008
VOICE
Voice is how your writing 'sounds' on the page. It is reflected in the way you write, your tone --friendly, formal, chatty, distant, your words -- everyday words or high-brow language, your sentence patterns, and the fit with the narratorʼs personality and the style of your story.
- Make sure your voice is true and repeatable. Be authentic.
- Have a viewpoint to focus the lense by understanding your themes.
- Find the right story to tell. What you choose and how you tell it is your voice.
- Craft gives you style.
- Component of voice:
a. Base of the voice is what you are telling, the life lesson
b. The flavor of your voice is something you can change (southern, humor, etc.
July 2008
Ten Tips for Your First Chapter
by Barbara Christopher, Carolyn McSparren, and Patricia Potter
1. Start your story with the inciting incident. Without the inciting incident, the story you are writing would never happen.
2. Always end your chapter with a disaster for your heroine or hero. Keep the reader wanting more.
3. Make the reader sympathize and empathize with your characters. Give them strong individual voices.
4. The first line of your story should leave your reader asking a question that he or she wants answered.
5. The first chapter should establish tone, POV, setting, and the characters using significant details. Be sure to introduce your characters by first and last name.
Note: About every ten lines or so, repeat the character's name.
6. Introduce characters using action!
7. Establish GMC -- goal, motivation, and conflict -- right away.
8. NO backstory!!!!
9. Make sure there is a high point in the opening scene.
10. Write. Write. Write. Have a writing dump of at least your first three chapters, then walk away for at least 24 hours.
February 2008
Recommended Reading List
Compiled by RCRW Members
Techniques of the Selling Writer
by Dwight Swain
Woe is I: The Grammarphobe's Guide to Better English in Plain English
by Patricia T. O'Conner
Escaping Into the Open: The Art of Writing True
by Elizabeth Berg
Give 'Em What They Want: The Right Way to Pitch Your Novel to Editors and Agents (A Novelist's Complete Guide to Query Letters, Synopses, and Outlines)
by Camenson & Cook, Writer's Digest Books.
The First Five Pages
by Noah Lukeman
October 2007
POV
by Barbara Christoper
POV (Point of View) is an integral part of your manuscripts and the hardest elements of writing to learn, but once mastered your work will come alive.
Writing a story in Deep Point of View is writing the story as the focal character sees it. The best way to understand this is to become one with your character and write the scene as they experience it. If your character would not think something, then it should not be written into the line. Also, if you're in a character's POV the words he thought or she thought are not necessary.
So many elements go into Point of View that it's hard to point out one certain thing that will keep a manuscript from being publishable.
Next time you write a paragraph ask yourself: if that were me, would those be my thoughts?
Telling Words to look for:
Assume, assumed
Acknowledge, acknowledged
Feel, felt
Hear, heard
Look, looked
Notice, noticed
See, saw
Show, showed
Suppose, supposed
Think, thought
Want, wanted
Stall Phrases are:
- Started to
- Going to
- Tried to
- Thinking about
- Fixing to
- Was about to
Emotion or State of Being:
Angry, anger
Envious, envy
Depressed, depression
Happy, happiness
Hungry, hunger
Jealous, jealousy
Joyful, joy
Sad, sorrow
Sleepy, sleepiness
Surprised, surprise
Tired
Vague Words:
A bit
Fairly
Moderately
Rather
Seems
Somewhat
Merely
September 2007
KINDERGARTEN RULES FOR CRITIQUE GROUPS
by Debra Dixon
1. Say thank you even if you don't like what you were given.
2. Be on time.
3. Treat others as you would like to be treated.
4. Share.
5. Don't be jealous if someone else gets the swing first.
6. Wait your turn without pitching a fit.
7. Be helpful and kind.
8. Reading is fun.
9. Be truthful.
August 2007
