Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Q & A 42 What's a Query?


After much research, I am confused as to the exact nature of a query letter. Some of them seem to be more like a mini-synopsis, whereas I had thought the query was supposed to pitch the novel. Could you please clear this up for me?

Apparently your research didn't include Q & A's 3 and 4 in this blog (early May). Or perhaps it did, and you felt Evil Editor's hilarious answers were uninformative.

Few query letters result in requests for manuscripts. It makes sense that those that are successful are the ones that are well-written, and describe books with reasonable thoroughness. You have a product to sell. So does everyone else. The more information I have, the easier it will be to determine whose I want to buy. Whether you pitch your book in a brief letter and attach a synopsis, or include the synopsis in the query letter, depends on how much paper you need to describe the book. If you read all of the "Revised Versions" of query letters on this blog, you'll find varying styles. If the person to whom you're writing hasn't specified exactly what is wanted, do what feels right for your book.

Also, I am submitting to agents that have represented works similar to mine. I had been told that I should mention which book up front, since agents want to know I have done my research and why I am contacting them, but now some writers are telling me not to mention this.

This also sounds familiar. Q & A 22? Late May.

You should be asking an agent this question, but here's my two cents worth.

Who is the final word on whether a book is similar to yours? You? Evil Editor doesn't trust any author, with the exception of Kaavya Viswanathan, to know what author she writes like. That's because Evil Editor has yet to encounter a query in which an author claimed to write like Author X, and found himself in agreement with said author. An agent may well have a different take on this. Know any who answer questions?

11 comments:

Brenda said...

Sounds like a question for Miss Snark.

My word verification is "junts". It scares me a little.

Anonymous said...

EE, you outdid yourself. You're right, Kaavya Viswanathan is one writer who knows what established writers she tends to be like...

Anonymous said...

Please, please, please never, never, never compare yourself to another author! That's like me telling you guys I look like Angelina Jolie with bigger boobs. It might be true, but no one's gonna believe it til they see it for themselves.

And if you're all wondering, I don't. Well, except for the bigger boobs part. :)

Anonymous said...

Yeah, it gets confusing--but a query is a query and a synopsis is a synopsis. I try not to confuse the two.

A query is a way to let an agent know you have a plot and you can write withouht fucking up a paragraph. A synopsis is a big-ol' overview of 'what am I trying to sell.'

Queries lead to partials, which leads to full MS reads.

Synopsis is that full MS in 1,000 words.

Point = it better all be good, but know which you're sending to whoever whenever.

Cynthia Bronco said...

I've done too many versions of my query letter to determine which were better. I'm open to any advice if you want to see it on my blog.

The Rejected Writer said...

I have four or five different resumes, because I do four or five different types of work. I would never send my editing resume to someone looking for a marketing dweeb. It's about the audience.

Miss S is an agent; E2 is an editor. They inherently look at things differently (as E2 has said many times). Therefore, they want to see different things. Some agents want you to make them feel good by telling them where you heard about them and the wonderful authors they represent. Others just want to see if you can write a complete sentence and have an engaging story premise. Editors (again as E2) has said, don't have time for all that rubbish, and want to know what the story is about and whether it will sell books.

As a result, I have two different queries. One is for agents (and is filled with the crapola they seem to want to make them feel important), and one for editors that is actually about my book and the story that I hope will keep their attention for the 15 seconds it gets considered.

Consider your audience and adjust accordingly. Remember: Neither the editors nor the agents give a rat's ass who you are or what you've written. They only care if you can make them money. Short of that, you are nothing more than a comodity.

Brenda said...

I know of at least one agent who doesn't care about all that other stuff, too, like an editor. He said to open queries to him with the heart of the book. Which is why I love, love, love agent and editor panels; you can find out what that specific person prefers.

Anonymous said...

Nothing personal, but should we be taking sales advice from someone who calls himself "The Rejected Writer"?

Anonymous said...

If the story was set in BC, the hero could look for clues at What'samatta U on top of Whynchatakeapeek. I have a stuffed Rocky the Squirrel in my office.

Go, fellow Canuck! You're lucky, you already know a NYT bestselling author. I'm just friends with the sister of one, and he doesn't write in my genre. I've never met him. I guess I'll just have to rely on EE, MS, and of course, myself.

Anonymous said...

Chumplet-

How does one go about meeting a NY Times bestselling author? Other than stalking them, I mean.

Brenda said...

kis, it's not that hard. I know several myself - although I do credit the organization I'm a part of as the way I became friends with them. (RWA)