Query Letter Pet Peeves

[Nicole Wilson]

I saw this great article on Twitter by Chuck Sambuchino (a big name in US editing/writing). We've been discussing a lot about what to do for queries, but it's just as important to know what not to do. Most of these I've seen on several agents' blogs and websites, so steer clear of them.

https://writersinthestorm.wordpress.com/2014/01/03/query-letter-pet-peeves-agents-speak/

 

[Carol Rose]

Excellent article! Thanks for posting.

 

[Alistair Roberts]

Interesting read, even if the points raised should be obvious

 

[Emurelda]

Nice. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Jason Byrne]

I saw this great article on Twitter by Chuck Sambuchino (a big name in US editing/writing). We've been discussing a lot about what to do for queries, but it's just as important to know what not to do. Most of these I've seen on several agents' blogs and websites, so steer clear of them.

https://writersinthestorm.wordpress.com/2014/01/03/query-letter-pet-peeves-agents-speak/

The name is familiar to me — awesome advice, and good find!

 

[1408]

Thank you!!

Here is a link to a post made by literary agent Brooks Sherman. He makes a poem out of common phrases in queries. http://brookssherman.com/post/128644912203/i-read-a-few-hundred-queries-last-week-made

It's not necessarily what not to do, but if we're trying to stand out from the crowd!

I've actually already queried Brooks Sherman and he's the only agent I've replied to after the initial no, just to say thank you for such a speedy reply. Which sounds kind of odd... thanks for the super fast rejection! Haha. But, honestly, I liked knowing so quickly. It meant I could move on! Although I really haven't, because he's also the only agent I'm going to try to pursue with either another novel or KDD once it's revised again. Notice me senpai!

 

[Nicole Wilson]

Thank you!!

Here is a link to a post made by literary agent Brooks Sherman. He makes a poem out of common phrases in queries. http://brookssherman.com/post/128644912203/i-read-a-few-hundred-queries-last-week-made

It's not necessarily what not to do, but if we're trying to stand out from the crowd!

I've actually already queried Brooks Sherman and he's the only agent I've replied to after the initial no, just to say thank you for such a speedy reply. Which sounds kind of odd... thanks for the super fast rejection! Haha. But, honestly, I liked knowing so quickly. It meant I could move on! Although I really haven't, because he's also the only agent I'm going to try to pursue with either another novel or KDD once it's revised again. Notice me senpai!

Whew! None of those phrases are in mine!

And can we please not have "exactly like Hunger Games except"? I think y'all can be a little more creative than that

 

[1408]

@Nicole Wilson I actually went back to my query to make sure I didn't have any of those when I queried him! Haha! Oh the shame I would have felt if I had!

And mm, sure! "Kidnapping Death's Daughter is exactly like HARRY POTTER meets GAME OF THRONES! Honest, it is, my cat says so and he's a critic." I'm sure they'll snap that up!

 

[Chase Gamwell]

Each resource like this is great. I'm really going to read and reread all of the sources I've gathered from Litopia before writing a query letter again. That way, next time I send something out (probably for my NaNoWriMo novel), it will cater to the agent rather than to meeeee...

Thanks again, Nicole!

 

[Katie-Ellen]

The 'what if' approach to presented the pitch surprised me, that it peeved an agent. I've only used that once, myself, but I'd have thought it was a common device. Maybe too common.

 

[Nicole Wilson]

The 'what if' approach to presented the pitch surprised me, that it peeved an agent. I've only used that once, myself, but I'd have thought it was a common device. Maybe too common.

Yeah, I have seen a lot of agents say they hate it when you open with a rhetorical question. It's used far too often apparently.

 

[Alistair Roberts]

Thankfully I haven't used any of them either