Query Shark

[Carol Rose]

This blog has been around for a while but some Litopians may not be aware of it.

http://queryshark.blogspot.com

 

[Nicole Wilson]

The agent who runs this (Janet Reid) is actually one of the top agents in my genre (thriller) and one of the top few on my list of "dream agents". Needless to say, I've been through this site a couple times

 

[Carol Rose]

The agent who runs this (Janet Reid) is actually one of the top agents in my genre (thriller) and one of the top few on my list of "dream agents". Needless to say, I've been through this site a couple times

 

[Island Writer]

I loveQueryShark -you can learn a lot from her

 

[Emurelda]

I just read through her reaction to that query letter, that's quite good.

You know when you submit you hope that your submission is just not as crap as everyone else's...i realise it doesn't quite work like that now - all will get trashed if that is the case. In this game you are only competing against the best darn novel you know you can achieve. In some ways that is harder.

 

[Graham H Miller]

Wow that's scary! But also useful. will now really think about that part of the process to, along with the synopsis and presentation of the first three chapters!

 

[Paul Whybrow]

One thing that I've learned from seven months of querying and submitting, is that less is more. You need to say enough to intrigue someone with the premise of your story, but not so much that you bore them. They will also be checking anything that you write in your letter, synopsis and chapter sample for spelling, formatting and style.
Concision is all. Most agents specify one or two pages at the most for the query letter. This caused me some aggravation recently, when I had to hand write an approach to Cornwall's only literary agent, a stipulation that she made. I was well out of practice in calligraphy, as the only penwork that I do these days are scribbled reminder notes and shopping lists. Using a fountain pen on posh handmade A5 paper, which I had only four sheets of, made me consider my words carefully - particularly as my contact details took up a third of one sheet. I managed it, despite ruining two sheets, and she got back to me requesting a writing sample.
We all want to be honest and to sell our book and ourselves, but that can be done briefly and neatly.

 

[Alistair Roberts]

Hand written? I think we have long since passed the dark ages, and no publisher will look at a hand written - anything! We now have computers and printers, so I'd be tempted to walk away from an agent who asks for such. It suggests they are out of touch with reality to me, but I guess you have nothing to loose.

 

[Paul Whybrow]

I looked upon it as just another hoop to jump through, something that I don't do well as I'm a grumpy lion. I reckon that a lot of the requirements for submissions made by agents and publishers, are not just to check that you're paying attention, but also to deter a lot of applicants.
Also, it's a lot easier to throw away a digital submission than a hard copy.