Querying

Let’s talk about query letters for a minute. Specifically, let’s talk about the plot summary portion of a query letter.

(Note: This post is going to have a bunch of spoilers for Mairelon the Magician, which I’m using as an example.)

Query letters are conventionally limited to one page, in which you have to provide the editor with critical information about your manuscript (genre, word count, completion status) and then boil your 100,000+ word manuscript down into the two or three paragraphs that...