How to Survive Querying

In my last blog post interviewing Ainslie Hogarth, we talked a lot about writing query letters. I gave examples using the query letter that Ainslie edited that I was going to submit to an agent at a workshop. Soooo, the workshop was this past Sunday…and golly, did I learn a lot!

First things first: we have a winner! Congratulations to Barbara who was the first to comment on the post. She won a signed copy of Ainslie’s book Normal Women! Thanks for reading, watching and commenting, Barbara!

Back to the query letter experience. The workshop, entitled ‘How to Get Published’, was with Brian Henry from Quick Brown Fox, and the guest agent was Marie Lamba from The Jennifer Di Chiara Literary Agency. I’ve been a fan of and frequent participant of Brian’s workshops over the years. If you haven’t yet subscribed to his newsletter/substack, I urge you to do so!

Part of the workshop included an opportunity to read your query letter out loud to the agent and receive feedback from both Brian and the agent. I was able to read my query – in fact, I went first (which I prefer, ’cause then I’m not sitting there nervous and sweaty as others read theirs!) – and I did so with enthusiasm and hope. The feedback was mixed…and, as happens each time I do things like this, I felt more confused and frustrated once the experience was done. BUT – overall, I think I did a good job!

In an effort to share where I’m at with writing and submitting query letters, I’ve put together a ‘Query Letter Survival Tool Kit’ – based on my experience researching the query, pitching my queries, and getting feedback from agents and editors.

Please note: (disclaimer?) This tool kit is based on my personal experience researching and also first-hand experience with agents/editors. It is based on my (ahem…educated) experience, and is meant to be a guideline/helpful load of information for those in the querying boat with me.

Information in the following info images is based on feedback from agents/editors – including Brian and Marie – as well as research on-line.

THE QUERY SURVIVAL TOOL KIT

At this point in my writing career, writing and submitting query letters feels like something to survive. It may not feel this way for you! But it does for me, and I created these ‘how-tos’ in an effort to support you in your own efforts as you navigate trying to get an agent or a publisher.

If you write the ‘pitch’ part of your query, following the Five Cs guideline (starting with Character…and filling in the info from there), you’ll be well on your way to creating a strong pitch.

The above order is most used format for query letters as of today (!). Here is a great blog post on format by Nathan Bransford – with another way to ‘see’ what the query looks like in said format.

Here’s another example from Reedsy (another great tool for learning about writing/publishing):

Here is what my query letter looked like after feedback:

For one thing, this particular agent wanted the genre info up front…and because mine was near the bottom, she was confused. Also, I was trying to impress her with a paraphrase quote at the beginning (based on research I did for ‘hook lines’ at the beginning of the query)…and that confused her as well because the quote was from a writer who writes ‘literary fiction’ – and that’s not what genre my book is. So, bleck.

In any case, there were other feedback components that I may not adhere to simply because it doesn’t match what I want to say. On the other hand, it was clear that there were parts of my pitch that didn’t translate…and parts of the story that I entirely left out in an attempt to be…flashy, fancy, pitchy? Because I was desperate to impress the agent…!

But now…I’m done with that. *she claps her palms together*

Moving forward, I’m going to continue with edits on the novel, and complete a stellar young adult novel – again. I’ll write my query letter based on the format above and write my pitch using the Five Cs method…writing the pitch with confidence based on all I’ve learned thus far! I’m switching my ‘try-to-impress-the-agent’ with desperate hope to ‘my-book-is-amazing-so-it-is-impressive’ hope.

It’s possible that I won’t get an agent at this point. It’s possible that I’ll try, wait, not get an agent, then submit directly to Canadian publishers. In which case, I’ll still need my trusty query letter.

At some point, I’m gonna need a synopsis too! I’m sure I’ll post about how to write one when the time comes.

In the meantime, buckle up beauties! We can survive the query madness! For more learning…

Click here to connect with QueryTracker (which has Query Manager within it!)

Click here to connect with Nathan Bransford. He’ll do critiques of your query!

Click here to connect with Jane Friedman who has loads of info on querying and all things submitting and publishing!