Happy Easter!
As much as I like this blog to be read, hopefully you’re all taking a break from publishing (I know, strange for the “write every day” girl to say that) and enjoying your Easter. It’s hard to believe, but some things are more important than our writing. 🙂
I’ve done more research on how to write a killer query and discovered that the query was even more important than I had previously thought because at least one of the agents I plan to query wants just a query in the initial submission, not even a couple pages of the story to show my writing chops. That means the story, tone, voice, everything has to come through in my query. After I got over my desire to bury my head in the sand, I continued my search of agent/editor websites and blogs about query writing tips and wanted to share a list of links that I think are very helpful. Also, remember that yesterday I posted some links to agent Rachelle Gardner‘s tips, so check them out too.
Literary agent Nathan Bransford has a list of posts about “The Essentials” in the right nav bar on his blog, but here are some I think are most useful:
Two copies of query letters Nathan thinks are good. These are real query letters, and he comments on what was good about them. Here’s the first one and the second one.
How and Whether to List Publishing Credits – The jist is, do if you’re published (not self-published) and/or the experience relates to the project.
Nelson Literary Agency has a wealth of information in their FAQ section. In it, you’ll find links to a 12-part Pitch Workshop, seven examples of query letters they received from some of their clients along with commentary and a bunch of query letter dos and don’ts.
You should also read agent Kristin Nelson‘s blog, Pub Rants, which is very informative.
Got any good query letter links to share?
Write On!
