Querying Tips

How to do the worst part of getting published

As I referenced last week, this past weekend I attended GrubStreet’s Muse & the Marketplace conference.

Querying Takeaways

Some sessions were useful, some were exercises in ego. In one session, an agent listed everything they personally love in a query letter, and in the next another agent declared the opposite. It was dizzying and frustrating, but there was some utility. My main takeaway was:

Don’t overthink it.

Format

Write a basic query letter. Keep it simple, not flashy. Don’t be braggadocian; be humble, be straightforward, be wry.

Here are some other gems from my notes (paid subscribers will get that tomorrow).

• The tips:

  • Be pleasant

  • Spell the agent’s name right

  • Intrigue

  • Be conversational

  • Be friendly

Can your query letter answer this question: What are readers going to get out of this?

• The sins:

  • Being cynical

  • Emphasizing how many struggles you’ve had in the Q process so far

  • Apologizing about your book

Remember that you’re writing to another human who loves books

Comp Titles

• Pick a recent, well-selling book

• Pick something very accurate too

• Find a triad of strange bedfellows that each cover parts of your book; these don’t have to collectively cover all of your book

If you have the perfect comp title, then why would the world need your book?

I took a lot more notes than this, and my notes are pretty good. Please subscribe for notes on:

• The book marketplace

• More in depth querying advice from 5 different agents

• Advice on navigating author-agent-editor triangles

• Why Do Writers Write?

I also met with an agent who gave me feedback on the first 5 pages of my manuscript, my synopsis, and query letter. In that separate post, I’m going to focus on this experience. It was truly eye-opening and exciting. If you want that, please become a paid subscriber.