For most authors, traditional publishing begins with a query,
a brief letter in which you pitch yourself and your project, usually to a
literary agent, though in some cases (small presses; some specialty houses),
the query may go directly to an editor at a publishing house. The query
represents a turning point in the way you think about your project. It’s where
your work of art becomes a commodity and where your passion morphs back toward
business. Query-writing is such a valuable process that even if you
self-publish, it’s worth the time to develop a query to yourself as the first
step in the promotional process.
When I first began writing queries, I followed the usual
formula—why I’m writing, what my project is, who I am—and I didn’t put a lot of
time or energy into my approach. But as the market tightened, I began to spend
more time crafting my queries, treating them like mini-manuscripts, prewriting
and drafting and letting them sit and doing multiple revisions. When I query, I
now pay careful attention to my audience and to figuring out what my project is
really about, and I make sure my unique voice—the voice reflected in my
manuscript—shines in the query letter.
These days, emerging writers seem to focus most of their
attention on the one or two sentence “elevator pitch” and then build their
query around it. I find this backwards. Any project, even a marginal one, can
be reduced to a sentence or two that’s rattled off on the fly. If you take the
time to produce a finely-crafted query letter, you’ll have all the content and
confidence you need to pitch your project to any agent you happen to meet in an
elevator.
Though it may sound odd, I often draft part of my query in the
early stages of my projects, as soon as I feel the book beginning to take
shape. Even though it will most certainly change, I find it helpful to consider
how a project will appear to potential publishers and readers, in the form of
back cover copy, which is how I think of the pitch line or lines of the query.
Despite the grumbling you hear (possibly even from me),
placing your manuscript is not merely a crap shoot or a numbers game. It’s
about knowing your book through and through and understanding enough about the
market to know where it fits, and it’s about the project earning your
conviction that it absolutely must reach its readers.
There’s all sorts of query advice floating around, but the
best I’ve found is in a slim little volume called The Last Query by Cindy Dyson,
a guide-book that also happens to be a fine example of the type of project that
lends itself to self-publishing even though the writer has already published
traditionally (a fine novel, And She Was): a viable topic, a knowledgeable
author, and a niche market.
Dyson approaches queries from an agent’s perspective. What
will make your query stand out among hundreds and thousands that all follow the
same formula? We all like to think our projects are entirely unique, when in
truth they’re not nearly as special as we imagine. That’s not to say they’re
not worthy of publication, only that we must work hard to figure out how to
help our target audience—first the agent, then the publisher and then readers—understand
that they MUST have this book. Consider the fears and desires of agents, Dyson suggests. Ask
yourself significant questions about your project, things you might not have
considered before, like the metaphorical highlights and the soul of the story.
Examine yourself as a writer, including what Dyson calls the “sexy hooks” of
your life.
I’ve distilled Dyson’s query writing questions into a
worksheet that I use for nearly every book I write. The worksheet pulls
together my thinking about the book; in completing it, I inevitably discover
new angles that have been lurking around beneath the surface of my project.
Once you’ve done the deep thinking about your project, you’re
ready to draft a query letter. Ideally, a query letter should be personalized;
you should research specific agents and let each know why you’ve chosen him or
her—either because another author or agent referred you (that’s best), or
because you admire another author represented by that agent, or because your
research has shown you that this agent is especially interested in books like
yours.
Begin with a comprehensive search using an annual guide such as The Writer’s Market or Jeff Herman’s Guide to Book Publishers, Editors, and Literary Agents and/or online databases such as Agent Query or Query Tracker.
Professional organizations (Poets & Writers, Society of Children’s BookWriters and Illustrators) also maintain databases of agents and editors that
can be accessed by their members. Chuck Sambuchino’s Guide to Literary Agents blog is a great way to keep up on new agents who are acquiring clients.
Besides your explanation of why you chose to query a particular
agent, your letter should also include your pitch, or hook—a captivating
sentence or two that would also work as back cover copy, something so riveting
that a potential reader feels she simply HAS to read more. The query should
also show that you understand how your book fits in the marketplace, and it
should include something about you as an author—your experience, why you’re the
person to write this particular book, your ways of connecting with readers—and
it should end with an extension of thanks to the agent or editor for
considering your project. As much as possible, your query should also convey
the voice of your book.
As you query each agent, be sure to check online for the
agent’s policies and guidelines. At any given time, a particular agent may post
a notice saying she’s not accepting unsolicited submissions. If that’s the
case, don’t query that agent—your letter will go directly to the trash unless
the agent has specifically requested your manuscript, which generally happens
after meeting you at a conference or other event. However, if the agent’s
website says she’s not accepting unsolicited manuscripts but gives instructions
for sending queries, go ahead and contact her. If your query piques her
interest, she’ll solicit your manuscript.
Also pay attention to whether the agent accepts queries by
email or by regular mail. Most have gone digital, though there are a few
holdouts for the slow and cumbersome system of querying by snail mail with an
SASE (self-addressed, stamped envelope) for reply. Many agents ask for the
first page to ten pages to be copy/pasted into the email that contains your
query. (Because of the threat posed by computer viruses, few will open
attachments unless it’s a manuscript they’ve specifically requested.)
Some agents will also ask for a synopsis, a one or two page
summary of your book that, like the query, shows your voice and piques
interest. No cliffhangers, though—a synopsis should include the book’s ending.
Few authors enjoy writing the synopsis, but like the query, it needs to shine
if you want your submission to stand out from the rest. For a sample synopsis,
see the appendix.
With digital queries, most agents are now also amenable to
multiple submissions, though upon requesting a manuscript, some still ask for an
exclusive reading period (usually a few weeks).
My advice: once you’ve
cultivated a list of agents specific to your project, query eight to ten at a
time. If you’re still getting form rejections after sending out two or three of
these batches, take another look at both your query and your manuscript;
revisions may be in order. In some ways, submissions are a numbers game—it may
take forty or fifty queries before one lands in the inbox of someone who’s
intrigued by your book premise and impressed by your chops as an author.
Once you send out the first batch of queries, the waiting
begins. Next week, I’ll talk about what sorts of responses you can expect, how
to keep track of them, and more query etiquette.
