Queries

One of the most important pieces, possibly the only important piece in the submission process, is that of the query letter. A key piece to acceptance from any publisher it has to be short, sweet, and to the point. While still maintaining a bold level of interest and mystique. How to do that in one page? Well, isn't that the never ending question. Although to answer what makes a good letter we should probably start with what a query letter is and what is isn't.

• A query letter gives all the basic information of your fiction novel including: characters main motivation, conflict, and wants/needs. Here's a basic run down of the query letter form.
• A query letter is not: a summery of the whole book that spans ten pages, a bunch of rhetorical questions that relate to the plot, or a laundry list of good stuff about your book. For examples go here.

Okay, so you know all about the query letter and you have one ready to send out. Make sure you've double checked the checklist of all the materials you need with your query here. The jump on over to Query Shark to read over a hundred queries that just aren't working, but are being evaluated by an awesome agent giving specific advice of what not to do in a query. The main piece of information to take away from this is that there are a million different ways to write a query with a good, solid hook and a intriguing voice. But there are also a variety of resources to use to take your query from flat to kick ass, so don't despair and work, work, work.