Query Letters

The whole concept of a query letter is terrifying to most writers. The idea of selling yourself and your work in as few words as possible seems more like a prison sentence then a task. There are so many ways to mess these up and yet we all must go through the experience of writing them.

Over the course of the next few days, I'm going to post a list of things that should be helpful to you.

The first and MOST important thing a writer must do before beginning a query letter is research! Let me say that again. The first and MOST important thing a writer must do before beginning a query letter is RESEARCH!!

What does that mean exactly? The answer is simple. If you are writing a query letter to an agent, make sure you go to the website and find out what they like. Go to their blog, read up on them. If you can't find a site or anything about them...move on to the next one. More than likely the agent is either incompetent or has no real feeling of obligation to you or your work. Also, if you can't find anything out about them, then it is more likely than not, a scam. 

Also in the research you should be able to find things out like, genre, formatting, and clients. All of this is important in your research. It will assist you in deciding if the person is right for you. This also helps with spelling of the agent's name and what they like to see.

The most important weapon in your arsenal for writing a query letter is RESEARCH.

Tomorrow there will be more.