Putting Your Best Foot Forward

A couple of weeks ago, I blogged about some helpful websites that might help you through the torture of SYNOPSIS writing. Today, I'd like to pass along some links for the other torture chamber, better known as writing THE QUERY LETTER. Dun-ta-Dun... (In case you don't get that, it's supposed to be the sound of peril.) No really, query writing is not that bad, especially if you do your research. The first impression an agent has of you is based on your query letter, so you better put as much effort into it as you did your manuscript. That being said, I'd like to pass on a few good places to start. Of course, there is the infamous Elana Johnson, brilliant author of FROM THE QUERY TO THE CALL. Her formula for the query letter simplifies the whole process into something understandable. Then, there is the notorious Janet Reid, better known as The Query Shark. Her query template provides the low down on what an agent really wants to know about your manuscript. My recent favorite is Jill Corcoran's information about her specific likes and dislikes when it comes to the query letter. And, finally, for entertainment purposes, you should check out my query blunders from almost two years ago. Yeah, they are laughable! In addition to these sites, I want to stress the importance of researching particular agents before querying them. Each agent has their own preferences when it comes to receiving queries. Hope this was somewhat helpful to all of those out there in the query trenches. Anyone have any other helpful sites to share?

There's a Place for Trash

And it isn't with an agent or publisher. So many of you probably already know this, and I wish I had figured it out before I made the mistake, but I didn't. I queried trash. Yes, trash. My mom recently returned to me the first draft of my last project. I sat down on the floor of my study and giggled as I read. It was truly awful. This is the same awful I queried eighteen months ago. Seriously, what was I thinking?????? This is my first installment of Tuesday's Tips, and I figured why not start with the hardest and biggest lesson I've learned during my journey. I'm sure you've heard it said before, but it warrants repeating. DO NOT QUERY TOO SOON! It's really no surprise that I never found an agent after querying what I did. It stank! And by stank, I mean that it had no business ever being published. It was partly because of my writing, which was underdeveloped and mediocre at best, and partly because I didn't have a clue what I was doing. My Tuesday's Tip this week is to make sure you are 100% ready to query before you contact any agent or publisher. It would be better to wait years for a chance at publication than to blow your chances by submitting to soon. So, as cliche as it might seem, it's still the most important thing I've learned during my walk in the publishing industry. Throw the trash away to make room for the brilliance. So, have any of you ever queried your work before it was ready? If so, wouldn't you say that it's one of the biggest mistakes you made on the road to publication?

The Climb

Back in May, I posted this:

Today was nothing but baseball. Both boys were playing in tournaments on opposite ends of town, which meant way too much time in the car. My daughter had her I-Pod hooked up to the car stereo, and the kids randomly fought over which songs to skip over and which ones to turn up louder.

When Mylie Cyrus's song, "The Climb," came on, my thirteen-year-old son speaks up and says, "Don't change this." This wouldn't have been a big deal except for the fact that he hates Mylie Cyrus. The rest of us turned and looked at him in shock, and he says, "What? It's the song that was going through my head when I got that last hit."

I heard Mylie's song yesterday, and it made me think about my own climb. When I first started querying, I thought I could make the mountain move, or at least find a faster way around it, rather than having to climb it.

I told you about all of my query mistakes yesterday, and a couple of you commented that the mistake you made was querying too soon. This was probably the biggest mistake I made, too. My work was not ready. I thought I could skip over many things. And I thought I'd be the exception.

What we all need to remember is that this truly is a climb. It's hard work, and it takes time to get over a mountain. But if we keep putting one foot after the other, someday, we'll get to the other side!

Speaking of mistakes, I had a typo in my post yesterday. Does anyone remember what it was? Don't cheat. No looking back!

Have a great weekend!

OOOOOPS!

Okay, so I've never actually made the mistake of wearing two different shoes, but I've made plenty of other ones!

One of my favorite posts I did a while back was about all of my late-night query mistakes. I love laughing about these mistakes now. It read something like this:

I'm a night person and always have been. I hate mornings, and it usually takes at least three cups of coffee before I can function. My wake-up-at-the-crack-of-dawn husband just doesn't quite understand this, but we manage to get along anyway. At any rate, I often find myself querying after midnight. Apparently, my head isn't as clear as I think it is at night.

Here are some of my late-night query mistakes:

I sent three chapters in the body of an e-query to an agent whose guidelines specifically state: QUERY ONLY. I knew this, but I meant to send the query to a different agent. (A rejection soon followed.)

I indicated that I was enclosing a SASE for the agents response in an e-query. It's kind of hard to send an envelope with an email, wouldn't you say? In my defense, when I checked the agency guidelines, they specifically asked for snail mail queries, but upon further investigation, I learned that this particular agent preferred queries by email. So I copied and pasted my original letter from Word into an email. Unfortunately, I forgot to take the part about the SASE out. (I haven't received a reply on this one yet, but it's only been a couple of weeks.)

I sent five e-queries with the same typo. Keep in mind that I read, re-read, and re-read again without catching the mistake. That is, until I hit send on the last one. (Three of the five were rejections, and I'm still waiting on responses from the other two.)

I addressed and e-query to someone named "Mitchelle." Yeah--it was supposed to be "Michelle!" Again, my midnight mind didn't catch it until the next morning. By the way, did I mention this query also contained the same typo mentioned in the previous example? (No response from this one yet!)

Now, here's one about a snail mail query. I enclosed a SASE or, actually, an SAE. Yes--I forgot to put a stamp on it! How do I know? Well, because I was out of stamps before I even wrote the query. Now, why I didn't realize it until after I went to the post office, bought stamps, put them on the query to mail, and stuck it in the drop box is anyone's guess! Apparently, my head isn't so clear in the morning either. (Hm...I wonder if I'll ever get a reply.)

So what mistakes have you made?

Don't forget about Mooch. There's only two weeks left in the Slumpbuster Challenge. Click on the penguin in my sidebar to check it out.

Querying After Midnight Is Not Advised!

I'm a night person and always have been. I hate mornings, and it usually takes at least three cups of coffee before I can function. My wake-up-at-the-crack-of-dawn husband just doesn't quite understand this, but we manage to get along anyway. At any rate, I often find myself querying after midnight. Apparently, my head isn't as clear as I think it is at night. Here are some of my late-night query mistakes: I sent three chapters in the body of an e-query to an agent whose guidelines specifically state: QUERY ONLY. I knew this, but I meant to send the query to a different agent. (A rejection soon followed.) I indicated that I was enclosing a SASE for the agents response in an e-query. It's kind of hard to send an envelope with an email, wouldn't you say? In my defense, when I checked the agency guidelines, they specifically asked for snail mail queries, but upon further investigation, I learned that this particular agent preferred queries by email. So I copied and pasted my original letter from Word into an email. Unfortunately, I forgot to take the part about the SASE out. (I haven't received a reply on this one yet, but it's only been a couple of weeks.) I sent five e-queries with the same typo. Keep in mind that I read, re-read, and re-read again without catching the mistake. That is, until I hit send on the last one. (Three of the five were rejections, and I'm still waiting on responses from the other two.) I addressed and e-query to someone named "Mitchelle." Yeah--it was supposed to be "Michelle!" Again, my midnight mind didn't catch it until the next morning. By the way, did I mention this query also contained the same typo mentioned in the previous example? (No response from this one yet!) Now, here's one about a snail mail query. I enclosed a SASE or, actually, an SAE. Yes--I forgot to put a stamp on it! How do I know? Well, because I was out of stamps before I even wrote the query. Now, why I didn't realize it until after I went to the post office, bought stamps, put them on the query, and stuck it in the drop box is anybody's guess! Apparently, my head isn't so clear in the morning either. (Hm...I wonder if I'll ever get a reply.) So, I was in the middle of writing down all of these examples when my son finally got off the computer. Before typing this post, I decided to visit a livejournal posting that I love to go to on Saturdays. Ms. Jodi Meadows is the query reader for The Rappaport Agency, and every Saturday she posts "slush stats." It is a definite wake up call about the number of people querying and the number of requests for additional materials. (I'd say it ranges somewhere between 1 and 2%.) She is also a writer seeking representation, and I love to follow what's happening with her. Check it out: http://jmeadows.livejournal.com/ Low and behold, her post was about the same topic I'm writing here. I love to read about other writer's mistakes because it makes me realize that I'm not alone! Please bear in mind, though, Jodi is one of us, so she's a little more forgiving of these types of mistakes than an agent might be. Okay, for now, I'm off to another baseball game!