STATUS: I’m going to be on vacation next week so it’s a mad scramble to finish up projects, submissions, and all kinds of details before heading out. It makes today feel like a Wednesday.
What’s playing on the iPod right now? WICKED GAME by Chris Isaak
I’m not one to provide a ton of blog links as my entry and call it a day but today, I can’t resist a few before giving a query rant.
Bookseller chick (one of my favs to read) has the most hilarious story posted on her blog. Serious beverage alert.
My author Sherry Thomas has a purple prose confession to make—one that I had totally forgotten about until she sent me the link to her blog entry. Ah, writers, if you have sentence or a paragraph that is just your baby, maybe you should reconsider if your agent or editor mercilessly deletes it.
Also, my very good friend Karen Dionne and one of the original founders of Backspace asked me to do a shout out for their All Agents Conference that is happening in November 2006. It’s quite a line up and a good opportunity to meet more than 10 agents in person if you’re looking. Here’s the link.
But I saved the best for last. I was reading through my queries this morning and of course none of my blog readers would ever use a query service but here’s another reason why you shouldn’t.
The whole point of the query is the illusion of personalization. As agents, we all know that you write the main crux (as in the pitch blurb) once and then you simply tailor the opening paragraph to the agent you are targeting. Mix and match and email away. The point is to be professional enough (and savvy) to take the time to tailor the query letter so the agent knows he or she is not just some random target.
Not so when you use a query blaster service.
I love the email tag line included with the query that reads:
This query letter has been sent to you by Bookblaster E-Query Service (a division of Scriptblaster E-Query Service) on behalf of the writer. To contact the writer directly, please either click on the writer’s email address in the body of the email, or use your reply button.
To contact Bookblaster E-Query Service, please email us at ….
I’m just not feeling the personal love. Besides, it was really obvious that the query letter was in some kind of form letter format. Most agents will just send out their NO blaster as a response.
Folks. Write your own query letters and send them yourself. Yes, I know it’s time consuming (and often frustrating), but it’s just part of the business of writing. You shouldn’t be query blasting your email to every agent on this e-query service list anyway.
I sure hope the writer didn’t pay for it. Oy.
It’s amazing the scams people will try. I hope the author didn’t pay for it too, but I bet he or she did. I also hope he or she chalks it up as a lesson learned, and doesn’t give up! Have faith in your own words!
Thank you for the advice and thank you for the links. It can be very self challenging when writing a query to an agent. Hopefully an agent can see through a writer’s insecurities and see the story within, the story the writer is trying to pitch. Thank you for your blog and I wish you a relaxing vacation next week.
At least $89.
I once got a rejection from a publisher (on a request for guidelines, do ya believe it?) that included several brochures for these pay-to-submit services. I think it’s funny, now. I didn’t at the time.
And since then I’ve heard that this publisher doesn’t look at anything submitted by these services. Hell-lo?
T2
Hopefully an agent can see through a writer’s insecurities and see the story within, the story the writer is trying to pitch.
I can tell you one thing–if you can’t get over your own insecurities in a query letter, this business is going to chew you up and spit you out. Learn to leave your neuroses at the door–or better yet, learn to channel them into your writing in a positive way. But don’t expect agents or editors to go hunting for the good stuff.
Just my unsolicitied advice.
Kuvazton:
Think of it this way – a query letter is just an exercise in writing, correct? And you’re a writer. Therefore, you can handle this. If you can figure out how to write a great novel, then you can figure out how to write a great query letter; it just takes work. 🙂
This is the first time I’ve ever heard of a “query blaster” service. Even worse, they paid about $89 for it? Gee…the gas prices probably didn’t hit them that hard if they can afford to throw away that kind of money. Chances are “query blaster” will probably end up sending their query to Sobol.
Oh, the writer paid for it. Cash. And they’ll pay even more in rejections. A few months ago Nadia Cornier wrote about this very problem on her blog which inspired me to write an article about it for the Society of Children’s Book Writer’s and Illustrators. It’s in the current issue, so maybe a few people who aren’t reading your blog, but do read the SCBWI bulletin will get the message anyway!
I just read the comments. Try upwards of $300 for some of the services. If you read my piece, you’ll see that I queried one of these services and while I got a personal answer, they said my sample query needed a lot of work. This was a query I had used more than four times succeffully.
This isn’t sour grapes speaking, well not entirely, and I would never blast out queries using a service, but it’s kind of like those impersonal form rejections, isn’t it? How many authors feel the love in a form rejection?
Yes, I know the business and the difference in an agent and a writer seeking an agent, so you all don’t have to explain that to me. This is just a comment.
Anonymous said…
This isn’t sour grapes speaking, well not entirely, and I would never blast out queries using a service, but it’s kind of like those impersonal form rejections, isn’t it? How many authors feel the love in a form rejection?
Yes, I know the business and the difference in an agent and a writer seeking an agent, so you all don’t have to explain that to me. This is just a comment.
7:50 AM
Anon, I think this is an excellent comment. Unfortunately, this is not a two way street. That’s just the way it is, and always has been. Though I’d never pay for someone else to write anything for me, I do know people who write very well (especially non-fiction writers)and simply don’t want to be bothered with learning to write the perfect query. These are intelligent, wealthy people who write well, but don’t want to deal with the quirks of writing queries. I think “scam” is a strong word and not very solid. When you think about how long it takes to write a good query letter the money these firms charge isn’t that steep.
The problem is agents believe if you can write a good query you can write a good book, which we all know isn’t always the case. And though most of us are too stubborn to pay someone else to write a query we’re also too quick to judge another writer who will take advantage of these services. I don’t believe they are any more of a scam than having a professional editing service polish, tighten and prepare a novel for presentation. It’s about control and empowerment, and writers don’t have much of that. The only smart thing to do, if you don’t want to write your own query, is to pay the query service extra (cash is best in this case; no trail)to make it appear as though you wrote it yourself, and no sign you paid a professional to do it. And, just so you know…this is done all the time. The problem is sometimes the query is much better than the book.
Interesting. About a year or so ago, on a writer’s board, someone who said she got an agent after many requests for partials, posted her “successful” query letter and encouraged everyone to use it. It was a true form letter, similar to this:
Name of Book:
Word Count:
Genre:
Blurb About Book:
Author Bio:
Name, Address, etc, of Author
That was it. After she posted it, I’ll bet a lot of agents received this form letter and just said “no.” And I wonder what agents that particular writer targeted who would be interested in repping her?
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Kristin, thanks for all the readers! I came home last night, saw the huge spike in my numbers and had a “huh?” moment. I admit that I momentarily wondered if I’d gotten hooked to a porn site.
Then I saw where they’d come from.
Re: your comment on my blog. There’s a reason I chose to be Bookseller “Chick” instead of Bookseller “Lady” or Bookseller “Woman.” Far too much of my life reads like a woman’s fiction novel with broad comic overtones. Thanks again for the love, you made my day.