To prepare for this month’s topic, I watched a video from the 2011 Backspace Writers Conference in which Kristin, Scott Hoffman of Folio Literary Management, Suzie Townsend (then of Fineprint Literary Management, now with New Leaf Literary), and Diana Fox of Fox Literary discussed the nuances of publishing contracts. One of the things I learned is that… MORE
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Fact: If you have to defend that your novel is over 200,000 words in your query letter, then you are not pitching your story from a place of strength. And agents are more likely to pass. Here’s why: Even though a writer might insist that the length is necessary for the story,… MORE
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Happy Release Day Stacey Lee! UNDER A PAINTED SKY is now in bookstores. Since I’ve been doing nothing but blogging about queries for the last week, what better way to celebrate the release of her debut novel than to share Stacey’s original query letter (with permission of course!) Dear Ms. Nelson, I… MORE
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And as further celebration, my original pitch letter to editors when this work was on submission. A couple of things to note: 1) As my letter reveals, UNDER A PAINTED SKY was not the original title. We have Stacey’s estimable editor Shauna to thank for that! It was a great… MORE
(Just a note, this post is from our archives. Some references and links may be from past years.) Fact: A really terrific concept in your query won’t save you if the letter itself is poorly written. Think of the query letter as a special training ground. A pitch for your… MORE
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