Samhain Publishing Ltd Weblog

Queries

While they might make an author’s life more difficult, a good query letter can make an editor’s life much easier. But notice I said “a good query letter”. So, what makes a query letter good?

Well, after reading hundreds of submissions over the past 2 years I’d like to go into a few things I often find missing from a query letter and a few things that I’d rather do without.

Keep it short and simple. This is not the place to outline your whole plot. This is not the place to list and describe every piece of work you’ve had published since the poem you had in your high school yearbook. It’s a snatch and grab operation. Layering and details and length is for the novel. Keep it interesting but keep it simple.

Simple does not mean a single line saying your submission is attached.

I’ve blogged and twittered about this next one before… You MUST put your word count somewhere in the letter—genre too—Pretty please. Imagine a tired editor sitting at her daughter’s ballet rehearsal. She still has to fill her last November slot and knows that she only has an hour of quiet time before her little ballerina is done. She already has a 70k contemporary coming out that month and 2 full-length novels out the month before, so she’s looking for something shorter. A steamy paranormal novella maybe? The poor editor starts flipping open query letters looking for something to read. And query letter after query letter doesn’t mention word count or genre (yes, this does actually happen). Now while I can guess that a hero named Lucien who only comes out at night is probably going to mean blood will be let—I’m not gifted enough to be able to guess whether it’s going to come out at 20k or 80k. It takes up my time—not to mention my patience—if I have to open each submission and ask my computer to quickly add up the word count. And if I only have the first three chapters of a submission, not even Word can help me. Including simple details in an organized fashion can make your grumpy editor’s job easier. (Check out what Angie James has to say about how an editor’s State of Mind Matters link )

Please, for the love of all that is holy, don’t tell me how great your book is, how your book is the next big thing, how it’s what the lovechild of a Stephen King horror and Nora Roberts romance would be if some librarian somewhere mistakenly squished Cujo in between a bunch of Silhouettes for a late-night ménage between the stacks.
Because seriously, your judgment is not exactly unbiased when talking about your own work. Let me read the book and decide how good it is.

Addressing your query letter. Yes, it’s nice to have the letter addressed to me personally, but if you’re submitting to the submissions box and don’t know the name of the editor who will eventually read your sub, “Dear Samhain Editor” is not a bad way to go. Not addressing the letter to anyone in particular does not mean you haven’t done your research and does not equal the kiss of death. I do not read subs addressed to me before those addressed Dear Editor/ Dear Mr. Sam Hain/ To Whom it May Concern.

In a lot of “How To” articles you’re told the last paragraph of the query letter should be about you. You should let the editor know who you are, your writing credentials and why you’re qualified to tell this particular story. Yes, I’d like to know a little about you. Key word being “little”. And the little you do mention should be relevant. I don’t need to know how and why you now live in your parent’s basement—keep it professional. I don’t need to know how writing saved your life or your views on life, the universe, religion or anything political. If you have been published before, mention where and under what name. As for being “qualified” to write your story, since the internet has made research so easy I’m sure having a cop husband makes researching your romantic suspense easier…but you don’t have to be an astronaut or astrophysicist to write the next Star Trek. So don’t stress if you don’t have much to “qualify” you and don’t stretch too far to prove you do. Keep it simple.

Lastly, I just want to say that I know query letters can be intimidating and writing one is often more painful than writing up 50k worth of words. But I’ve never rejected a book based only on the query letter. I know there are authors out there who can’t write a query letter to save their lives…but their books are great. Don’t stress, keep it simple and hit send.