Hi Everybody,
It was fun to be back in New York. It's amazing how different the city looked to me since I moved to the Midwest. I used to drive in every day to work and didn't think much about it, but now that I live out in a suburb with lots of open spaces, the city seemed totally different. Fun, exciting, with lots to do but I found myself missing the openness of my new home at the same time. Or perhaps I was missing the three little voices calling "Mom."
The Backspace Conference Agent Author Day was enormously helpful to me as a writer and I would heartily recommend it to anyone considering a career as an author. I received feedback on my query letter and on my first five pages. Interestingly, some of the feedback on the opening pages ran counter to some advice I'd received previously from another respected agent, which I think illustrates an important point. The judgment of any one agent or editor are subjective. Personal taste plays a large role in each agent's decisions on what to represent. As different people read their work aloud, more than once I heard "It's good, it's just not my cup of tea" from the participating agents. This brought home to me the importance of thoroughly researching any agent I want to query. I read their submission guidelines on multiple sites and read the books of authors they represent.
The agents are consistent on quality of writing, and I know that for any agent I need to polish my work until it gleams. They all want to see excellent writing in the pages submitted, but where I found more difference of opinion was in the particulars they like to see in query letters. Many agents participate in online workshops and/or have blogs, so I would recommend looking through these. Many of them will post query letters they received that they particularly liked.
Anyway, here's what they had to say about mine:
Query letter:
They liked the general format of it. Mostly it needed to be tightened up. I needed to write less in my paragraph describing the work, leave out the secondary character Fiona, and focus more on the romantic relationship between my protagonist, Gemma, and Connor Hogan. They liked the idea of a romantic relationship where one partner can influence the perceptions of the other. Does call for the ultimate bit of trust, don't you think?
As to the opening pages, they recommended less stylized language. In other words, fewer complicated clauses. Keep the writing simple and straightfoward.
So now I have a query letter to rewrite, opening pages to simplify and a manuscript to finish. On the bright side, one agent in particular loved the concept so she'll be on the top of my list of agents to query!
Cheers,
Mary
Showing posts with label Backspace Writers Conference. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Backspace Writers Conference. Show all posts
Friday, June 5, 2009
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Query Letter Connection
Hi Everybody,
As promised in my last post, I have some information to share from last year's Backspace Writer's Conference on writing query letters. Since I am focused on fiction, these notes are specific to fiction queries. There are a couple of general items that apparently happen quite frequently. One is that the query letter is titled Dear Sir/Madam or some other generic format. Agents prefer to be addressed individually and although it's fine to query more than one agent at an agency, it is best to query only one at a time.
The second point is to research the agents preferences for submissions. Their preferences vary. Some want only the query letter, others prefer to also have a certain number of pages of manuscript as well. Most agents now accept email submissions and some only email submissions but it's always good to check. I always start with the agency's web site for genres they represent and and then also There are some great sites to gain information about agents and the types of work they represent. These sites often also include submission requirements. I always check The Association of Author Representatives at http://www.aaronline.org/mc/page.do as well as Publisher's Marketplace at http://www.publishersmarketplace.com/.
Often, if you write in a particular genre there will be an organization of writers in that specialty which will include lists of agents. For example, Romance Writers of America has a list of agents representing romance.
The agents who spoke at last year's conference varied to a degree in what catches their eye in a query letter, but there were a some general themes that stood out. First, state up front what your genre and word count is. Then, succintly describe the novel. Here is where your writing style needs to shine. I've heard people say this section of the letter should sound similar to back cover copy. It needs to catch the agent with not only the content, but the strength of the writing. They also often said no 'What would happen if' statements and if there's humor in the book, reflect it in the summary.
It is helpful to include a brief statement about your previous experience as a writer if it is applicable. For example, I included the titles of my two novels but not specifics about the medical writing I have done beyond a brief statement I have expertise in that area. If you have expertise in the area about which you are writing, this is great to add. For example, horse people writing equestrian fiction write compelling narrative because they've lived it.
Well, folks, I'll be flying to New York next week to sit in front of between 12 and 18 agents. I'll post their comments on the query letter when we get back. They say to be prepared for open, honest feedback. Okay, here I go...
Cheers,
Mary
As promised in my last post, I have some information to share from last year's Backspace Writer's Conference on writing query letters. Since I am focused on fiction, these notes are specific to fiction queries. There are a couple of general items that apparently happen quite frequently. One is that the query letter is titled Dear Sir/Madam or some other generic format. Agents prefer to be addressed individually and although it's fine to query more than one agent at an agency, it is best to query only one at a time.
The second point is to research the agents preferences for submissions. Their preferences vary. Some want only the query letter, others prefer to also have a certain number of pages of manuscript as well. Most agents now accept email submissions and some only email submissions but it's always good to check. I always start with the agency's web site for genres they represent and and then also There are some great sites to gain information about agents and the types of work they represent. These sites often also include submission requirements. I always check The Association of Author Representatives at http://www.aaronline.org/mc/page.do as well as Publisher's Marketplace at http://www.publishersmarketplace.com/.
Often, if you write in a particular genre there will be an organization of writers in that specialty which will include lists of agents. For example, Romance Writers of America has a list of agents representing romance.
The agents who spoke at last year's conference varied to a degree in what catches their eye in a query letter, but there were a some general themes that stood out. First, state up front what your genre and word count is. Then, succintly describe the novel. Here is where your writing style needs to shine. I've heard people say this section of the letter should sound similar to back cover copy. It needs to catch the agent with not only the content, but the strength of the writing. They also often said no 'What would happen if' statements and if there's humor in the book, reflect it in the summary.
It is helpful to include a brief statement about your previous experience as a writer if it is applicable. For example, I included the titles of my two novels but not specifics about the medical writing I have done beyond a brief statement I have expertise in that area. If you have expertise in the area about which you are writing, this is great to add. For example, horse people writing equestrian fiction write compelling narrative because they've lived it.
Well, folks, I'll be flying to New York next week to sit in front of between 12 and 18 agents. I'll post their comments on the query letter when we get back. They say to be prepared for open, honest feedback. Okay, here I go...
Cheers,
Mary
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