Get Published Now!
I'll help you get what you want:
agent, book contract, and
shelf space at Barnes and Noble.
I'll help you get what you want:
agent, book contract, and
shelf space at Barnes and Noble.
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The query letter (now part of the query submission packet) is your key to landing an agent or publisher. If written correctly, your story, as told in your query, answers the unspoken questions in every agents’ mind: What’s In It For Me? Is this a skillful writer. Is this a salable story? Could this writer be the next Clancy or Patterson?
To help you learn to "sell" instead of "tell" in your query letter, I’m going to be teaching query writing via video, accompanied by a query-letter template, and instructional booklet. (Actually, multiple aspects of what's required to move along with road to authorhood will be covered in future video packages. The PILOT webinar program was presented in August, 2015. (Note: As of 4-2-2016, the webinar is available, free, to watch. Check it out at the Florida Writer's Association website. CLICK HERE: And please overlook my plethora of "um." My goodness! Oh well, first time Webinar leader and all that. Regardless, there's tons of useful information that can help you expand your understanding of the query letter.) If you want more info, check out my Agent/Query Tutorial.
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New agents, more than the veterans, are looking for you! They need/want talented clients in order to become established. They need/want to sign up competent writers who have written salable stories so they can create income to keep food on the table and keep them in yoga classes, or scuba gear, or whatever. One thing to look for is the stability and longevity of the agency they represent. If they'd opened their doors the day before yesterday with no industry track record, you'll be smart to perform due diligence before signing on the dotted line.
Once upon a time there lived a vast number of schizophrenic gate keepers. By day, they were known as literary agents, who made deals over three-martini lunches with friendly publishers, while dumping query submission packets onto the desks of over-worked and underpaid interns.
Rumors circulated that, in the dark of night, agents scampered into the forest to meet with their dastardly cohorts. They’d cook up a pot of eyes-of-newt stew, adding additional ingredients too yucky to identify. They’d rub greedy little hands together with “Mwaaaahahha,” while celebrating the writers they’d rejected with, “Sorry, not right for our list.” I’m constantly amazed at how many writers think of agents as cruel little gnomes who shout “NO-NO-NO-NO-NO” as they break the hearts of author wannabees. The truth is that agents are pragmatic business people who use their best judgment to acquire well-written manuscripts that can be polished, printed, and sold for a profit. Publishing, just like every business, must generate profits to survive. Therefore, if your submission is filled with red flags that identify you as a “rookie,” the question arises, “Will it be cost effective to assign an editor to correct the grammar? Will this effort make the manuscript worthy of publication? The probable answer? "No." So, be smart. Your success depends on expending the necessary time and effort to identify and eliminate your writing mechanic errors from your work. Otherwise, you increase the probability that the manuscript you’ve lovingly crafted will never become a book that occupies shelf space at Barnes and Noble. |
If you’d like to re-post any of my blogs, help yourself. Please reference the source as: Molli Nickell. THE Publishing Wizard at www.getpublishednow.biz Archives
July 2016
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