Having spent the better part of a magical week with family and Harry Potter at Hogwarts School, I’m thinking that a bit of magic is what’s needed to become a traditionally published author. The process is changing faster than an owl can wink an eye. (Sorry, I’ve been Potter-ized . . . not to be confused with Potter-trained).
The newest challenge is adapting your submission process to email. The important ingredient in this submission "packet" is the SUBJECT line. Make it snappy, short, and interesting. Doesn’t have to be your title unless it’s an attention grabber. Next attention-grabbing issue is the first paragraph of your query letter. Three sentences that describe who wants what and why, what stands in their way, and what is the terrible “or else” if they don’t achieve their goal. Your query second paragraph expands the first and ends with a tease so the reader will keep on reading your third paragraph about you, and then move on to your quick-read synopsis, and sample pages. So where's the magic I mentioned earlier? Where it's always been. Inside you. You’ve written an entire manuscript. To most of the world, and all those “writers” who are gonna’ write the next best seller, what you’ve done is an act of magic. The next little bit of magic you need to pull out of a hat is to learn how to write the documents you need for your query submission packet. You can do it. I’ll help you. Stay tuned. To receive frequent updates, sign up for the RSS feed (on the right side of this page), and also join my gang of writers by signing up for my mailing list.
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July 2016
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