Hi friends! I’m back with a promised update.
I recently had a fantastic professional editor go over my manuscript, so I’m once again making edits while waiting to hear back from agents. Wish me luck!
I wanted to take today to share some resources I’ve found invaluable in finding and querying agents.
Now, there are a lot of programs out there that promise results, and there are a lot of books to read on the subject. I’m going to break this up into three categories.
I don’t want to spend money.
If you don’t want to spend the money, Janet Reid over at Query Shark will tell you everything you need to know. Scroll the the blog and learn what NOT to send an agent. I strongly recommend reading each post as it will only make your query letter better.
Writer’s Digest is also a super informative website that you don’t have to pay for. Also, once you’ve determined how to write a query letter, check out their list of new agents.
I don’t mind spending a little bit of money.
This book has been a great read for me. Honestly, out of all the books I’ve read on publishing (I’ve read a few) this was the most informative as well as the most enjoyable. Barbara Poelle is hilarious, and she’s been working the industry long enough that she has all the answers. The book is a collection of her Writer’s Digest blog posts answering publishing questions.
For a sneak peek, here is how she outlines writing a good query letter:
- THE HOOK: An intro including log line, word count, and genre (including any comp titles: “This is ____ meets ____”).
- THE BOOK: four to five sentences explaining the premise.
- THE COOK: A bit about the author. Basically: Why this book, why me, why now.
It’s not exactly the outline I used, but it works!
Get Funny You Should Ask: Mostly Serious Answers to Mostly Serious Questions About the Book Publishing Industry on Amazon now!
I’ve got money to burn.
Get a Book Deal 101. It’s a program ran by Kathy Ver Eecke. She shares how to hunt down agents and write eye-catching queries. This program does cost a pretty penny, but she usually offers a breakout session for free.
A Couple of B's 