Posts Tagged #queryfail
Raw #queryfail capture
Posted by Kathie in #queryfail, News, resources on March 9, 2009
Just uploaded is the complete capture of Twitter’s first #queryfail day. It is a raw file which hasn’t been stripped and shows image file names and other irrelevant information. However, if there are enough requests for the stripped version, we may post those at a later time. Click [here] to download (available only in rich text format). *update: also you can download an HTML file [here]. *
Also, under the “useful links” category in the navigation column, you’ll find a recently added “Creating a Pitch” which was written by the novelist Camy Tang. Definitely worth reading and even bookmarking for future reference.
How NOT to be targeted by the evil #queryfail
Posted by Kathie in #queryfail, Interact, News, resources on March 6, 2009
Thursday, March 6, 2009
Yesterday various agents and editors got together on Twitter and posted a wild rash of reasons they will reject a query letter. If you haven’t read the 140 or less character tweets we collected, now would be a really good time.
How do you write a winning query letter that won’t be labeled “fail” by these editors, agents and interns working in publishing houses? We’ve collected a few really good articles that will help you get your foot in the door. Take a gander: (hint: click the links as they’ll take you directly to the article we’re referencing.)
- Mystery author, S. W. Hubbard, has a great article here: www.swhubbard.com
- Ester Heller, Editor-in-Chief, Targum Press posted the following guidelines Nov. 2008: http://blogs.targum.com
- A summation of yesterday’s #queryfail experiment and lessons learned can be found here at the Belletrinsic blog: http://belletrinsic.blogspot.com
- Tara Lazar did a summation, too, that’s worth perusing and can be found here: http://taralazar.blogspot.com
- Colleen Lindsay, the literary agent (FinePrint Literary Management) responsible for yesterday’s #queryfail, has a site crammed full of useful information to pick through. Start here: http://theswivet.blogspot.com and be sure to look around the site, it’s very useful!
- Jill Corcoran has a very well put together “how to write a query letter” post that’s very timely, too, as it was published on March 1st, 2009: http://jillcorcoran.blogspot.com Be sure to check out the posts she links to as well (run your cursor over the page to find the links which aren’t underlined). Bookmark the post as it is a great resource!
Still need more? Want a template of sorts? Short of sending out the monkeys to write it for you (and no, we won’t do that — didn’t you read yesterday’s capture of the #queryfail tweets?), Nathan Bransford with Curtis Brown LTD provides you with a great “Mad Lib” style query letter. Just be sure to change it up a bit so it’s more personalized! Go check it out at: http://nathanbransford.blogspot.com/2008/03/query-letter-mad-lib.html
If you have your own tips, winning recipe, experience to share, by all means, leave a comment! Good luck, too!
#Queryfail on Twitter
Agents and editors are posting snippets of what makes a query fail. Searching Twitter using the #queryfail tag, you can see all of these tweets. This has been a very educational, if not funny, experience.
Here are some of the pass/fail, along with sage advice, query tweets (taken verbatim)
| “dear editor, hello! I would like to thank you for taking the time to read the first 3 chapters…” Absolutely no need, seriously | fail |
| “The purpose of this letter is not earth shaking, so, if it will be ignored, and I’m sure it will” Yeah. Now it will. | fail |
| “Allow me the privilege of publishing it through your company, so I can be the best selling author I know I am meant to be.” | fail |
| The Artichoke and the Onion: A Love Story (in which artichoke peels away layers to reval its “secret hidden place inside”) | fail |
| Here are synopsis for fifteen completely different projects I’ve completed. I am currently working on these 5 additional novels. | fail |
| Greetings from Sweden. We hardly have any agents. So I sent my query directly to the publisher. Book’ll be out this spring. | fail |
| “P.S. I collect stamps. Should you have any stamp… that is destined for the trash can, [please] stuff them in the enclosed SASE. | fail |
| Page numbers, no. Chapter heading, no. ANY sort of header, no. #queryfail, yes | fail |
| Dear XX Publishing, I guess I am unable to write a synposis that is short and reflects my manuscript so…” | fail |
| “Have u ever lost yr partner in the fringes of a war u didn’t approve of which subjecting him to an unsubstantiated war?” Grammar | fail |
| I’M TYPING MY QUERY IN ALL CAPS SO YOU WILL BE SURE TO NOTICE IT. Okay, now that my pupils have stopped burning | fail |
| “This is a very exciting narrative which relates how I was attacked by a whore house” Exciting in what sense? | fail |
| “[TITLE redacted] contains sexually graphic descriptions, a violent rape scene [...] and mayhem. On the bright side…” No. | fail |
| It is unnecessary (and $$$) to fed-ex queries, it ends up in the same stack. | advice |
| “enclosed is a sample of my book XX. It is incomplete but there is enough for you to get an idea of the content.” Errr…. | fail |
| Creepy query = having your character send the query | fail |
| My favorite query typo from past: She mustard her power | fail |
| A classic: don’t use a spokesperson, ok? Don’t let your dad/lawyer/wife/brother query on your behalf | advice |
| If your spam blocker has to authorize my response to your query, I probably won’t resent – approve agent emails ahead of time | advice |
| FedExing with signature required a query letter? | advice |
| not using contractions in your character dialogue/narrative… (unless it’s time period appropriate) | advice |
| Don’t send me your manuscript and tell me to start reading at page 312 because that’s “where it gets good” | fail |
| It isn’t a #queryfail, but you should know that unnecessary pen names do make me wonder about you | advice |
| These words are the kiss of death: “first book in a [multi]-book series | fail |
| People, query one book at a time please | advice |
| Handwritten query on scrap paper w/ eyeblass ad/7th bday party cloud paper/label peel saying “Sorry about the paper, we recycle” | fail |
| You want to write a nonfiction book but you have no impressive credentials or platform? This is a huge issue, folks | advice |
| Sentence fragments, which are not used for effect | fail |
| “This novel is very similar to The Da Vinci Code but much more plausible and better written.” | fail |
| “I read about ur interest in poetry so Im querying U” Really? Where? You mean in my gidelines whre it says I dont accept poetry? | fail |
| “I have covered my sexual exploits with literally hundreds of women, mostly exotic dancers” – sorry, yuck | fail |
| Authors, PLEASE use a tracking system and don’t query the same agent multiple times with an already-rejected book! | advice |
| Writing back to my form rejection for me to recommend another agent at my 2 person agency. | advice |
| Tight first paragraph, references, a recent relevant blog post of mine, awesome hook, good pages. Query WIN! | pass |
| One line hook, wordcount, genre, short blurb, short paragraph of writing background and polite closing. Query win | pass |
| tells me you read interview with me re: your genre, tells me what you learned from interview, & how your book is a fit. Win. | pass |
| Top reasons I don’t read further: overwriting, info dumping and starting the story in the wrong place (often relates to info dump) | advice |
If you’d like more information, please leave a comment and be sure to include a working email address (will not be published but necessary for a response.)
Happy query writing!
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