With my novel, Summer Blood, finally finished and sitting with my Alpha-Readers, I’ve decided to write a query letter to send out to potential agents. So, what goes in a query letter? How do I capture the attention of a good agent when I know 50,000,000+ other writers are trying to do the same thing? I have to stand out somehow, right?!
So, I google’d it. Of course…. I found a decent website right away. Thanks Google!
http://www.writing-world.com/basics/query.shtml
This site says there are five points to a good query. They are as follows:
- The hook
- The pitch
- The body
- The credentials
- The close
I think the hook is the most important. If you don’t grab the agents attention in the first two sentences, I think you’re screwed. RIGHT~?!~!?
So, what’s my hook? According to the writing-world website there are many ways to grab the agent’s attention, and many ways not to. The “don’t do this” section seems pretty common sense to me. So, what about the “do this” part? None of these really work for me. These seem to be good ideas for non-fiction writing. But, I get the idea.
Be real, be interesting, but don’t come across like every other ding-dong writer begging for attention. Then, the right agent will pick me!
Here’s my first paragraph:
Stories like True Blood and Twilight have been breathing life into the old classics making vampires HOT right now. My adult novel, Summer Blood, takes some elements of the classic vampire stories and adds new twists. These vampires leave blood, violence, and sex in their wake, and readers that love that will also love Summer Blood.
Does that grab your attention?
Lynn Michaels Writes 