The Winning Query

A good query is a must for writers. They also happen to be what writers dread most of all. A query is you and your book's first impression, and we all know what they say about those pesky first impressions!

My latest contract is for a novella which was too short for agent representation, which meant I was on my own. Lots of nail biting and hair pulling as I put together my first-ever query for editors. I guess it was a good one because it got my manuscript read and contracted...within a week, I might add/brag.

So, here it is. My query for Dark Wolf Protector, along with some notes:

Dear Editor, <--- personalize this!

My manuscript, DARK WOLF PROTECTOR, is a paranormal romance with a southern flare. The work is complete and edited at approximately 24,000 words. Dark Wolf Protector is the first in, what I hope to be, a mini-series set in the fictional town of Tall Oaks, Alabama, titled *series name here*. Some of my characters are pleasantly southern, while others are downright redneck. Per your guidelines, I've attached the full manuscript.

Yellow: Misspelled word. Should've been flair. See? It doesn't have to be perfect! Editors will overlook even the dumbest of mistakes (as long as there aren't too many of them)!


Purple: Essentials--title, genre and word count.



Green: Pitching the series, keeping it short.



Blue: Tone of the story, adds flavor to query.



Red: Shows I actually read their guidelines and tried to adhere.



JACI WATERS, orphan and devoted animal rescuer, has her hands full when a rogue wolf invades her small, backwoods town of Tall Oaks, Alabama. Her goal is to not only protect her neighbors and fellow townsfolk, but to capture and relocate the trouble-making canine who's worn out his welcome. Too bad no one else agrees with her save-the-wolf credo. Little does she know, the wolf is more than meets the eye. He's here, in Tall Oaks, for Jaci. But he's not the only one...



DOLTON FREYE has come to the speck-sized town with one goal in mind: kill the blood-thirsty bastard who's stalking and out to get the woman he's sworn to protect--the sexy, Native American Jaci Waters. But he's got competition in IAN KINGSLEY, ringleader of a group that calls themselves "the pride" of Tall Oaks.



Sparks fly between Jaci and Dolton but risk fading when she learns of his true nature--a nature that runs deep in her own blood. A nature she herself must come to terms with in order to accept the intense connection she shares with the darkly handsome man who makes his way into her panties and her heart.



Blue: Brief description of characters and plot.



My contemporary romance novel, Bonded In Brazil, was contracted through Camel Press via my literary agent in November 2010 and is coming out in March 2011 in print as well as e-book. My agent does not represent shorter works, which is why I am querying you myself. I am avid reader and researcher of all genres of romance. I maintain an active blog that is growing in popularity, complete with author interviews, guest blogs and my own personal thoughts on the writing business. In an attempt to create a strong online presence and promote myself, I also have a website, social network, and am ever-growing my associations with others in the industry.



Blue: Publishing experience.



Purple: Says I have an agent and why she isn't the one querying the book, so they don't assume she rejected it.



Green: Shows I promote myself and am getting my name out there.



Look forward to hearing from you,



Rhiannon Ellis



www.rhiannonellis.com <---- Share all necessary information within the query. Do not direct to website "for more information." Include website and/or blog in case editor is curious about how you present yourself.

To conclude, this query had all essential elements editors are looking for. It also fit onto one, single-spaced page. It's nothing special, not too exciting. But it served its purpose, which was to convince an editor to read some of my pages--because the pages are where the real magic happens! Good luck in query hell.

Submission Guidelines FROM HELL

I've been spoiled for the past 18 months by having an agent query on my behalf. Since making my get-a-literary-agent rounds, I'd forgotten how finicky some in the writing industry are concerning their submission guidelines.

My paranormal romance novella is too short for Agent Lady to represent, so I decided to go at it on my own for this manuscript.

Step One: make a list of the publishing houses to query. This was a fairly easy step. I simply opened the "Pubs" file saved in my Favorites and wrote down those houses that accept ParaRom at my word count.

Step Two: Mark houses that accept FULL manuscripts. Why? Because I, personally, roll my eyes at those that only take the partial. It bugs me. "Send us three chapters and we'll be in touch in 4-6 weeks." Yikes! **Caveat** If partial response time is fast, I'm all for it. Therefore, I research each individual pub's response time in forums.

Step Three: Prioritize. I select my top picks, simple as that.

Step Four: Gather materials for querying. This is where it gets tricky and when I rant...

What's up with these guidelines???

One publisher wants Times New Roman font, the next wants Arial, the next Courier New.

Some want italics, others want underlines.

Scene breaks seem to be a big deal and whether a) there should be NO break markers or b) there should be one * or c) there should be multiple *** for scene breaks but only one * for pov shifts varies from each house.

Then, there's the synopsis issue. Some want a 2 page synopsis, others want 5 pages. I ran across one house that wanted the synopsis in something like 2 paragraphs--synopsis not to be mistaken with brief description. Synopsis is the whole story, expressing all major points (including the ending) summed up in a pretty little package.

Apparently, publishers also want to send authors into a formatting frenzy...

"No first line indents!" says one house.

"One inch margins!" says another, while the next wants 1 1/2 inch margins.

Header vs. no header.

Page numbers top right vs. page numbers bottom center.

Send us an rtf labeled TITLE_MANUSCRIPT.

Send us a word doc labeled TITLE_MAN.

Send us an rtf or doc or docx labeled SUBMISSION_TITLE_AUTHOR LAST NAME.

Do not send us attachments! Send us the first three chapters, pasted into the body of your email.

We accept simultaneous submissions!

We only take exclusives. Do not submit to us if you're MS is being considered elsewhere.

***If you do not adhere and bow down to every aspect of our strict and befuddling guidelines, your submission will be used as target practice, then burned at the stake while we laugh and dance and point.***

Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Can't they all get together and agree on one set of guidelines? Please?

Trick or Treat?

Querying is like trick-or-treating.

Knock, knock. Trick.
Knock, knock. Treat.
Knock, knock. Lights are off, nobody's home. Bummer.

Happy Halloween, folks. Keep Writing!

WHY DOES IT TAKE SO FREAKIN' LONG?

Writing is a long, often lonely, process. Many laymen, including myself at one time, think the road to publication is a short one, one that consists of three basic steps.

1. Write/finish a book.
2. Send book to publisher.
3. Get a publishing contract/rejection.

*Sigh*

As if!

The path to getting a book on the shelf is a winding one, complete with detours, dead ends, bridgeless waters, and evil fire-breathing dragons ready to burn your ass to a crisp the second you become complacent.

To most, the biggest hurdle a writer will face is the actual writing of a book. Hence comments like:

Wow! You wrote an entire book? You must be good!

Fortunately, writing--building a world, bringing life to characters, the formation of a story-- is the easy part. I say fortunately, by the way, because if writing were more difficult than what comes after, nothing would ever get written.

So what comes after?

Well, once a writer "finishes" his/her book, the real work begins. Writing's evil twin--Editing! Some love it, others hate it. Whatever one's feeling, it is a necessary element that simply cannot be skipped. Truth be told, there are some writers--including myself--who spend more time editing than they do writing.

Okay, so once the editing's done, it's time for the publisher, right?

Not even close, sweetcheeks. The next step is my least favorite thus far. The fashioning of a query letter. This is key and, frankly, I suck at it. A query letter has several elements:

Greeting. Dear such-n-such,

Brief BS intro. I read an article in Writer's Delight where you said you were interested in MY
GENRE. I am enclosing, for your consideration, my manuscript titled THE JIBBER JABBER OF A RAMBLER, complete at 75,000 words.

Back of the book description, (keep it brief). When lonely bachelor FRED SMITH wakes up on Saturday morning, he realizes he can't stop talking. Whatever comes to mind flies out of his mouth without warning, and without censorship. After a week of spouting off at all the wrong people, Fred decides to lock himself inside his Kentucky home and become a recluse for his own safety. But when a ghostly figure appears and tells him this new condition is all part of a mysterious, spiritual journey that will, in the end, change his life for the better, Fred gathers his courage along with his wagging tongue and sets off to seek his destiny.

Lame-o summary here. THE JIBBER JABBER OF A RAMBLER is a story about the power of honesty and the painful lengths one man will go to find true happiness.

Credentials, or the lack thereof. Although I am a debut writer, what I lack in experience I hope to make up for in my writing.

Short, generic closing. Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to hearing from you.

Signature and contact info.

Sadly, a query is never complete until it's been rewritten about fifteen flippin' times--until the end result makes you feel less like puking than the last several drafts.

And you send this to the publisher, right?

*Evil laugh* You wish! This goes to...get ready for it...an AGENT--lots of them, most likely. In return, a writer can begin, and often complete, a dandy collection of form rejection letters/emails. It's a whirlwind of fun. Really. Try it sometime.

*open email*

Dear Author... WTH? This is a form letter! You bastards didn't even read my fancy query, did you? Dear Author my eye. I'm writing them back.

Dear Agent,

You suck.

How'd ya like that, you impersonal New York pieces of--oh! I've got mail!

*click, click*

Dear Author...SHIT!!!

This can happen dozens of times, until...

*click, click*

Dear Rhiannon, (awww, that sounds sweet)

I read and enjoyed your story. (But...I know there's a but)

I'd like to represent you. (Holy #$%$!!!!)

And all the form letters and rejections that came before are forgotten. You scream and clap and dance, call everyone you know--very calmly--and share the news in the most nonchalant manner you can muster. Because you are just too. Cool. For. School! Mmm hmm.

Now. Now is when it gets sent to the publisher. Gotta be! Right?

Pshhh. Have you learned nothing? Of course not. Duh. It's time for, drum roll please...

Editing!

Again?

Yes, again! Get used to it, baby, because once your manuscript gets picked up by a publisher, it will be edited some more. You're going to edit so much that you will begin to speak your punctuation (period) Does it sound daunting (question mark) Good (exclamation point) Because it is.

Period.

Then, once you and your agent have finished the editing, he/she will begin the same process you used to query agents to shop your book to the publishing houses.

For this, your agent gets 15% of your earnings--well worth it, in my opinion, because it is a long, tiresome process. A delightful challenge, though, and I wouldn't trade it for anything else. Well, not yet, anyway ;)