• About

Rachael Dahl

Rachael Dahl

Tag Archives: Agent

Query Letter Advice

09 Thursday Feb 2012

Posted by Rachael Dahl in Queries

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Agent, publishing

My new friend the one who writes YA paranormal novels sent her query letter off and has received requests for partials. I just get giddy when I hear another unpubbed author break through one of the large walls of resistance on a writer’s journey. I was lucky enough to read it and I can see why she’s been successful. So, I thought I’d share what I think makes a great query letter. It’s a combination of literary agent Barbara Poelle’s webinar and my friends formula.

The body of your letter should be broken into three parts; The Hook, The Book, and The Cook.

The Hook: This known as the tagline or the log line and it explains your book in one sentence that will entice a reeader to want to buy it or in this case, an agent to read it. You can look at it as a one line slogan for your book.There are a lot of examples out there that include the main character, what they want, and the conflict. While my favorite doesn’t include the conflict, it hooked my curiosity and reeled me in. If it doesn’t work for you, enter logline/tagline in your search engine.

This is from Chuck Barrett’s blog entry regarding his novel Toymaker.
“The Toymaker spent twenty years of his life making toys–for spies.”

The Book: This paragraph or two paragraphs should include GMC. Goal, Motivation, and Conflict. This is the time to use action words, not vague adjectives like epic, and stellar. You need the letter to describe your main character, his challenges and what he does to face them. This is not the time to explain the backstory and make the agent fall asleep. You want them to read more…as in your entire manuscript.

The Cook: This final paragraph is about you. Why did you decide to write this book? What do you bring? Is it a legal thriller and your a paralegal, tell them that. Have you been nominated or won any writing awards, include it. Do you belong to any groups that support your genre, let them know. However, don’t tell them information that is not pertinent to the book. It’s great that you are a mother of teenagers, but that doesn’t mean your YA is great because of it. If you don’t have anything, keep it brief, a sentence or two and close your letter.

Now none of this matters, if you don’t first do your homework on the agents submission guidelines and follow them.

What do you think should be included in a query letter?

15 Tuesday Nov 2011

Posted by Rachael Dahl in Writing

≈ Leave a Comment

Tags

Agent, contest, manuscript, novels, terror, writing

Today’s post is a list of things that I’ve been too scared to admit.

 

Confession One: When writing, I constantly ride the roller coaster of self-doubt. When I’m up, I think: that sentence sparkles…it dazzles…it’s pure magic, but in a matter of seconds, I’m at the bottom and I think: the whole ms. is junk…I’ll never get it published…I should just delete the whole thing.

Confession Two: I read a blog post, from an agent I admire, where she wrote that she can’t handle reading novels involving terrorist, and that she knows many other New York agents who feel the same way. I understand. Really I do. But what does that mean for my novel and others?

Confession Three: Yesterday, when I submitted my contest entry, I felt pure abject terror, my hands shook, my heartbeat increased, and my breaths were shallow. I almost talked myself out of it. I’ve realized that putting yourself out there is scary, but putting your loved and cherished manuscript out for the world to read is worse. Far worse.

Confession Four: I’m addicted to writing…don’t want to ever give it up. When I die, they better bury me with a manual typewriter, paper, and lots of liquid eraser (does that still exist?), or at least several packet of pens and lots of notebooks.

What are your fears?

Query

02 Wednesday Nov 2011

Posted by Rachael Dahl in Queries

≈ Leave a Comment

Tags

Agent, Barbara Poelle, Query, Writers Digest

I signed up for the Cozy to Carnage Webinar and sent in my first page and query letter. I’ve never attempted to write a query before and it was a disaster. (That’s me being kind to myself…it was horrendous.) I’m expecting feedback that basically says “This sucks, you need to re-write the whole thing.” But I’m hoping that instead of stating the obvious she’ll provide me with valuable insight that will point me in the right direction.

Do you have any query horror stories or query successes?

Help for Mystery/Thriller Writers

01 Tuesday Nov 2011

Posted by Rachael Dahl in Writing

≈ Leave a Comment

Tags

Agent, Barbara Poelle, Query, Writers Digest

I’m so excited because this morning I was trolling my favorite blogs and found a webinar dedicated to helping mystery/thriller writers. It is hosted by Writer’s Digest (here) and taught by the incredible agent Barbara Poelle of the Irene Goodman Agency. I’ve attended one of WD’s webinars back in April and found it extremely helpful, but this time I won’t be able to participate in the live seminar. However, the good news is that a week later I’ll receive a link that I can access for up to a year that is an audio recording of it. The other part I absolutely love is that Ms. Poelle will critique your query letter and first page of your novel. Scary but awesome.

♣ Recent Posts

  • Remembering
  • Pitchwars

♣ Categories

♣ Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Proudly powered by WordPress Theme: Chateau by Ignacio Ricci.