Supernatural Writer

Mel B. @ Flickr

First impressions are the most important ones. If you’re pitching your paranormal writing project, your query letter is that firm handshake and pleasant smile.

Whether your letter is aimed at a publisher or a magazine editor, here are some tips for a great query letter:

Grip ‘em Early. That first sentence should contain a hook that seizes the reader’s interest.

Add details. Don’t forget to add word-count estimations, genre, and key selling points of the book.

Don’t grovel or brag. Editors have told me that the surest way to have your query letter tossed in the circular file is to write a query with needless praise or posturing. Editors are like everyone else; they want to work with cool people.

Pitch yourself. Add a concise blurb about your writing career. (Just don’t get too long-winded.)

Proof. Double-check your letter for grammatical and stylistic errors. Tighten those sentences. Then, have a friend read it.

Tags: introduction, query letter, writing

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 15th, 2009 at 3:08 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.