A Good Query Letter is Like a Skirt

May 17, 2010 by Julie

Comic courtesy of http://www.inkygirl.com

Andrea Brown, president of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency won the award at the Big Sur in the Rockies workshop for giving the funniest advice on queries:

“It should be like a skirt. Long enough to cover everything, but short enough to be exciting.”

As we writers know, sending a great query letter is every bit as important as sending a great manuscript. Maybe even more, since the query letter often dictates whether your manuscript will even be read.

Here are a few other tips I picked up on queries over the weekend besides the obvious ones like avoiding grammatical errors and typos.

State the genre, length and targeted age range of your story immediately after the salutation. Then go straight to your story pitch.
Keep queries short and to the point. Andrea advised taking all the adjectives and adverbs out of your letter. They should be action-oriented.
Don’t editorialize. Making a statement like, “this is sure to appeal to…” does not belong in a query letter. HOWEVER,
It’s okay to compare your book to other popular books on the market. Just MAKE SURE THAT STATEMENT IS ACCURATE.
Don’t state the obvious. If you’re submitting to them, they know you’re looking for representation. If you included a SASE, they’ll see it. They’re smart people.
If you are submitting to multiple agents, let them know. If they like your submission, the fact that you have sent it to others might move yours higher in the priority list.
You can say that you have other manuscripts, but only query/pitch one.

These tips are just a tiny slice of the advice we received on queries, so rich was the workshop on all aspects of the craft and the business. I’ll post more about the workshop as the week progresses, so keep checking back.

In the meantime, consider this piece of advice from Andrea on how to improve your writing:

Read
Read More
Keep Reading
Write
Write More
Keep Revising

Posted in Publishing, SCBWI, Writing | Tagged Andrea Brown Literary Agency, Big Sur in the Rockies, Literary Agents, Publishing, Queries, Query Letters, Writing, Writing Tips | 14 Comments

14 Responses

on May 17, 2010 at 2:30 pm | Reply Dana

Thanks for sharing this, Julie. Just enough info— my brain can absorb it!
- on May 17, 2010 at 2:34 pm | Reply Julie
  
  Yeah, it’s about all I could manage to write today. My brain is fried with a capital “F”
on May 17, 2010 at 3:44 pm | Reply J.C

I love that quote! I never would have thought to compare queries to skirts. Brilliant!
on May 17, 2010 at 4:31 pm | Reply katswhiskers

Great analogy, Julie. Crikey though – I’m realising I’ve double-blipped on one of those 7 ‘don’ts’ in my time. Like stating the obvious… blip blip. :-\

Now I’ll know…
- on May 17, 2010 at 6:28 pm | Reply Julie
  
  I know. Just when you think you’ve read/absorbed everything there is to read/absorb about query letters, someone pulls another rabbit out of the hat. I’ve done it too. I’m sure we all have.
on May 17, 2010 at 5:09 pm | Reply jeannine

Glad you had a good time and learned some good tips.
on May 18, 2010 at 12:13 am | Reply ingridsundberg

Read and write! Seems simple enough!
on May 18, 2010 at 10:15 am | Reply Jim Hill

I love a concise list. I’m bookmarking this post for future reference, and sharing with everyone I know. Thanks!
- on May 18, 2010 at 12:37 pm | Reply Julie
  
  Thanks Jim! How was NESCBWI? I loved your poster!
on May 18, 2010 at 10:58 am | Reply Quote of the Week: Andrea Brown « Ingrid's Notes

[...] The above quote was given at the Big Sur in the Rockies Conference and actually mentioned on good friend Julie Hedlund’s Blog (who attended the event). So I’m going to send all of you to her blog to check out the great additional info she learned from Andrea Brown: Write Up My Life Blog [...]
on May 18, 2010 at 11:08 am | Reply Julie Musil

That quote is great!

So confusing though, as different agents have opposing views on certain issues. I suppose that’s why we must research each of them!

Thanks for the information.
on May 23, 2010 at 10:18 am | Reply Gratitude Sunday 11 « Write Up My Life

[...] all that I learned at the Big Sur in the Rockies conference and all the amazing and talented people I met [...]
on February 25, 2011 at 8:59 pm | Reply oldancestor

I’ve written a lot of bad query letters, I see. I’m saving the good one for the thing that’s meant to be published.

I hope.
on August 24, 2011 at 10:06 am | Reply Top Fifteen Query “DON’TS” « Write Up My Life

[...] A Good Query Letter is Like a Skirt – from Andrea Brown’s talk at Big Sur in the Rockies [...]