Rules are made to be broken, but you can’t break them unless you know them first! Every Tuesday I’ll give you a few tips that might help you push your manuscript to the top of the slush pile.
1. There is no "right time" to send out your manuscript. Queries get read at all hours of the day, all days of the year and, most likely, at an entirely different time/month than when you've sent it. Just send it when you feel like you've put your heart and soul into editing, editing, editing, and have done some research on how to write a query letter.
2. Have patience. Sending your query multiple times will mean that it will take us longer to read. G-mail puts things by the same author with the same heading into a bundle and moves it to the date/time when it was most recently sent. Because I read things oldest first, that probably means it will take longer for me to read it.
3. Think of writing a query like writing your book. I need to be hooked on both your writing and your story. Every query needs to be a beginning, a middle, an end and at least two conflicts just like a story. Think of query writing as a challenge for you as a writer, and have fun with it!
Great point about "no good time" - and the tip about gmail bundling. Kind of like hanging up and redialing when you're in the phone queue from hell; you really don't want to do that.
ReplyDeleteWishing you the best of luck in NY and remember, you promised me an interview! :-)