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Write a query letter
Query letters sell your manuscript to an agent or publisher. But the letter is short—very short—so you only get a few words to do it.Here’s how to write a darn good query letter and a complete guide to query letters. As you’ll see in this last link, here’s what’s in a query letter:
• Your project’s title, word count and genre.
• Your premise, what the book is about.
• Your bio, focusing on why you’re the person to write this book.
I suggest including comparison titles (“comps”): books like yours. Comps give an agent or publisher a clear idea of what genre and subgenre your book fits into, and they will use these to sell your book. Here’s why comps are important, from Penguin Random House.
And it doesn’t hurt to say something nice about the publisher or why you want to work with this agent.
Wrap it up with a thank you.
Again, keep it short and simple.
Write a synopsis
When submitting your query package for your book-length project, you’ll also likely be asked to send an agent or publisher a synopsis. Here’s how to write a synopsis. As the author of this link does, I suggest keeping your synopsis short. Agents and publishers are very busy people. Unless they ask for something more in-depth, keep the synopsis to one or two pages.
In the synopsis, outline your plot beats, demonstrating you have a clear story arc with a logical causal chain. One thing needs to lead logically to the next.
Keep the language simple and direct, but at the same time, allow for the tone and emotion of the project to shine through.
I highly recommend having someone review both your query letter and synopsis before sending them out. I offer this service on my site. See 'the clean sweep' on the 'work with Gail' menu for more.
But while the query letter and synopsis may get a manuscript request, it’s the manuscript that will sell itself. So, we’re back to making the manuscript the very best it can be.
When submitting, whether to a magazine or journal or an agent or publisher, consider multiple or simultaneous submissions, where you send the same piece to multiple publications at once. You want to make sure that you say you’re doing this in your cover letter, and that you’ll contact the editor should you publish the piece in another publication. Check submission guidelines first, though. Some publications don’t accept simultaneous submissions.
Okay, once you’ve submitted your project, what’s next?
