My Query – In the After

So you can get a feel for a completed query, I’ve used mine as an example. The following is a query for my YA sci-fi novel tentatively titled, In the After. I have removed the spoiler bits.

           
            Katherine Boyle

Veritas Literary Agency
            601 Van Ness Avenue

San Francisco, CA 94102

In the After

Amy has not spoken in three years. Not since They arrived; creatures with incredible hearing, amazing swiftness, and a taste for human flesh. They hunt by sound and Amy has learned to survive in a world of silence.

In the After is a Young Adult novel that addresses issues teens face everyday, but places them in the context of a post-apocalyptic scenario. Amy struggles as her normal teenage life collapses around her, only to be replaced with a world full of danger and fear. Amy has to choose between doing what is easy and doing what is right. She must ask herself, is safety more important than freedom?

In the After, Amy’s parents are gone. All of her friends are dead. The life she knew Before is over. Along with Baby, a child she saved from the creatures, she survives day to day, focused on staying alive, and most importantly, being quiet. When they are forced from their home, their only sanctuary from the flesh hungry creatures, Amy is determined to keep Baby alive and safe. <Sentence Removed>

<Paragraph Removed> With her new found knowledge, Amy is forced to choose between the safety she so desperately seeks and the freedom that she craves.

In the After is completed at 96,000 words. I would be happy to supply sample chapters upon request. Thank you for your time.

I hope this is helpful! I’d be happy to critique any query…as long as you don’t mind me putting it on my blog.

Next week…a query critique and what comes after you’ve completed your query.

Writing a Query – The Big Finish

So you have your hook, your synopsis, and now you need your bio. List any published works that relate. If you’ve published a short story, super awesome. If you won a school poetry contest in fifth grade, not so much.

If you don’t have any writing credits, don’t write anything. An agent does not need to know your marital status unless your book is on a healthy marriage or living single. You don’t have to say where you’re from unless it’s relevant. Believe me; it’s better to write nothing than bog your query down with useless info.

If you don’t have a relevant bio, just thank the agent for their time. Make sure you reiterate the name of your book and the word count. Keep it professional. My ending was simple.

In the After is completed at 96,000 words. I would be happy to supply sample chapters upon request. Thank you for your time.

Just remember; agents want to know the title of your book, the word count, and the genre. Make sure you have these three things somewhere in your query.

Writing a Query – The Synopsis

Some writers find this part insanely difficult; taking the book they spent so much time writing and breaking it down into a synopsis that is only a paragraph or two. This is extremely important, though. Don’t worry about hitting on every detail or plot point, keep it simple. Stick to the main character and major events. I actually took two paragraphs for my synopsis, but I wouldn’t recommend doing more than that.

Believe it or not, put in the ending of your book, even if it’s a shocker. Agents need to know what happens. You may think, “I’ll leave it out and they’ll be so interested they’ll request my manuscript at once!” but that’s just not how it works.

The following is my intro paragraph and the first part of my synopsis. (These come after the hook I mentioned in my earlier post.) I’ve left off the second paragraph of my synopsis because it gives too much away…wouldn’t want to ruin the end for anyone.

In the After is a Young Adult novel that addresses issues teens face everyday, but places them in the context of a post-apocalyptic scenario. Amy struggles as her normal teenage life collapses around her, only to be replaced with a world full of danger and fear. Amy has to choose between doing what is easy and doing what is right. She must ask herself, is safety more important than freedom?

In the After, Amy’s parents are gone. All of her friends are dead. The life she knew Before is over. Along with Baby, a child she saved from the creatures, she survives day to day, focused on staying alive, and most importantly, being quiet.

Notice how I state the name of the book and explain that it is YA sci-fi, both things an agent will want to know right away. My synopsis highlights the main plot points without getting into to much detail, but keeps the reader interested. (Well, hopefully anyway.)

Tomorrow: How to end your query.

Writing a Query – The Hook

A lot of people start their queries with “Dear So and So, I am writing you a query because I saw that you represent YA fiction and… blah blah blah.”

Okay, if you can’t come up with something better than that, maybe you shouldn’t be a writer. I would say do a “I am querying you because…” letter only if you’ve actually met the agent, or are being referred by one of their clients.

For my novel, tentatively entitled In the After, I skipped the intro and went right to the heart of my book. Here is the example of the hook I used:

In the After

Amy has not spoken in three years. Not since They arrived; creatures with incredible hearing, amazing swiftness, and a taste for human flesh. They hunt by sound and Amy has learned to survive in a world of silence.

As you’ll notice, I didn’t state the name of my book in the first paragraph, so I used it as a header. It’s important to get your title in, but you don’t want it to come across as awkward.

More tomorrow on writing a short synopsis.

What is a Query?

So you’ve written your novel, revised it, polished it, and feel it is ready for the world. Unless you have a relative in the publishing business, you’re going to need an agent. Most publishers won’t give you the time of day unless your manuscript is brought to them by an agent.

In order to snag an agent, you have to write a query. A query is a basic, one page letter that tells them what your work is about and who you are. You don’t want to fudge the query, or you’ll never get your foot in the door. Think about it, you just spent a year pouring your heart and soul into your work; you want to represent it in a way that expresses all the passion you feel. If you can’t convince an agent to view your work, you won’t convince a publisher to publish it.

Queries usually have three parts:
1) The hook – What makes your book awesome?
2) The synopsis – What is your book actually about?
3) Your bio – Why should anyone care that you wrote this book?

The rest of the week I’ll break the query down and give advice on writing each part.