Humorosity #46 by Honeydew Zubari

GETTING A BOOK PUBLISHED ONE LETTER AT A TIME

(Humorosity #46)

By Honeydew Zubari

I typed “The End,” and fell out of my computer chair. No, that wasn’t the ending of a book, exactly. It was “The End”ing of MY book. Yes, folks, after three years and fifty bazillion rewrites, I have a completed, spellchecked and then proofread, in manuscript form, novel. It even has my name on it and everything. Now the hard part starts.

The Query Letter

The what? I have to write a what to whom? Cripes, it was easier to write the darned book!

Yes, before an author-to-be-(hopefully) sends out her manuscripts willy-nilly to publishing houses and/or agents, she must conquer the dreaded query letter. This is a request to have said publisher and/or agent to look at your book, maybe even to read past the title page, to love it and want to represent you. It’s actually begging disguised as cool unconcern. A mighty good trick if one can master it.

The trouble comes when you have to put one together. So, I’m here to help!

The Parts of a Query Letter

First you have to figure out who you’re sending the letter to. This calls for research, something I wrote over three-hundred pages without doing once. Obviously I hate research, and plan to fool my support team (I.e. boyfriend) into doing the bulk of it, unless he reads this article.

A Bit of Advice, Then No More Digressions

Send the letter to an agent asking for representation, rather than an editor at a publishing house. Let the agents deal with the editors, that’s what their jobs are.

Okay, Back to the Parts of a Query Letter

The first two to three paragraphs work as a short synopsis for your book. In these paragraphs you have to pack a lot of stuff. You’ll need to:

1.) State the title and underlining theme, what the core of your story is

2.) Bring in the plot hook, what will make readers keep turning the pages of your book

3.) Introduce your main character(s), and their conflict(s)

Got It. What Comes Next?

Now’s the time you point out your credits, the things you’ve had published. If you don’t have any credits yet, don’t fret and stress. The majority of first-time book writers have little or none. Agents take this into consideration, and if your novel wows them, they forget about the lack of credits altogether.

If you’re, say, a policeperson working on a detective mystery, then for goodness sake, mention that. The same for an astronaut doing a sci-fi, or a fashion designer writing chick-lit. Experience counts as credit! But only if it directly relates to your book’s subject.

Aren’t There Other Odds-N-Ends?

Sure! Thanks for asking. In the final paragraph:

1.) Be sure to include the book’s word count.

2.) State the book’s genre (Science fiction, romance, fantasy, etc.). Sometimes a book will have more than one genre, or cross over. Mine is a chick-lit romance. Choose the one that it leans toward or mention both.

And, Finally? It’s Past My Naptime.

All right, all right. Finally, offer to send a completed manuscript. If you have two chapters written, then you’re jumping way ahead of the game. Wait until you finish the book before sending out a query letter.

And The Last Helpful Hint

The style in your query should reflect the style of the novel you’re proposing. A chatty and light book should have a chatty tone in the letter. Highly literary? A serious query with lots of big words. You get the drift.

Next month: Formatting a Query Letter