They meant send me something i can sell. Don't be brief, be great.
You got to remember that agents know that editors and publishers are toooo busy and generally make judgements in a few minutes. The story is over rated.
read Grishams " The Rainmaker", "The Street lawyer", "Testament", and "The Chamber". NOT GREAT STORIES, BUT THEY OPEN STRONG AND READER FRIENDLY.
Good titles, Good covers, Good synop, Good opening.
Ain't no editor or publisher OR AGENT gonna read more than a few minutes of it.
They look at it like a person in a bookstore would. Thats who pays you.
SAMPLE OPENING FOR A BOOK
" I remember the first time I laid eyes on Clyde Miller. I can smell a hustler a mile away. I hate a hustler; lying ,sneakin, theivin bastards! As soon as Miller got out of his dirty old pickup truck, I could tell he was a haggler.
Hagglers go from garage sale to garage sale, looking to get something for nothing. Lyin scum is what they are.
I was having a "MOVING! GARAGE SALE! That Saturday. I really wasn't moving, I just said that because people think you're desperate to wrap up your business and get out of town when you advertize a "moving" garage sale; so they expect a good deal and show up early..... in droves!
END
I just made that up. You'll notice that the storyteller is a hypocrite. The reader can identify with garage sales. They always wondered if those people were really movin. The tone is set. You got a nutcase hypocrite gonna tell ya a story about a hustler named Miller. Probably gonna be some trouble. I WONDER WHAT? What happens next? Who is this hustler hypocrite that hates hustlers? This is gonna be gritty, maybe sexy, maybe bloody.
HEY, I'M JUST TRYING TO OFFER SOME THOUGHTS AROUND HERE.
