query question and sample pages question

judy.s said:

I am not ready to query a agent yet, but I have these nagging questions that I have to ask.
Do or do you not introduce other characters in a query letter? I have looked at many sites including the ones posted in query hell, and some people say yes it is okay and others say no. Some query letters have other characters in there letters and others do not introduce characters. So, which is it? It depends. Basically this is a function of a human's ability to become confused. Usually this seems to be three, but I've seen more work on occasion.

It also depends a lot on how you approach this. For example, lover is easier to remember than Desiree. And John is easier to remember than Jonathan Perriwinkle the fourteenth. And made up names are the hardest for the reader to remember.

Also, if an agent asks for sample pages, do you give them the sample pages with the chapters marked or do you just put larger breaks? Email or snail mail? And I'm assuming less than ten pages (English agents frequently request 50 pages as a starting point on their website, and don't address the issue of attachments, leaving some significant confusion in their wakes). Snail mail should be printed exactly as it appears in the manuscript, including the title page, although the title page should not be counted.

If you are sending email, the ten pages are stuck on below the query letter, single spaced and with a forced line space between each paragraph. This is done because double spaced email doesn't always spit out the same way. I'd indicate a chapter break, but without the normal spacing that it would have.

Personally, I'd try real hard to avoid a chapter break in the first ten pages. An intentionally blank line is indicated with a # (pound) symbol.


Thanks
Judy

Click to expand...