Query Style

zarch said:

Question: have you guys and gals had more luck with straightforward, more businesslike queries or catchy, humorous queries? Or does this depend entirely on the agent/publisher?

Much thanks!

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I'm leaning towards this style, myself:
http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9780

It definitely depends on the editor/agent/publication. Serious pubs want serious queries, offbeat and irreverent ones want queries to match, showing you understand and can produce their style. I tend to prefer editors and publications that like humorous, offbeat queries and articles, since that's my normal style, but I *can* produce serious queries and serious articles when I need to.

I vote for style, too. My first query letter format got me absolutely nowhere, until I attended a conference and listened to a speaker talk about the Art of E-Queries. I applied what she said to do and I received eight invitations to submit my work. Some agents and publishers want the standard format and detailed synposis, others want the movie version or glitz. Find you as much about the person you're sending it to and adapt your query the best you can.

I tended to cheat and do it both ways... I would send a serious query that would impress a business-type and then, if I didn't hear back in three months (which happened often) I would follow it up with a quirky, humorous one that almost always got a hand-written answer (even if it was a no, I usually got a request for my next one.) Because the humor was about the business rather than about my book, and was sympathetic toward their being overworked, it really made points.


But then we got an agent, and I had to stop writing queries Pity. I really do enjoy writing a good query.