Getting feedback on one's agent query letter

Share Your Work section. Use the password there. Then look for Query letter hell.

You need to have 50 posts to your credit first, but you're almost there.

I'd strongly recommend spending some time reading the sticky threads there while you're accumulating your remaining posts, and also reading some of the more active query threads there to get a feel for the place.

JanDarby said:

Share Your Work section. Use the password there. Then look for Query letter hell.

You need to have 50 posts to your credit first, but you're almost there.

I'd strongly recommend spending some time reading the sticky threads there while you're accumulating your remaining posts, and also reading some of the more active query threads there to get a feel for the place.

Click to expand...

^^^ This.

One of the best ways to improve your own writing is to critique others' writing, so why not work on increasing your post count by critiquing others' query letters? You will very probably find ways to improve your own query letter before posting it simply by reviewing threads in QLH. Good luck!

Go and look at Queryshark too
queryshark.blogspot.com

query letter hell here....


and a willingness to be stung a bit at first--I see from your other thread you've gotten a number of rejections already, and I suspect there will be a lot of suggested changes. On the other hand, a lot of folks left QLH with agents.

Things seem rather quiet at Query Shark lately, but the archives are gold. I've also been following Evil Editor, which gets posted to daily and also is currently seeking submissions, from what I can tell.

Evil Editor earns his name, though. Be very, very sure you're ready for all your mistakes to be immortalized and mocked without mercy before you hit send. I wrote a query almost four years ago that got labeled a "classic" and is now on the blog twice. Discovering that did not feel good.

I do know Query Shark allows people to take their queries down later if they choose to do so. I'm not sure if Evil Editor offers the same or not. I've never asked. I guess I keep feeling like if I was egotistical enough to think that query was actually good, maybe I deserve the embarrassment.

Anyway, just thought I'd put the warning out there.

tricon7 said:

Is there a place here a person can put up one's query letter to agents so that experienced/published authors can critique it? I'm looking around but don't see anything right off. Still looking...

For all I know I have an atrocious query letter that's going straight into the spam folders of the agents. It's one thing to have a slightly different style of query letter, and quite another to have one that looks like it was written by a high-schooler. I think I've done my homework in this area, but it would be nice to have some feedback.

Thanks.

Click to expand...

Three more posts and you are officially able to "share your work" in the query letter section!