Query Letter Help

IkhlasHussain · Jan 13, 2013

Hi everyone,

I'm in the query letter stage and I've got a few questions that I was hoping someone with experience in the field could help me out with.

1. When describing your manuscript, do you just pick one genre or mention the other genres your ms falls under? I'm already a bit unsure about this and have posted about this conundrum in this (http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=258678) thread already. So far, I feel like my ms falls into contemporary/mainstream fiction, new adult, and upmarket women's fiction (it's really hard to pinpoint the genre). Do I mention the top 2 or just pick the one that's most relevant?

2. I know the last paragraph of the query letter is supposed to talk about you and your credentials as the author. For fiction, it's kind of hard to talk about credentials, if you haven't majored in creative writing, so what exactly do I mention here? I have a B.A and a certificate in book publishing; would this be relevant? And I have a website/blog where I post book reviews, recipes, and snippets of writing, and so I'm wondering if it makes sense to mention that here, or if it's completely irrelevant.

I think that's it for now, but I'll probably think of some more later...

Thanks in advance!

Cyia · Jan 13, 2013

1 - In your case, I'd go with Contemporary New Adult novel (a lot of NA is women's fiction with a different category attached, so you don't need to worry about adding WF as a genre, just make sure the agent knows it's contemp. rather than fantasy)

Something like this: [MY AWESOME TITLE] is a [word count] Contemporary New Adult novel.

2 - If you don't have relevant credentials, then leave out the credential paragraph. I didn't use one for the query that got me my first agent, and I know several people who were in the same boat. The only time you'd mention your degree or work experience is if it's tied to the story somehow.

If you're a child psychologist, and you're writing about a teen with a mental illness, then it's probably a good thing to mention. If you're a former publisher and you're writing about a teenage jockey hoping to win a champion's purse so he can afford university, then not so much.

Debbie V · Jan 14, 2013

If you have no credentials to mention, the paragraph can also be used to indicate marketing plans. If your blog seems very popular, mention it. Clearly you'd use that to market. You can also mention membership in genre organizations - SCBWI (childrens), RWA (romance), etc. This shows that you have put your money where your author's voice is.

IkhlasHussain · Jan 16, 2013

Quick question: I don't think I've seen any agents include 'New Adult' in their listing of genres (it's a fairly new genre, from what I understand), so is it safe to say that my ms is new adult, even though the agent hasn't said they're interested in it?

Debbie V · Jan 21, 2013

I'm not sure how widely used the term is yet. This is a very individual thing. There are varying views on the term and the concept of what it means exactly. Google the agent and see if there's a mention of the term in any interviews, etc. that come up. If not, I'd probably still avoid it as it could be taken for a gimmick. I hope that answer helps.

IkhlasHussain · Jan 21, 2013

Thanks, Debbie. I think it's safe to stay away from it for now...

Debbie V said:
I'm not sure how widely used the term is yet. This is a very individual thing. There are varying views on the term and the concept of what it means exactly. Google the agent and see if there's a mention of the term in any interviews, etc. that come up. If not, I'd probably still avoid it as it could be taken for a gimmick. I hope that answer helps.

Query Letter Help

IkhlasHussain

Cyia

Rewriting My Destiny

Debbie V

Mentoring Myself and Others

IkhlasHussain

Debbie V

Mentoring Myself and Others

IkhlasHussain