Query Agents with Book Jacket Draft....

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BlueTexas

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So I'm thumbing through this month's issue of The Writer magazine, and I see an inset about querying agents.

All sounded well and good, be concise, use flawless grammar, and then the author of the article says that if you have materials that could help sell your product, enclose them, like a draft of the book's cover. What? What?

I'm writing a query for my novel right now, and I've been heavily perusing agent's websites. No one says this - not even for non-fic. Not one agent site.

The article doesn't specify fic or non-fic, but wow. I'm not renewing this subscription.

(Then of course I had to google the author, and found this: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0595380395/?tag=absolutewritedm-20.)
 
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JJ Cooper

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I think there is enough pressure just trying to get the query right without having to worry about a cover. Sure, we probably have an idea for a cover, but to include it to an agent with the query seems a little odd to me.

I'm not published yet, but I suspect the agent doesn't have too much say in a cover anyway. Isn't that the responsibilty of the publisher?

JJ
 

Mumut

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I've never had an agent but I've given a photograph and details of how I imagined the cover too look. I thought it was like listing your proposed marketing strategies - expected.
 

nevada

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how much advice are you willing to take from someone who is published with iUniverse? I am getting more and more annoyed with magazines publishing "advice" articles by writers who a) have no experience in publishing; b) have written one book and consider themselves experts now. In my field (finishing carpentry) it takes years before you learn enough to truly be considered a good carpenter. I did baseboard and window casing for a year before I was competent enough to be let loose on the good stuff like fireplace mantles. Why is it that a lot of writers who have published one book immediately are considered experts and feel the need to share their wisdom with us? Is that cranky of me? probably. Do I care? Not so much.
 

illiterwrite

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There's no point in doing that. If you have a great idea for your cover, your editor may want to hear it, but ultimately it's not up to you.
 

Mumut

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And what's wrong with letting a fellow author know what has happened to you? Even though I've only had two books accepted for publication with two publishers, each publisher has asked for cover-art suggestions.
 

KTC

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That is idiotic. Dumbest suggestion I've ever heard. I would be inclined to denounce the entire article if I read that piece of advice in it.
 

BlueTexas

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how much advice are you willing to take from someone who is published with iUniverse? I am getting more and more annoyed with magazines publishing "advice" articles by writers who a) have no experience in publishing; b) have written one book and consider themselves experts now.

My point exactly. Why on earth didn't the magazine editor think this way?
 

BlueTexas

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And what's wrong with letting a fellow author know what has happened to you? Even though I've only had two books accepted for publication with two publishers, each publisher has asked for cover-art suggestions.

At the query stage? Or after they took you on?
 

Sheryl Nantus

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My point exactly. Why on earth didn't the magazine editor think this way?

probably because they were pressed for time and needed the article to slap into the page.

I've had a few misgivings about certain articles I've found there - usually your Spidey-Sense starts twitching when you trip across something and then you Google the author.
 

steveg144

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No one that I've seen, anywhere, recommends something like this. It's crazy talk, I tell ya! ;) The query format is very simple, and fairly rigid.

1. I'm seeking representation for [name], my [xx,000] word [genre].

2. One or maybe two paragraphs explaining the novel, the stakes, why we should care about the characters, etc. No "teasers" (as in, "to find out what happens to our plucky heroine, Muffin McQueen, I'd be happy to send you the full manuscript so you can find out for yourself!"), agents hate that crap.

3. a short para listing pub credits, if any.

4. thank you for your interest and your time, etc etc yada yada.

5. name, address, phone, email, web site (if any).

All of this is thanks to the late lamented blog "Miss Snark." Damn, I miss my daily Snark fix, and that's the truth. But you can still read the archives, they are a goldmine of real-world "agent stuff."
 

Stacia Kane

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And what's wrong with letting a fellow author know what has happened to you? Even though I've only had two books accepted for publication with two publishers, each publisher has asked for cover-art suggestions.

Yes, but before or after they bought the book? My ebook publishers also asked for cover art suggestions--after the contract was signed.

And the writer of the advice wasn't talking about publishers, he was talking about agents, for whom author-made cover art is even more useless than it is for a publisher.

AND the writer is vanity published--which means he doesn't have an agent, and shouldn't be offering advice on how to get one as if he's an expert (which I'm sure a lot of beginning writers will take his presence in the magazine to signify).
 

Mumut

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At the query stage? Or after they took you on?

After they took it on, Blue. I suppose that means I misunderstood the first post? Highly usual at 11.45pm watching Aussie Rules. Sorry if I'm just raving.
 

Susan Breen

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That really is bad advice. From what I've heard, agents cringe when authors submit cover art (before the book is sold). Even afterwards, you don't have a lot of say in the whole thing. However, I have to say, I subscribe to The Writer and I've written for The Writer, and I find most of their articles very helpful, and they also fact-check the articles, which I think is a good thing. So maybe someone was having an off day.
 
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