tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post4775610365692285468..comments2020-08-13T20:00:22.717-04:00Comments on Fiction University: Why Query Letters Matter to Self-Published Authors, Too Janice Hardyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02356672149097741248noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-53696482847062015542015-07-09T23:17:17.724-04:002015-07-09T23:17:17.724-04:00Janice, you know queries drive me CRAZY! I&#39;m a...Janice, you know queries drive me CRAZY! I&#39;m also hopelessly grateful my editor for &quot;<a href="http://www.gabrielandrum.com" rel="nofollow">GABRIEL</a>&quot; enjoyed the sample chapters I submitted along with my query, I really think the sample won her over <b>(as HARD as I slaved over the query, as you well know...)</b><br /><br />Also, while query letters are similar to cover copy, it&#39;s NOT exactly the same, because with cover copy, we want to entice readers WITHOUT giving the whole plot away. <br /><br />When we&#39;re trying to entice agents/editors, they have to know more upfront info than the lay readers do, but still not be bloated and as compact or more-so than cover copy.<br /><br />This is probably where &quot;Natural Storytellers&quot; as described by author Debbie Macomber have the most trouble, versus the writers who have the technical skill, and could write brillant cover copy, but struggle with writing what they&#39;re able to describe nearly as well.<br /><br />I know some writers who&#39;re indie publishing, like most recently Jami Gold, <a href="http://jamigold.com/2015/04/picking-editors-how-to-evaluate-potential-editors/#comment-464067" rel="nofollow">found navigating cover copy easier</a> when she just had to think about readers versus &quot;winning over&quot; an agent or editor at a publisher <b>(and the publisher&#39;s marketing staff, etc...)</b><br /><br />I just find it trying no matter what. This is probably why your &quot;Write the query first&quot; strategy didn&#39;t help me. I&#39;d never have finished one draft of &quot;Gabriel&quot; and if I waited until a &quot;test query&quot; was hitting the &quot;right notes.&quot; <br /><br />That said, I&#39;m glad it helps you and other writers.<br /><br />I think it&#39;s important to remember that as you say at the end &quot;Writing ABOUT our book is often harder than writing the ACTUAL BOOK.&quot; <br />They are different skills, and sucking at one does not mean you inherently suck at the other! <b>(LOL)</b><br /><br />I&#39;m sure there are people who can make nearly ANYTHING sound rieviting in copy, but wouldn&#39;t be as good as actually executing it themselves.<br /><br />For exmaple, just because the marketing department can&#39;t draw to save their life, doesn&#39;t mean they can&#39;t market a picture book or graphic novel, or have sense of art direction for a picture book or graphic novel.<br /><br />Just like how music lovers don&#39;t have to be able to read/write music to enjoy it and have profund things to say about it.<br /><br />I say that not to diminish the importance of cover copy <b>(even and ESPECIALLY we decide to indie publish)</b> but for writers to not feel overly discouraged. I don&#39;t want writers to have to feel unessecary anguish that I often felt <b>(and sometimes still do)</b> when struggling to write &quot;About&quot; a book I wrote makes me freak out that the actual book&#39;s even worse! <br /><br />Not always true, important to address, of course, but don&#39;t let it color your apptitude for writing entirely.<br />Taurean Watkinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16604609379930060667noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-46397619914366851592015-07-09T15:58:48.229-04:002015-07-09T15:58:48.229-04:00I never thought about a query letter as having so ...I never thought about a query letter as having so many similarities to cover copy, but now I see that it does! great job going over this!Savvy Stories by Dan Alatorrehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10813128957118142707noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3901370917824739259.post-57096185248148182722015-07-09T12:58:08.343-04:002015-07-09T12:58:08.343-04:00Great post! I&#39;ve found I&#39;m actually writi...Great post! I&#39;ve found I&#39;m actually writing a query letter to book bloggers/reviewers as well. I blogged about it here: http://gwenmitchellfiction.com/2015/02/26/book-reviewers-the-new-gatekeepers/<br /><br />It&#39;s definitely a skill worth practicing! Gwenhttp://www.gwenmitchellfiction.comnoreply@blogger.com