Comments on: #QueryFail: Clever Queries

By: Bill Giovannetti

Bill Giovannetti — Wed, 19 May 2010 01:56:05 +0000

This is painful. It gives me a much greater appreciation for what you do. Thanks. Condolences (for the painful stuff).

By: jane G Meyer

jane G Meyer — Thu, 13 May 2010 18:12:47 +0000

To echo what Michelle said way up top, when I was a children’s book editor and received query after query, I kept a tally of all of the manuscripts that came my way. Most of the queries were passable and professional… But every now and then you would run across a snarky, or an overly confident or even ridiculous one. These authors were typically the ones who would end up back in my inbox, arguing with me, telling me why I should take their book to the Editorial Board for a vote. I never argued back, but I also never took their projects to the Board, and their names got an extra little note next to them on the tally sheet…

By: Christa Davis

Christa Davis — Thu, 13 May 2010 16:39:21 +0000

If I may add, my attempt in sharing this rhyme was not to present overzealous abilities intertwined with loads of confidence and defiant assurance as a potential author. It was merely to add levity to the issue of query “failing.”

To present a query using any format closely resembling my spar of verbiage would be cheesy to say the least, in my opinion. The poem was a reflection of my idea of an “ideal” process, with sincere gratitude and utmost respect to Wendy’s expert perspective.

Thank you, BooksandSuch, for this terrific blog full of realistic advice and expectations.

By: Morgan Busse

Morgan Busse — Thu, 13 May 2010 12:17:50 +0000

Yikes! Those were scary!

The question I have is how professional should one be in a query? A couple months ago I did a lot of research to figure out how to write a query and as you pointed out, there are a lot of opinions out there. I chose to go the route where my query was very formal and professional. I had one publisher (who I knew, but wanted to put my best foot forward), jokingly comment on how formal it was. I laughed too because he was right, it was formal. But I didn’t want to come across unprofessional, after all, the relationship I am hoping to have would be a professional one.

So how formal should a query be? Or can a query be too formal (and put you off as an agent?)

By: Eva Ulian

Eva Ulian — Thu, 13 May 2010 07:54:23 +0000

I am always defending authors that they are not as stupid as some try to make them out to be. If such queries are true, then such writers have certainly let the rest of us down who conscientiously try to send agents a true representation of our work.

By: Lucy

Lucy — Thu, 13 May 2010 06:05:31 +0000

Eeeouch! Those set my teeth on edge. I’ve seen humor used lightly and deftly and to very good effect in queries up for critique, but there wasn’t anything funny in the examples. Except in an ooh-that-had-to-hurt-but-he-should-have-watched-where-he-was-going kind of way.

P.S. What I’m seeing here isn’t even “clever,” it’s more like cockiness and over-familiarity.

*Cringes, and makes mental note never, ever to do that with own query*

By: Rich Gerberding

Rich Gerberding — Thu, 13 May 2010 03:07:49 +0000

Whew! I’m just glad that none of them appeared to be veiled variations of anything I’ve sent!

By: Christa Davis

Christa Davis — Thu, 13 May 2010 02:26:09 +0000

It’s a little bit query this “failing” inside
Depicting what to write as I try to decide
Too much, too little, too wry, to debate
Whether my writing will be selected
Or quite possibly, huh? Rejected?!?
So I closely examine my tale to tell
Knowing its “one of kind” surely to sale
Revamping my query… concise, direct
Doing my best not to overly project
The next I know, it’s done in a snap
Yep, an author I am, with words I tap
It’s a query success shining with much
As Wendy debunks myths from BooksandSuch!

Thanks for the inspiration, Wendy!

By: Wendy Lawton

Wendy Lawton — Thu, 13 May 2010 01:29:22 +0000

You hit the nail on the head, patriciazell. Good-natured is what we are looking for– it’s a plus when it shines through. I like to see personality in a query.

And Bethany, you are right. I probably should have put quote marks around the word “clever” each time I used it.

By: Wendy Lawton

Wendy Lawton — Thu, 13 May 2010 01:25:24 +0000

Lisa, maybe I will at some point (with permission of course). The only potential problem is that showing good examples often leads to slavish copying. One of the reasons a query may catch my eye is that it is distinctive.

Sometimes I get queries that I suspect have been created by a query service because I will get a stack of them in one day and they all have the exact same format. Authors should never farm out this process– the writer is the one with the heart, the passion and the personality. A sterile marketing-mill query will never stand out.