by Doris Cáceres-Schumick Last year at one of our Zoom writing meetings I gave a presentation on how to self-publish your book on Amazon’s KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) platform. One of you soared with that information, self-publishing your own books! But what if you wanted your essay about birds published in the Birds & Blooms magazine or your story about child guidance published in The Harvard Common Press? According to each publisher’s submission guidelines in my copy of the 2019 Writer’s Market book, by Robert Lee Brewer, you’d have to submit a query letter, as these are traditional publishers seeking specific subjects while offering some sort of compensation (for ex. a royalty, a free copy of the magazine your story will be published in, marketing, etc.). So then, what is a query letter? A query letter is a one-page professional sales letter written to persuade the publisher to consider or even read your manuscript (written work). It’s a short way of introducing yourself to the publisher. It’s a way to pitch your work and yourself. So, it is critical to take your time crafting your letter because this may be your one and only chance! A well-crafted query letter should contain:
In addition:
Below are two sample query letters from the 2019 Writer’s Market book. Each sample includes detailed comments showing what did not work and what did work. I have to admit, the first sample did get my attention! LOL! So now that you’ve learned the basics of writing a query letter, I hope you feel confident enough to find your desired publisher and write your own letter. And if you need someone to look over it and provide feedback, please feel free to email it to me by clicking here. And if you have the time, please comment on this blog or add in your professional query letter advice below. I’d love to hear it!
Sandy Ferrell
3/6/2023 09:18:53 am
Great advice, Doris. Very succinct and informing. You did your research. Thanks for sharing.
Darlene
3/10/2023 02:34:14 pm
I have struggled with writing a query letter in the past and have been looking for succinct, easy to follow instructions. Comments are closed.
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