Writing a Query Letter

Writing a query letter can be as difficult as writing the manuscript and certainly not as much fun. My query letters include three parts. These parts do not have to follow the order listed here, but I incorporate each component into every query letter. 

1.      The opening should include the genre, word count, title, hook and synopsis.

Example: Enclosed is a 521-word picture book manuscript, THE FIRST FIRE, A CHEROKEE LEGEND, an authentic Cherokee folktale about animals finding and bringing home fire to warm their world. (I capitalize the manuscript title but italics will also work.)

One option is to include brief text cut from the manuscript. (First sentence listed here from FIRST FIRE.) When the world was new, nights painted the earth with sparkly, lacy frost.

In another example for an up-coming fictional picture book, GONE CUCKOO, I opened the query letter with a hook: Adoption isn’t just for children. In the animal kingdom, cuckoo birds find foster parents to raise their young.

A one-paragraph synopsis is the most important part of the query. Introduce the character, the conflict, and the basic plot. Write this as though it will be the description on the book jacket. 

2.      Introduce yourself and if the manuscript is nonfiction, your qualifications for writing a book on that particular subject. List your experiences as a writer, along with publishing credits including books, articles, etc. Beginning writers can list workshops and literary groups in which you have participated.

 

3.      Contact information and appreciation. Thank the editor for reading your manuscript, mention that you have enclosed, embedded, or attached the requested pages (check website for the number of pages the editor wants), and provide address, phone number, and email address. If you have a website or other social media profiles, list those under you name. 

Polish your manuscript and query letter. Strong impressions are lasting impressions.

 

Call for submissions for Adult Writers
Chicken Soup for the Soul: Inspiration for Teaches
101 Stories about How You Make a Difference Being a teacher is hard, and we know that teachers sometimes need a morale boost, some reassurance that what they do matters, and some new, fun ideas for the classroom.

Being a teacher is not what you do... it's who you are. You don't stop being a teacher when the dismissal bell rings. You are always a teacher. Teachers influence and shape the future. Teachers inspire and motivate students each and every day. Teachers don’t teach for the great salaries; they teach because of the rewards they get when a student thrives, or when a student has a "WOW" moment because of a teacher's guidance.

We are looking for true stories by and about teachers.

Here are some ideas but we know you can think of many more:
•     I am a teacher and this is why I teach
•     The teacher who changed my life
•     The student who changed my life
•     My first year teaching
•     Learning from the students
•     Embarrassing moments
•     Staying enthusiastic year after year
•     Tough situations
•     That WOW moment
•     Turning negative into positive
•     Funny moments
•     Challenging yourself
•     Stepping out of your comfort zone
•     Great tips to share with other teachers
•     Your best piece of advice for new teachers
•     Your best piece of advice to re-energize a teacher
•     Reflections on being a teacher

Please remember, we no longer publish "as told to" stories. Write your story or poem in the first person. Do not ghostwrite a story for someone else unless you list that person as the author. If a story was previously published, we will probably not use it unless it ran in a small circulation venue. Let us know where the story was previously published in the "Comments" section of the submission form.

All stories should be true — we do not publish fiction — and should be no longer than 1,200 words. If your story was already published in a past Chicken Soup for the Soul book, please do not submit it. We will not publish it again. If you already submitted a story for this title please do not submit it again. We have it in our database and it will be considered for this title. If you submitted a story for one of our previous books and we did not publish it, please feel free to submit it to this book if you think will fit. That way we will be sure it is considered for this new edition.

If your story is chosen, you will be a published author and your bio will be printed in the book if you so choose. You will also receive a check for $200 and 10 free copies of your book, worth more than $100. You will retain the copyright for your story and you will retain the right to resell it or self-publish it.

SUBMISSIONS GO TO OUR WEBSITE. Select the Submit Your Story link at the bottom of the page and follow the directions.

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS IS OCTOBER 30, 2016.

Writing a Synopsis

Another way to look at writing a synopsis is a take on writing a newspaper article—

Who (protagonist), What (main conflict), Where (setting), and Why should I care? Make the editor CARE. Make the editor want to read more. Make the editor want to turn your manuscript into a book.

What is the emotional toll on the protagonist? Does the character fear something? If so, make that know in the synopsis. Play up the emotion aspects of the story because that is the heart of the story and what sets it apart from other books. Focus on the conflict, that which drives the plot and forces the character into action.

Just like your manuscript, your synopsis needs time to breathe, to percolate, to marinate. Put it aside for three or four weeks. When you read it again with fresh eyes, you are more likely to see gaps or figure out ways to make the editor salivate.

Since you have a lot to say in a few words, choose your words carefully. Use action verbs. Play with the word and sentences to make them lively and reflective of the manuscript.

At this point, pat yourself on the back, because you have finished the manuscript. That’s an achievement and a dream come true. If you can write a manuscript, you can certainly tackle a synopsis, head-on.

Call for Submissions for Adult Writers:

CICADA MAGAZINE
We are a YA lit/comics magazine fascinated with the lyric and strange and committed to work that speaks to teens’ truths. We publish poetry, realistic and genre fic, essay, and comics by adults and teens. Nonfiction up to 5,000 words and fiction up to 9,000 words. Stories and articles

Submission guidelines at https://cricketmag.submittable.com/submit/17820

Writing a Synopsis

This blog is continuing with information on writing a synopsis.

If you’re writing a one-page synopsis, write one paragraph on each of the characteristics listed in the previous blog post. If it’s one-paragraph summary, briefly incorporate all of them in a few sentences.

Stay focused on the main problem and don’t deal with sub-plots and minor characters. After you’ve written the main points, revise to add voice and tone that matches the story. Consider the necessity of each word and cut out those that don’t expand the meaning or add voice.

Here’s a synopsis of my children's novel, AMAZING GRACE, I wrote for a query letter that garnered a contract:

Eleven-year-old Grace Ann Brewer’s comfortable life is torn apart when her father joins the Army in 1944 during WWII. Her family moves from Hazard to Ashland, Kentucky, to live with her grandmother. Grace enrolls in a new school and is immediately forced to deal with a bully, but the greatest challenge is to keep a positive outlook as she fears that her father has been injured—or worse—when his letters stop arriving in the mail. Gumption, that’s what Grace’s grandmother tells her she must have, but gumption isn’t easy to grasp when she listens to the wireless, a radio, that keeps the home front updated with the frightening events of the war. Grace finds solace in writing letters to her father and even more comfort in talking with her dog, Spot. With amazing strength Grace fights her own battles on the home front.

Next week, I’ll look at another way to write a synopsis.

Call for Submissions for Adult Writers:

Blue Mountain Arts Announces Its Twenty-sixth Biannual Poetry Card Contest
1st prize: $300 * 2nd prize: $150 * 3rd prize: $50

In addition, the winning poems will be displayed on our website sps.com.
Please read the following, then scroll down to submit your poem. 

Poetry Contest Guidelines:

1. Poems can be rhyming or non-rhyming, although we find that non-rhyming poetry reads better.
2. We suggest that you write about real emotions and feelings and that you have some special person or occasion in mind as you write.
3. Poems are judged on the basis of originality and uniqueness.
4. English-language entries only, please.
5. Enter as often as you like!

Deadline: June 30, 2015
Submission guidelines at http://www.sps.com/poetry/index.html

The Dreaded Synopsis

Writers need a one-paragraph synopsis of the manuscript for the cover/query letter and a one-page (or more, check guidelines for each publisher) synopsis for chapter books and novels. I find a synopsis anything but easy to write. Condensing the entire book into one paragraph or one page and retain the tone and voice of the manuscript is simply difficult. That’s not all. The summary should be intriguing, tantalizing, and irresistible in such a way the editor/agent wants to read the manuscript. A tall order, I must say.

One way to get an idea of what to write is to read blurbs on the jackets of books in a bookstore or library. Read lots of them. On-line, search publishers' websites and read book blurbs.

Let’s analyse a synopsis.

The goal is to introduce the characters and explain the basic overall plot in a few sentences. Begin with the main character. Who is s/he before the story begins? (If you don’t know this, interview your character to get to know him/her better).

What happened to create a problem for the character (inciting incident)?

What is preventing the character from attaining the goal? What made the plans fall apart?

What is the darkest moment, the time when it seems the character cannot possible achieve the goal?

What is the resolution? How does the character overcome the odds and prevail?

Next week, I’ll continue with information about writing a synopsis.

Call for Submissions for Young Writers:

I will resume providing this information in September.

Call for Submissions for Adult Writers:

Diverse Books Contest If you write MG and have a diverse background, including (but not limited to) LGBTQIA, people of color, gender diversity, people with disabilities, and ethnic, cultural, and religious minorities, you may be interested in submitting a short story to We Need Diverse Books. They are putting together an anthology of children’s literature to be published in January 2107.

Phoebe Yeh, VP/Publisher of Crown Books for Young Readers/Random House, has acquired publication rights to this Middle Grade WNDB Anthology, working title “Stories For All Of Us.”

The anthology will be in memory of Walter Dean Myers and it will be inspired by his quote: “Once I began to read, I began to exist.” Every new story contribution to this anthology will be by a diverse author.

WNDB is proud to announce that the anthology will have one story reserved for a previously unpublished diverse author. WNDB will fill that slot via a short story contest. The winner will be included in the anthology and will receive a payment of $1000 US.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR: The submission window is narrow, so if you want to submit you should start writing and polishing, but you can not send it in until April 27th 2015 when they start accepting submissions. The window for submissions is only open for 12 days (until 5:00PM EST on May 8th, 2015).

Short Story Rules

§ All submissions (short story or illustrated story) must be in English and never before published in any medium, print or digital.

§ Submissions must be no longer than 5000 words.

§ All submissions must be electronic and sent to the following email address: contest@diversebooks.org

§ All submissions must also be appropriate for a middle grade audience, ages 8 to 12.

§ If your submission is illustrated, it must be in a graphic novel format, but no longer than 10 pages.

§ Illustrations must be submitted electronically. Do NOT mail hard copy submissions to WNDB. They will not be reviewed, nor will they be returned.

Prizes

§ First prize winner will receive an award of $1000 plus their entry will be published as part of the WNDB Anthology to be released by Crown Books for Young Readers/Random House Children’s Books in January 2017.

§ Two runner-up winners will receive honorable mentions and awards of $250 each.