PITCHING TO AN AGENT 2020 PART 2

THE PITCH LETTER (QUERY LETTER)

I need to tell you up front that this discussion pertains to pitching fiction and not non-fiction. When it comes to queries, they’re two different animals. I’ve never pitched non-fiction and don’t have a clue how to do it, so if that’s what you’re after, sorry! They’re called proposals, by the way.
Now that you’ve heard the inevitable (you’re going to have to do one unless you self-publish), how are you going to go about it? The easy answer is to tell you to go to the bookstore or the wyberry (library, sorry, I like to play with words) and stock up with literally (if that isn’t a metaphor) hundreds of books on writing query letters. Or, I could condense it all down for you and let you know what’s worked for me and what hasn’t. Keep in mind that you can come up with a generic letter, but trust me, you’ll have to modify it for each agent. Not only it is good to personalize each one, but many agents have their own ideas of what a query letter should contain. A generic query letter smacks of impersonalization. That, my friends, is a big red flag with a trash can bulls-eye right in the middle of it!
THE SLUG LINE
The slug line is probably the key element to the pitch letter. This is the bullet phrase, something you can cite off the top of your head that sums up the entire book in one killer line. If you were to sit down with an agent, face-to-face, after introductions, and he or she asks you about your book, this is the first words out of your mouth.
I cannot emphasize how important this slug or pitch line is. It should be done without hesitation, without forethought, and with confidence. It should have impact, grab attention, and sum up the book.
A BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE BOOK
Now that you have your slug line out, while it sums up the gist of the novel in a short phrase, the next thing to do is go into a brief summary of the story. This should be a very short paragraph summing up what the story is about but with just a bit more detail than the slug line. The slug line attracts their attention, whereas the summary gives them a more detailed, but brief picture of what the novel is about.
A BIT ABOUT YOURSELF
After you’ve given a summary of the book, it’s time for a bit about yourself (brief bio) (what makes you qualified to write the story). Of course, you don’t write just those things exactly. Remember, this is a letter to a person, not a machine. The key is that the letter should be brief, to the point and only contain relevant information. On top of that, it must be grammatically correct, contain no typos and something you might not always hear from others, it cannot contain any negatives or sarcasm.
NO NEGATIVITY
Whatever you do, do not put yourself or others down! Do not use sarcasm! I must step back and say that if the sarcasm is part of the plot or storyline, that’s something else. If it’s about you or other authors, do not use it!
DON’T GET CUTESEY-POO
Another thing never to do, well, something that is extremely risky and 99% of the time doesn’t work, is to write the query letter in character. Yes, I’m talking about your main character being a hard-bitten detective with a few screws loose upstairs. He or she writes the letter. It’s written on an old typewriter with a cigarette burn in one corner and coffee stains in another. The letter is folded wrong and you sign it with your character’s sloppy signature, typing your real name and address on the envelope. Cutesy-poo to-the-max, but most agents and publishers have been there and done that and can’t hit the trash can with it fast enough. Some may even respond with a nasty letter. A romance writer may send it on frilly stationary soaked in perfume. What if the agent is allergic to perfume?
Play it straight. No gags, no gimmicks to get yourself noticed. I’ve had more agents tell me they get extremely annoyed by these tactics and put these authors on their ***t lists. Keep that in mind.
PERFECT GRAMMAR – NO TYPOS
It’s extremely important the letter have no typos or grammatical errors. When an agent gets hold of it, if they see you can’t even write out a single page without an error, what will a novel or short story look like?
Next time, we break things down even further.
Happy writing!