Monday, December 29, 2014

Query Party Invitation

Is December almost over?  I feel like I just put up the Christmas tree and it’s almost time to take it down again.  And it’s time to start looking at New Year’s resolutions again. 

This next year, I want to focus on my queries and submissions.  It was on my list for last year, but it wasn’t a priority.

What I’ve learned this year is that these letters are even more important than I realized.  I took a new job in September, and I’m now over hiring for my department.  The process of going through resumes has really opened my eyes.  It can take 30 seconds to make a decision.  I’m sure it’s probably even faster for query letters.  It makes me wonder what kind of an impression I’ve made on the agents I did query this year.

So recently, I’ve been researching query letters even more than before and a few weeks ago, I posted an article on a fellow writer’s query process.  (Link here).  It sparked some interest, and I started talking with Vanessa MacLellan and Deborah Osborne (two awesome gals) about having a query party for those who have made that part of their resolutions.  It’s always good to get a second eye, or even a third and fourth eye on those queries before sending them out to an agent.

Here’s how we’re thinking of doing it:  

1.       We’ll create a list of people who are involved and assign each of them a person whose query they’ll read and give feedback on for that week.  (synopsises are welcome too!)
2.       Queries go out on Monday for critiques and are returned by Thursday with any feedback.
3.        That gives us three days to revise and shine before the next round, which will be posted on Friday or Saturday.

We’re hoping to do it once a week for the month of January.

Who wants to participate?  The more the merrier!



For those of you just starting on queries, here’s a list of links that I’ve found very helpful:




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