When I first started, I poured SO MUCH time into the query. And I got really good at it. But here’s the main point…no matter how good your query, THE BOOK is what sells.
So, if you’re going to pour your time and effort into something, put it in THE BOOK.
I have rarely, if ever, heard of someone who wrote a GREAT BOOK that was derailed by poor queries. Truth be known, some really poorly edited letters and manuscripts still sell because the idea or story is SO GOOD.
A publisher is going to dump thousands of dollars into your book and the best query on earth won’t convince them to do that unless they love the material.
Believe me, I know. I wrote hundreds of queries and got really good at it. I got requests from all over. I looked very professional. But nothing sold until my twentieth manuscript.
The query that got my agent’s attention was something along the lines of –Help, Scholastic is calling and I can’t sell. Here’s the teaser. I’d love to send it to you.
It sounded a little more professional than that, but you get the gist.
The point is, if you’re submitting and submitting and getting no sales…it’s probably not the queries causing your problem.
But, if you’re still saying to yourself, but I see crap out there all the time! Why won’t they take MY stuff. It’s better than that. Read this.
