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Cobber, I'd be happy to read your book, which one is it? Would you prefer a hard copy of Jewel, or e-copy?
I'll read yours in digital, you can email to mrspiddles@yahoo.com
Thank you so much.
MzP

I must say, I laughed until I cried. Wished it didn't have so many 'f' words, but hey, it was still cute. And I can identify! Sometimes Taco Bell could use a few pointers! I used to have a funny one about a chili cook off, but I haven't seen it in a while. And there's another one about a 'mature' woman trying to find a swim suit to fit her that almost sent me to the emergency room!

Hi AT, Ronald and Corra seemed to have nailed the suggestions. I would add that your blurb should not end with a question but rather give the briefest word on the ending. Your 'summary' should be less than 250 words - very short, but complete. As to the rest of it, the word count, genre, and target audience, this should be condensed into one sentence. Mention of contest awards means that this has been published in some form, possibly to the public (of course we know this is not the case in here) but would raise a red-flag to an agent or publisher - and if the book is already winning awards, then why does the author need representation or publication? Also one short sentence of a bio, rather than an explanation of your choice of pennames, to let the editor/agent know you are qualified to write this. Mention other published works only if they have been highly successful or published with another traditional house or magazine. The whole letter should be able to be read in one glance - yes, they do look at hundreds of these a day, so yours must jump out like a neon sign.

I do welcome you to post your letters in Queries, blurbs, etc... no points system, so you don't have to worry about spending precious points unless you also post in premium, and several of us will give it our best brain-cell. I've not yet been successful with a query, so I am definitely not an expert, but if enough of us put our heads together we might be able to help each other.

Also, and most important, the letter itself is subjective. Meaning every agent/editor has those days when format doesn't mean as much as something which might strike them in the subject. If the person reading is at all interested and thinks the project has potential, the rest of it is gravy. They know they can work with the author to make specific changes which will create the best possible commercial product.

As to QueryShark...I've sent in several things which haven't even made it to the 'shark tank'. I mostly read what they have to offer and try to re-create that to the best of my ability in my own letters. (Yeah, and still no fireworks at the finish line)

Hey, Randal, I've read parts of your book, so I know what it's about. Would you mind terribly posting your successful letter so that we can see what works?

Thanks,
MzP

What a neat idea, Mike. and combined with the 'multi-genre' and 'scary', I might even be able to get on board. Giving everyone the same first few words to spring-board off from levels the playing field a bit and makes us dig deeper. Now we need a min/max word count.

I just noticed that you have two accounts, one with your middle initial 'M' and one without. Which one do you currently use?

Hi Ava, yes, you have good advice. Using the writer's voice in a query gives the agent or editor a more accurate sample of your ability to write. They are better prepared for your manuscript. If you could share your query and the feedback you received for it, others could learn from you.

Thank you
MzP

Hi Norm, sure. I haven't looked in a while, but whatever posts were in there were also in Premium. I'll look in the forum, though.

Hi Vern. I totally understand the frustration getting around the site sometimes. And I'm sorry I didn't get in here sooner. I had the same issues and finally figured it out. Here's what I do. First, go to your portfolio (upper right hand button) you see your works listed under two tabs, click on the one that says 'Statistics'. You will see a little green + beside each work which contains chapters. Click on the green+ of the book you want to check to see the inactive chapters. You will see all the chapters pop up below. The number of regular reviews and inline reviews are in the last two columns of each chapter. You can click on those numbers to see the list of reviews given for that chapter. If (like I had) you didn't change any of your chapter names when you published the newer version, you may have trouble figuring out which is which, but the first title of each similar chapter is usually the inactive one. It would be a little easier if each of these was tagged with either 'active' or 'inactive'. Anyway - I hope you find your lost reviews this way.

Write On!

I'm going to have to look that up, njc. It sounds awesome.

Ah, Dill Carver, I'm just getting back to this and enjoying everyone's comments, but I really loved what you have said. You make me think. Do you do public speaking? I'd love to attend one of your lectures.

Tom and Vern, quite right, nothing more original, so we must dig deeper and deeper for the knew and fresh 'flesh' of the story to make these ancient plots enjoyable.

And Kdot, I agree, the tragedy is to be forced to consider any literature as 'fitting' into a specific traditional plot. And so we struggle to invent something new - the way they used to when the world was young.