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Eight seconds to change your life: Editor's Notes #373 September 07, 2022 |
| Hello, —Francoise Sagan In this issue: 1. Eight seconds that can change your life 2. Tickled my funny bone 3. Interesting Web site 4. Writing prompt 5. Letters to the editor 1.Eight seconds that can change your life I will tell you to stop reading in a few seconds. No matter how interested you are, stop reading when you see the word stop in all capitals. Then continue after considering that what you read in those seconds is the number of words your average agent or acquisitions editor reads of the query letter you slogged over. STOP! According to Mark Malatesta, who, as a literary agent, has read countless query letters, an agent spends only eight seconds reading a query letter unless something in those first eight seconds compels the agent to continue reading. I know, I know. You spent years writing your book, and at least a month on your query letter. The least the agent can do is read to the end. Why? What does the agent owe you? Agents are very busy people who work hard to bring promising books to publishers. There’s a lot involved, and time spent on a query letter that cannot grip a reader in eight seconds is time wasted. I tell you this not to terrify you, but to forewarn you. Wherever you are in your writing/publishing life, you are likely to need to write a query letter or something like it. (Even self-publishing authors have to pitch their books to sellers and readers. How long do you think they want to give you if you are not engaging?) Be on the lookout for interesting ways to introduce your book, then pare down the verbiage until a reader could spend eight seconds or less to take your bait and beg for more. Doing that work will take you much more than eight seconds, but each time you launch your polished eight-second pitch, you have a fighting chance to change your literary life. I do edit query letters. First, finish your book. Then, when you are ready for an edit on your book, you can ask for an edit on your query letter, too. You can submit a writing sample for a sample edit at https://www.writershelper.com/sample-edit.html. =========== 2.Tickled my funny bone I put Grandma on speed dial. I call that Instagram. =========== 3. Interesting Web site This article ends with links to 39 successful query letters along with a critique of each letter. https://www.writersdigest.com/publishing-insights/how-to-write-successful-queries-for-any-genre-of-writing =========== 4. Writing prompt Write a hook, the first bit of a query letter. That’s something intriguing that compels the agent or editor to keep reading. This could be for a book you are writing or for a book you have read. Keep it under 60 words. Send me your result and wow me. =========== 5. Letters to the editor Thank you to all those who wrote to me after I suggested in the last issue that you write to encourage a writer. Mission accomplished, although I wasn’t expecting that response. =========== Join Writer's Helper Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/WritersHelperEditor Follow me on Twitter @AudreytheEditor Link on LinkedIn https://ca.linkedin.com/in/audreyowen (Email me first so I know how you know me.) =========== If you know a writer who would appreciate receiving Editor's Notes, forward this issue. If someone has passed this on to you, you can get your own free subscription by signing up at https://www.writershelper.com/newsletter.html |
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