So we talked about query pitches. I said a three sentence hook is ideal. A lot of you gasped.
WHAT??? So short!?!?
But think about it. Short catches attention (see above photo). If you get a short email, or see a short blog post, aren't you a lot more likely to sit down and give it 60 seconds of your time?
YEP.
So short is good. (But you can do long, too.) Think about this, though. You're a great writer. So it should be a piece of cake to sell your book in three sentences, right? Because writing is your thing?
RIGHT.
There are a few more thing you need to put with your query.
1. Name and contact info
2. Genre (you know... Urban Fantasy, Romantic Comedy, Horror...)
3. Word count (because no one will want to read a 300,000 word manuscript)
4. Any other info the agent specifically asks for (sometimes they want to know a little bit about you, or if you have writing experience, or if you went to school, are previously published...)
5. A sample of your writing, in the body of the email, right below the query (NO ATTACHMENTS!) (Try 2-5 pages, even if they don't ask for it... trust me)
AND if you have any more questions, may I please direct you to the Query Ninja herself... Elana Johnson. She blogs about this stuff all the time and she's 100 times more awesome at it than me. And she's funnier!
