Brian Knack reports with seven tips:
"A good query letter is brief, no more than one page...[meaning] a few hundred words–not one page crammed from top to bottom with narrow margins...[W]rite a 'verbal snapshot' of the book in dynamic, fascinating language...Everything in the query letter, including the credentials section if there is one, MUST relate to your book and your unique ability to write it. Telling the agent all about yourself in an attempt to gain the agent’s sympathy is the kiss of death...Agents don’t care what your friends and family thought — it’s irrelevant to the all-important question of whether they think they can sell your book...'This book will be a surefire bestseller!' is not a line to include in your query...Writing a few articles for local newspapers for no pay doesn’t count as a writing credential. The same goes for recipes in your parish cookbook or a letter printed in the Washington Post or a story posted on a website no one has heard of or a win in a contest conducted by a tiny webzine. What counts is writing you were PAID to do, or writing for a venue the agent will recognize...Many debut writers don’t have anything resembling a writing resume. If that’s the case for you, just don’t mention credentials at all in your query. A good agent won’t overlook a good pitch just because the writer has no publishing credits...Concentrate on the book you’re trying to sell. If you plan on writing [follow-ups], or have other manuscripts available, mention this at the end of the query — but query for one book at a time." Jeanine Henning from Indie Author News offers these guidelines for the polishing a book or e-book will need before it's sent out: "When a mainstream publisher prints your book, they take control over what ultimately happens to your book. This includes the ‘polishing processes’ like editing, cover design, formatting and marketing. They also take the royalties for this process of polishing your book. So as your own self-publisher, you retain control over your entire book’s ‘life’, from inception of story, the writing process, and ultimately the glorious publication of your [masterpiece]! However, this is where independent self-publishing requires you to actively consider and use the ‘polishing services’ that the mainstream publishers normally offer...Formatting is when a designer polishes your manuscript to professional standards...Formatting is basically working over the entire text to look like something Bloomsbury or Random House would publish using a proper book layout designer...Conversion is taking your now formatted manuscript (which should be edited and proofread with a great cover already) and converting it to the various eBook formats...as required by the author/indie publisher. It’s the fast and easy part of taking an MS to eBook or print...Pick up ANY mainstream book (print or eBook) and compare yours to it. Is your book as neatly done with added touches? Are the page breaks as clean? Does it have that mainstream polished feel?...Give your books the same professional treatments as mainstream publishers do with their publications. Get on their level because there are excellent services out there for you to do so...A [well-formatted] and converted book really has an impact on your [storyline], the dialogue, the flow and overall experience of your book." To save time on editing a work, it's doubtful that you'll want to be in the habit of relying on someone else to do it for you or manually trying to do it all yourself. So there's software for just that. Here's a video that gives an overview of Master Edit. (Note: This isn't compatible with Microsoft Word, but it's just an example. You'll find soon enough that there's a baffling lot of different advice out there for improving your editing speed and/or making your writing look better, so think of this as a starting point for finding your own method.) |
Writing and editing can be pretty rigorous processes if you want to do them well, but that's what this page is here for. Check out the latest tips here. Archives
May 2024
CategoriesJ.D. Parsons
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