Okay, the book's been written and edited, the Query for the Literary Agents is ready to be sent out, the Synopsis is written, the Book Blurb is posted, the
FaceBook page is published.
Stay tuned. :)
The above had been my first announcement on the site's NEWS page. However, thanks to my editor, I'm going back to the drawing board for one important reason — the QUERY. Believe, when I say that writing a query is far more challenging than writing a book. For those who don't know what a query is: Essentially, it's a sales letter written by an author to woo a literary agent. It's the entire book, (In my case 99,000 words) condensed to roughly 300 words, without giving away the ending. (That's what the synopsis is for, but that's another story.) The agent, in turn, will pitch the author's book to publishers. In today's literary world of traditional publishing, an author will miserably fail by trying to cut out the middle man/woman, a literary agent.
As it is, an agent receives hundreds of queries a week making it a true challenge to wow him or her. It's known as the eight-second rule. The ‘hook' needs to be compelling enough for the next few paragraphs to be read, or your book is toast. Not fair you say, but it's not any different how I and many of you buy a book, be it at the bookstore, or online. I usually read the blurb, a short summary, telling me what the book is about. Sometimes, I read the first paragraph or two of chapter one. If the words don't grab me, the book goes back on the shelf.
