A Great Query (and Pitch) The Key to Get Your Book Seen and Sold
Tips to Create Your Stand-Out Query & Pitch
Query and Book Proposal – Get to Know These Terms
There are two book marketing terms that are important to understand regardless of how you decide to publish your book, either to traditionally publish or self-publish. The two terms are “query” and “book proposal.” In this article, we focus on query.
Once you write your book, either fiction or non-fiction, you may decide to submit your book to an agent or a publisher to traditionally publish your book. There are two kinds of traditional publishers: publishers that accept unsolicited submissions and publishers that only accept submissions from an agent. In either case, they do not want your entire manuscript. They simply want a query.
Note: Even if you decide to self-publish, it is still a good idea to prepare a query. For one, a query and may be needed to secure book distribution. Two, the process of writing the query will aid in the preparation of your media kit (marketing materials) which may include: a press release, back book cover copy, an author bio, an interview q&a, brochures, ads, etc.
What is a Query?
After writing the book, a query is your next step to get your book seen and sold. What is a query? A query is a one-page pitch to an agent or publisher about your book.
Whoa, what is a pitch?
Let me go back. What is a pitch? A “pitch” is an industry term. (Book publishing is so much fun because of the new vocabulary words that you will learn!) It means that you are throwing your product out there. To pitch is to ask a publisher or an agent to select your book - to publish your book in the case of a publisher or to represent you and your book in the case of an agent.
Your query is the best argument that you can formulate for why your book should be published and why you are the person to write it and market it. If you take a minute to think about that last statement, you can imagine how powerful a query can be and also how daunting it is.
Three reasons why a query is powerful
First, brevity - You need to keep the reasons for the fabulousness of your book to one page.
Second, vulnerability – You need to lay it all out there. You are sharing your book idea, sometimes for the first time, to the public.
Third, impact - You need to pick the most powerful reasons for your book to be published.
Crucial Advice When Creating a Query
Save the best for last?
No, No, No! The reader of your query may only one read one or two sentences. Make those sentences your best case to get your book selected. Write riveting sentences! Give the reader a reason to keep reading. My advice is to start writing your query and keep re-writing and editing. Edit, edit, edit. You have only one page so keep it to the good stuff. It is also common for the last thing you write to be the most provocative. Cut and paste your last sentences and add them to the top!
Beta Readers
Ask friends and family who have an interest in your subject or an interest in YOU to read your query and offer their comments. You do not have to accept every piece of advice but if you hear the same advice from two or more beta readers, consider their advice in your edits.
Ask yourself “Who cares?” “Why do they care?”
The goal of your query is to provide a reason for a publisher or an agent to want to represent your book. The reason they would want to represent your book is because the book will SELL. Selling your book is the final goal for them. You need to make the case in your query that this book will sell and why it will sell. A quick way to get to the reasons that your book will sell is to ask yourself the questions: Who Cares? and Why Do They Care?
As an example, I asked these same questions myself with my book, It Gets Easier and Other Lies We Tell New Mothers. My answers helped me strengthen my query. “Who Cares?” I asked myself. “New moms care,” I answered. “Why do they care?” “They care because new motherhood is difficult and moms need help!”
What is the problem? What is the solution?
Now that you know who cares and why they care you are on your way to the problem that you are identifying and how your book is the solution. To continue my example, I identified the problem when I answered the question, “Why do they care?” The problem is that new motherhood is difficult. My book, complete with tips, tricks, stories and humor, is the solution. Are you starting to understand how it works?
You can also do some research to share cultural examples of a problem in the news, proving the importance of the problem. Is there a current news story, current social media buzz, mini-series, book, or movie on the subject that proves your point? Include it in your query.
Give them what they asked for: Agents Provide Instructions for a Reason
See what I did? I wrote the most important thing when writing a query as the last thing. I will leave it here to prove my point but, again, take my advice and cut and paste your most important point in your pitch to the top of your query!
The most important thing to remember when writing a query is that each publisher or agent that you choose to pitch will most likely have specific instructions on what they want to see in your query. They usually post “submission guideline” instructions on their website.
FOLLOW THEIR DIRECTIONS.
Remember that you are pitching to work with the organization the publisher or agent represents. The very first step in this relationship is to prove that you can follow the directions of the organization. Moreover, if you do not follow the specific directions, it makes “no, thank you” an easy decision for them.
Also, many publishers and agents ask you to have a look at their site and investigate the best place for your book in what they offer and to read the bios of individual agents so that you can send your query to the agent who is the best fit for your book. I know you are busy, but take the time to do this research. It will pay off for you because it will prove that you cared enough about them to read and follow their instructions and that you cared enough about your project to do the extra work to find its best fit. Following their instructions will be a great first step to working with them in the future.
In a previous article, I highlighted one of the two books that I used to write and publish my first book. The book was titled, Write the Perfect Book Proposal by Jeff Herman and Deborah Levine Herman. There is a fabulous chapter on how to write a query and its components. One of the reasons that the chapter on query is so good is because the writers are literary agents! They do this for a living, so take their advice.
I also found a great post online with examples of effective query letters as well. It is from NYBookEditors.com and it is titled “How to Write a Darned Good Query Letter.” You may find the examples linked in the article helpful.
Finally, I’ll share my first book’s query if you shoot me an email and request it. Write a request in the comments of this post or contact me through ClaudineWolk.com
A well-written query is the first step to realizing your dream to Get Your Book Seen and Sold. Coming up… The Book Proposal.
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