How to Email Query By Roni Adams

*originally publishing on the Wild Rose Press website

How to Email Query By Roni Adams

In this age of email and instant access to editors and agents, should your email query letter be as formal as one sent through postal mail?

Of course it should. Even though email is a more informal means of communication, your first representation of yourself and your work should always be completely professional. A query letter doesn't have to follow the same format as a written letter, like we learned in high school business class. You don't need to provide an inside address, a proscribed number of spaces, the date and a formal salutation and closing, but the letter should contain formal attributes.

Email Address should reflect you as a serious writer

To back up one step, one of the most important things in an email query should be your own email address. Is it professional? Does it reflect your writing career, such as roni@roniadams.com or is it something like toohotforyou17@hotmail.com? Which one sounds like a serious writer working towards publication? An email address should be an extension and should include your pen name, if you have one. Another thing my email demonstrates is that I have a web site where they can go to discover more about me.

Do you need a web site? That's another whole discussion, but if you have one, you should definitely advertise the fact by using that email when querying or in any correspondence with editors or agents. If you don't have one, you do need to get an email that's professional. Either with your given name or your pen name.

Okay, so now you have a professional email address. Do you have the name of the editor you are querying? If you do, then you should certainly address that person by name in the email the same as in a regular letter:

Dear Ms. Jones.

If you don't know the editor's name or you are querying a general email submission box such as querys@thewildrosepress.com then no salutation is needed. For some, the greeting, "Dear Editor" is too generic. Choose to start your query like: "After reading your submission guidelines, I would like to submit the following to your erotic romance line." Then a space or two and then the next line: "My story is about two actors caught in a timewarp on an old west stage. The two loves wind up in a series of…" You get the idea. Make your query only a few paragraphs, hit the highlights of your story the same as you would in a printed query letter.

In the final paragraph say something to the effect of, "I have included my synopsis following this query letter. I look forward to hearing from you soon." Close the note with a formal signature and your contact information, including snail mail address. I always add my phone number. The last thing you want is an editor who would like to request your story but can't find you.

The Synopsis

After your contact info, make three *** to indicate a break between the query and the synopsis. Start with the title of your book, the page or word length, and then, if appropriate, which line in the publishing house you are targeting. For example:

Roni Adams
"To Love and Lose"
55K words
Champagne Rose Line

No attachments, unless requested

One of the most important things when emailing an editor is to never, never, never attach anything unless you have been invited to do so. In this day of virus and SPAMS, editors have been instructed by their IT departments to never open attachments they aren't familiar with and to delete them without reading.

Brief Synopsis

Keep your synopsis brief. Make it appeal to the editor and generate interest. Your goal is the same as it is in a snail mail query; you want that editor to respond positively and ask for more.

Once you have that editor's email, you may be tempted to simply shoot them a note and ask them if they received your query. Editors are very busy people. They receive hundreds of emails weekly, sometimes daily. Most will send an email verifying receipt of your query and will be in touch after their review. Sending your email with the "return receipt" button turned on is generally acceptable.

When to Inquire

So you know your query was received and several weeks have passed. How long do you wait before contacting the editor and asking for a status update? The worst thing you can do is email an editor a week after you've sent your submission. Just because email is instant and quick doesn't mean the reading or reviewing of email is any faster than reading a printed letter. Give the editor time to do his/her job.

How to Inquire

So how long do you wait? The same as you would a snail mail submission. First refer to the publisher's submission guidelines. Is a timeframe stated? Some houses request no additional contact for at least six months, etc. If no details are given, use the guideline of three months. Again, be professional. Do not become a pest to this editor and be tagged as such. Your follow-up should be short and to the point. Something along the line of:

"On February 1, 2007 I emailed a submission for my story, "On Bended Knee." I am following up to see if I can provide additional information on this story. I am still very interested in your opinion of this time travel western, and I look forward to hearing from you at your convenience."

That's it. Again, give your contact info, etc. Remember, the fact email is friendly and informal doesn't mean you have that type of relationship with this editor. Even if you've met at a conference, had lunch or exchange greetings in the ladies room, do not assume they will remember you. Keep things professional, and you will begin what is hopefully a healthy business relationship on the right foot.

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Reprinted with permission from http://www.rosescoloredglasses.com/.

Queries...

Queries are unique.  Well, at least to me some of them are.  I received one recently declaring I would be reading the greatest love story if I requested the manuscript.  Hmmm….  I didn’t know that Jane Austen was still writing.  Or maybe it was Shakespeare who had signed the query.  Or James Cameron had made Titanic into a novel?   But alas, it was none of those.  The author promised love, intrigue, romance, and everything I always wanted in a story. 

I was interested, but wary of what I would receive.  So I requested a partial of the story.  Guess what I got…the full manuscript written in play form with spaces for pictures.  Pictures???  Oh my.  My heart broke for this author.  She really believed she was correct in her submission.

The query is the first impression you will make on the editor.  And it needs to be a good one.  Here are a few general guidelines when it comes to writing your query.

1.   Keep your blurb simple and make sure you have a hook that makes me want to read more.  Include only the main characters and a theme-driven statement. 

2.  Format the query in readable type.  No fancy fonts, colors, or pictures.

3.  Avoid giving too much information (TMI).  Be personable, professional and interesting, but don’t tell too much that doesn’t involve your writing career.

4.   Check spelling, grammar, and punctuation.  I’ve received so many queries with grammatical errors.  That really sets a bad impression.

5.  Include your word count. 

6.  For a historical, include the setting.  I don’t want to guess when or when the story takes place.

This may all seen very particular.  But we see a lot of queries every week.   Make yours stand out.  Maybe I will find that next great love story.

Hot Nerds Manipulating the Universe

[Interior: evening. Two writers IM about submission opportunities]

Crit partner: The paranormal line at Wild Rose Press is looking for short fiction.
Author: Huh.
Crit partner: Got anything paranormal?
Author: Well, I have this one with a ghost in it and a heroine who time travels back to when he was alive—‘cause they’re like soul mates and stuff—and then she lives there with him until she becomes her own grandmother.
Crit partner: Does she ever come back to the present?
Author: No.
Crit partner: Send it in. What’s the worst they can say?

Faery Editor Kelly Schaub: (sigh) It’s probably historical line instead of Faery.

What I do want to see in short submissions: I want to read about men and women who make their own fate and choose to be together. I don’t believe in “soul mates.”

Our senior editor, Amanda, pointed out earlier that time travels are hot hot hot for sales. Along with that, my own research points at cowboys amping the sales numbers—cowboy in the title + cowboy on the cover = win. And I am a Browncoat. If you know what that means without scanning Wikipedia, you’re already in my camp.

I love me some space cowboys.

So yeah.

Short length (45K down to 7.5K). Space cowboys who time travel.

More seriously, I enjoy heroes who are not only physically good to look upon but highly intelligent. Think Commander John Crichton from Farscape (PhD in aeronautics, designed and built his own spaceflight module which shot him through a wormhole to travel in alien lands…and he’s good looking), Quinn Mallory of Sliders (genius inventor who developed “sliding” from one alternate universe to another…and pretty darn cute), Dr. Sam Beckett of Quantum Leap (invented a way for man to time travel within his own lifetime…handsome, moral) and of course Captain Mal Reynolds of Firefly, the best space cowboy ever (with the exception of Captain Kirk). Mal and Kirk didn’t have to be smarter than average; they live, fight, and love in the future. No emo metro-males need apply at my desk.

The heroine must be able to keep up and hold her own, but not be so kick-ass that she diminishes the hero’s masculinity or cannot be feminine and vulnerable. Some characters who strike the right balance: Princess Ardala and Colonel Wilma Deering (both from Buck Rogers of the 25th Century), Officer Aeryn Sun from Farscape, Zoe Washburne from Firefly—heck, any of the women on that show; Kaylee, Inara. Think of the female officers on Star Trek.

We are facing a high amount of competition both between TWRP and other publishers and within our own house to put before our readers the very best stories we can offer. Manuscripts must be highly polished, ready to go, with all the necessary literary pieces and parts before they’re offered to us. Watch your junk words (just, very, some, often, always, nearly), passive verbs (was/were), and sentences beginning “It was/There was/were.” Be sure you have believable and discernable goal, motivation, and conflict for hero and heroine, and that they work at cross-purposes to the relationship until the very end of the story. Make them work for that Happily Ever After!

Kelly Schaub
Editor
Faery Rose

Trusting Your Editor

So, you finally have that contract in your hand. You’ve told your husband, your mother, and even the woman in line behind you in the grocery store, who wouldn’t know you from Adam :) I know, I’ve been there myself. It’s an exciting time.

Your book is going to be published! Maybe it’s your first book. Maybe it’s your tenth. Either way, it’s a fabulous feeling. Until you receive those first round of edits.

Suddenly, your manuscript—the one your editor swore she adored—is filled with more markups than the red-marked sale tags at a store closing sale. Your heart drops. Was your manuscript really in need of that much help?

This is a tough moment. Your words, your baby, has been critiqued and edited. It may be light, or it may have needed more work than you anticipated. No matter what, it’s a difficult pill to swallow.

The first thing I would advise is to just go through the edits once, and then set it aside for a day. You need time to let it sink in, and to think about what your editor had to say objectively. Keep an open mind as much as possible.

Your editor is trying to make your manuscript shine. She’s trying to polish it, not change the essence of it. And though your first instinct might be to fight the changes she’s asking for, I suggest trusting your editor. Give them a chance. Does this mean you shouldn’t question things you don’t agree with? By no means. Your name is going to be on this work. It’s your reputation on the line.

But also consider it is the editor's and publisher’s reputation as well.

Do editors make mistakes? Of course, we are human. But generally, many disagreements can be cleared up by honest communication and keeping an open mind. The editors here at TWRP are happy to work with you. This is a partnership.

Go over your edits with as much objectivity as you can muster and take what you can from them.

As TWRP editors we are always here to help and keep the lines of communication open.

Go ahead and ask questions. That’s what we are here for.

Renee Lynn
Editor--Champagne Line
The Wild Rose Press
reneelynn@thewildrosepress.com

What Happens After You Submit?

Note: Last week Jamie West did a fabulous series on editor pet peeves. Thanks for a very informative week, Jamie! This week, I thought I’d give you a peek into the submission process itself.

As an author, you’ve spent hours, weeks—maybe months—working on your baby, and polishing your manuscript until it shines. Now, without a net, you have to throw your baby out into the world, to see if it can fly on its own. You have submitted your manuscript for publication.

Congratulations. That is a bigger step than you might realize. It takes a lot of courage to face possible rejection.

But after you send your query off to The Wild Rose Press’s “Query Us” e-mail, what happens to your submission? Does it end up in some cyber black hole? Not at all. Queries are read and disbursed every morning by our wonderful editor-in-chief, Rhonda Penders. They are then sent on to the appropriate senior editor, based on line, and from there sent on to an editor.

That is when I come in. And I’d like to tell you a couple of things about my process, and how I handle reviewing a submission.

First, I read the query, looking for the concept of the book. I do love a well-written query. Send me something that reads like a back cover blurb, with a clearly defined hook, and I will anxiously read on. But if your query doesn’t have the perfect blurb, don’t worry. This is only a piece of the puzzle.

Do I look at the author’s credentials (provided there are any listed) on the query? Yes. And though I note them, and a publishing history is worth mentioning, they don’t mean as much to me as the writing.

I always sneak a peek at the first chapter then. I can’t help but look at the writing itself before I get to the synopsis. Okay, I will admit it: I am a synopsis skimmer. I am most attracted to the actual writing, then the synopsis. Is the style fresh? Does the voice catch me? Is the storyline plausible? Do I relate to the characters? The answers to these questions, along with a general clean manuscript, free of grammatical errors, will determine if I want to see more, and if I want to invest a couple of hours reading a full submission.

Only then, if I adore the writing, do I go back and read over the synopsis to see if the plot makes sense. If all the pieces fall into place, I will ask to see the full manuscript.

And if the full is one of those stories that keeps me reading into the night, then you might just have yourself a contract.

Up next: The Rush You Get When You Find a Gem of a Story

Renee Lynn
Editor--Champagne Line
The Wild Rose Press
reneelynn@thewildrosepress.com

The Plot is the Thing

I've been asked at conferences and workshops what I look for in a manuscript and I've been thinking (and yes, Virginia, blondes do think... sometimes). I was looking over the books I've edited since I've been with the company and wondering what it was that set them apart from other books. What was it that called to me and said, "yes, this is the book you want to contract."

First and foremost it's been the story. The plot has to capture my attention. I've read other manuscripts and the writing may be clean, the characters may be well-developed and likable, but they leave me yawning. If the plot is fascinating to me, in most cases the other problems can be fixed. It's a "diamond in the rough." It might take some work but that's what I'm here for in my role of editor. If the gem is polished, but there's no fire to the plot, it's a pretty piece of costume jewelry...nice to look at but not worth much.

So... work on the plots. Make sure you have some fire and interest. Make me hold my breath and turn the page frantically to find out what comes next. Then you have my attention and my thanks for bringing me a story I can love.

Rounding up Lawmen and Outlaws

The Cactus Rose line at The Wild Rose Press is releasing a historical western anthology June 2009 to promote the line.

We need four stories, 20,000 -25,000 words, to put in an anthology titled "Lawmen and Outlaws". We want two stories with lawmen as the heroes and two stories with reformed or on the fringe outlaws as
the heroes.

The stories will be contracted by Jan. 1, 2009 and ready to go to production by April 1, 2009. If you would like a chance to get in this anthology, send a synopsis by August 31, 2008 to paty@thewildrosepress.com with the word “Anthology” in the subject line.

The Cactus editorial staff will pick the four stories to be published.

Patricia Tanner
Senior Editor
Cactus Rose Line