Query letters

I haven't done a post on writing/editing in a while, and since I'm sitting here doing nothing, I figured now would be as good a time as any. I know I've probably posted on this before, but since the query letters aren't getting any better, I'm going to post on it again.

First off, in your query letter, don't tell us you're the next Nora Roberts, Danielle Steele, or God forbid, Stephen King. Believe it or not, Stephen King is the most prevalent name I think we all see. You are not Stephen King. You never will be. And when you compare yourself to him, we pretty much immediately know that when we start reading your manuscript, it's probably no good.

And secondly, proofread your query letter. I mean, seriously. Don't use "your" in the place of "you're". It doesn't look good for your mauscript if you can't even get your query letter right. I have seen query letters where authors even misspelled their own name. Yes, I know that sounds a bit out there, but I'm not lying. I've seen it before.

Also, don't tell me that you've submitted your manuscript to lots of other publishers. That doesn't tell me anything good about you or your manuscript. Trust me on that one. All it does is tell me that you've been rejected by lots of other publishers and you're pretty much going down the line and submitting it everywhere, hoping/waiting for someone to pick it up. And I'm sure there is a publisher out there that might just do that, but that's not us/me. With the amount of submissions we get, we don't need to accept second or third rate material just to bump up or output like some publishers do. That is NOT Samhain.

When writing your letter, tell me about your story. Don't give me the whole synopsis, give me a mini-blurb about it. Hook me, get me interested. Then, tell me about yourself. Don't tell me you started writing to get over the pain of your husband leaving you, your cat dying, or your children growing up and leaving the house so you needed something to fill the void. Tell me what makes you such a good writer that I should offer you a contract, and no, any of the above-listed don't count!

And in your query, don't just say "Dear Editor, This is my book. I hope you like it." Yes, I have seen MANY query letters that say simply that.