Monday, June 15, 2009

QUERIES 101

First, let me thank Deb Schubert again for giving us such an insightful view of her experiences at two writing conferences. This kind of information is invaluable for writers, agents and editors.

I'm knee-deep in emailed queries this morning. It's my own fault. I have not been as diligent as necessary. I've endured several more queries about the "abused woman composer." I sure would like to know the back story there. I'm working through queries sent in May and should be into June by the end of the week. Progress is being made.

I'm still receiving queries for the following genres. PLEASE DON'T SEND THESE TO ME:
  • Fantasy. If they are not contemporary, I'm not interested.
  • Science fiction. Send them to jon@ktpublicrelations.com, not me.
  • Attachments. If they are not requested, I won't open them and will delete the entire email.
  • Loooooong queries in tiny print with no paragraphs. Ugh.
  • Thrillers (with lots of car chases, espionage, and explosions). Ugh. Send them to Jon. (See above.) He's a real guy and often enjoys this stuff.

Sorry to keep harping on this kind of thing, but it makes the entire process much smoother if we all understand each other.

1 comment:

javascript:void(0) said...

This comment is in response to your complaints about some of the queries you receive. Of course authors should learn how to spell an agent's name and 'query' before contacting an agent. No argument there.

Perhaps if your web site described the sort of books each of you are interested in, and if your web site gave the names of the authors you represent (not just your PR clients), maybe you'd get more targeted queries sent to the right individual?
Just a thougth