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HOW TO WRITE A SUCCESSFUL QUERY LETTER 

 

Writing a great query letter is tricky.

It requires being able to step outside your story - the labor of love you've created - and see it through the eyes of a stranger.

You have to understand how it fits in the marketplace.

If an agent doesn't think it will sell, even if they love your story, they won't offer to represent it.

It takes time and effort to craft the perfect sentences that will convey the magic of your story.

But once you learn the steps of writing an effective query letter - you'll understand what each paragraph needs to do.

And you'll be able to write your own.

You'll have a trusted guide helping you craft each sentence, and each paragraph.

Are you ready to discover the SATISFACTION and EXCITEMENT of writing your query letter for the book you've been slaving over?

Yes, let's write a great query letter!

So congratulations, you wrote a book!

Now you want to get published.

OR

You have an idea for a book and you want feedback on its viability before you spend years on it.

Either way, you need a professional query letter.

So where do you start?

Here.

In this class where you’ll learn how to write a great query letter.

When you want a book published by a legacy publisher, your only pathway is to find an agent to make that sale for you.

They know the editors, they make the deals, they work the contract and are your liaison to the publisher through publication and beyond.

How do you get an agent? Sometimes through connections, but MOSTLY through the vehicle of a query letter.

The purpose of a query letter is to wow and seduce the agent (or editor if you’re reaching out to a smaller press) into reading your work. This is a sales pitch that outlines the premise or hook of your story with enough detail that the agent can see how your story could fit into the current (and near future) publishing landscape.

In this five week course we will take you step by step, paragraph by paragraph, through the writing process by reading and analyzing successful letters, discussing the elements of a great hook and story synopsis, as well as ways to flesh out your author profile. In addition we’ll discuss ways to find the agent who is right for you, discuss the usefulness of comps and the impact of genre in finding an agent.

 
HOW DOES IT WORK?

There will be a live, one-hour session on Zoom every Wednesday at 1 PM for 4 weeks.
 
Class begins 3/29/23.
 
Each session will be recorded.
 
The cost is $250.
 

About Your Instructors Patricia Dunn and Alexandra Soiseth 

 

Patricia Dunn

Photo credit: Christine Petrella

PATRICIA DUNN, AKA T.M. Dunn, was the Director of the Writing Institute at Sarah Lawrence College, where she holds an MFA in creative writing. She is author of Her Father's Daughter, a psychological thriller (Crooked Lane Books, July 18, 2023), Rebels by Accident (Sourcebooks Fire), and Last Stop on the 6 (Bordighera Press, of which Kirkus Reviews says: "A novel that brings the Bronx to teeming life with a wry marriage of drama and humor." Her writing has appeared in Salon, The Village Voice, The Nation, LA Weekly, and The Christian Science Monitor, and the New York Times best-selling anthology, Love, InshAllah: The Secret Love Lives of American Muslim Women (Soft Skull); and elsewhere. Dunn teaches and coaches aspiring and established writers. 
 

 
Alexandra Soiseth
 
Credit: Jimin Han
 
ALEXANDRA SOISETH was the associate director of the MFA in creative writing at Sarah Lawrence College for 15 years and has taught publishing workshops as well as fiction and memoir classes since 1998. She is the author of the memoir Choosing You, published by Seal Press, the recipient of a Canada Arts Council grant, and an Ontario Arts Council grant, and is the former managing editor of Global City Review, a New York City-based literary magazine. Her work has appeared in many places including babycenter.com, in McGill Street Magazine, The Ryersonian, and literarymama.com.

 

WHEN DOES IT BEGIN?

 
This course begins on Wednesday, MARCH 29, 12 - 1 PM on ZOOM.
 
DATES ARE AS FOLLOWS:
 
WED 3/29 12-1 PM ET
WED 4/5 NO CLASS (PASSOVER/EASTER)
WED 4/12 12-1 PM ET
WED 4/19 12-1 PM ET
WED 4/26 12-1 PM
 
ALSO COMING UP:
 
1. ONE-TO-ONE PRIVATE COACHING - GET EXPERT FEEDBACK ON YOUR QUERY LETTER TO CREATE THE MOST EFFECTIVE, PROFESSIONAL QUERY LETTER (CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE)
 
2. 4/28/23 PITCHPARTY - PITCH YOUR QUERY LETTER TO A TOP LITERARY AGENT. 
 
Remember, writing a query letter becomes easy once you know the steps. It becomes fun and so deeply empowering!
 
It'll give you a deeper understanding of your story, and you'll know how to pitch it to anyone, anywhere.

And you'll have lifetime access to this course.
 
By the end, you will have expanded your knowledge of the business of writing significantly and you'll know how to write a successful query letter.
Let's Get Started!