Comments on: Write Your Query FIRST for a Better Novel https://booksbywomen.org/write-your-query-first-for-a-better-novel-by-camille-noe-pagan/ Mon, 27 Feb 2017 19:40:27 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.3 By: MM Finck https://booksbywomen.org/write-your-query-first-for-a-better-novel-by-camille-noe-pagan/#comment-48410 Mon, 27 Feb 2017 19:40:27 +0000 http://booksbywomen.org/?p=17062#comment-48410 Great advice! Is it bad if I say that right before saying, ‘I do that too’? 😉 Thanks for writing this, Camille. So excited about the new book!

]]> By: Lorraine Devon Wilke https://booksbywomen.org/write-your-query-first-for-a-better-novel-by-camille-noe-pagan/#comment-48378 Sun, 19 Feb 2017 06:34:42 +0000 http://booksbywomen.org/?p=17062#comment-48378 In reply to Camille Pagán.

Thanks, Camille, I appreciate your response. I’ll give that format a try!

]]> By: Camille Pagán https://booksbywomen.org/write-your-query-first-for-a-better-novel-by-camille-noe-pagan/#comment-48375 Sat, 18 Feb 2017 13:07:58 +0000 http://booksbywomen.org/?p=17062#comment-48375 In reply to Lorraine Devon Wilke.

Hi Lorraine,

Nice to hear from you! Yes, I think that it’s okay to add more than a single paragraph about your book w/in a query letter. In fact, you can focus your first paragraph on your book, too. Unless you’re mentioning something specific (“Dear Jill, Jack recommended I contact you after we met on the hill; he thought my new women’s fiction novel would be right up your alley”) it’s okay to get right down to business. The query above is exactly as I wrote it, save “Dear X” and a very brief bio at the end.

Hope that’s helpful.

Camille

]]> By: Lorraine Devon Wilke https://booksbywomen.org/write-your-query-first-for-a-better-novel-by-camille-noe-pagan/#comment-48365 Thu, 16 Feb 2017 15:57:55 +0000 http://booksbywomen.org/?p=17062#comment-48365 Great advice, but here’s my question: in every article I’ve read (and studied!) about query letters, the format is described thusly:

Query should be a three-paragraph letter:

1. First paragraph: intro
2. Second paragraph: mini-synopsis/pitch
3. Third paragraph: mini-bio of writer

Which makes it hard to figure where full-page, several-paragraph synopsis fits in!

Personally, I’d be delighted to offer MORE information about my book in a query letter, but when you’ve been instructed, over and over again, to stick to this query format or agents’ eyes will roll, it becomes confusing.

Do you believe, then, that a longer, more involved synopsis included in a standard query letter is not only OK, but preferable?

]]> By: Top Picks Thursday! For Readers & Writers 11-24-2106 | The Author Chronicles https://booksbywomen.org/write-your-query-first-for-a-better-novel-by-camille-noe-pagan/#comment-48107 Thu, 24 Nov 2016 18:49:12 +0000 http://booksbywomen.org/?p=17062#comment-48107 […] explains how to attract a readership based on concept alone, Camille Noe Pagán advises authors to write your query first for a better novel, and James Scott Bell lays out how to crystallize your […]

]]> By: Camille Pagán https://booksbywomen.org/write-your-query-first-for-a-better-novel-by-camille-noe-pagan/#comment-48103 Wed, 23 Nov 2016 16:02:01 +0000 http://booksbywomen.org/?p=17062#comment-48103 In reply to Saumya Dave.

Saumya, great minds! Thanks for the kind words.

]]> By: Saumya Dave https://booksbywomen.org/write-your-query-first-for-a-better-novel-by-camille-noe-pagan/#comment-48101 Wed, 23 Nov 2016 01:55:34 +0000 http://booksbywomen.org/?p=17062#comment-48101 Wow! I loved this! I also wrote my query first and it provided a helpful structure for my book. This book sounds amazing. Can’t wait to read!

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