How to Write a Query Letter: Pt 1

Now that I have told you who you are selling to, what to avoid, and how ‘not’ to act, I will tell you how to write a query letter.
1. Include the working title of the book, the page length, and who will read the book. This third thing is vitally important.
2. Include how you will use this book to promote your writing career. Very few of today’s publishers have any concern for an authors careers, but those who do want to work with authors who are building a career, not housewives who are hoping to make a few extra bucks.
3. Don’t tell me about your education. I really don’t care. I have worked with more than twenty writers with an MLA, and unless you wrote a literary work, and are submitting to a literary publisher, the MLA only screams that you need a lot of retraining and are probably to proud or arrogant to accept advice.
4. Do tell me what writing courses you have taken. I am not really interested in Gotham or Writer’s Digest courses. These courses are not very in-depth. Look for courses that take three to five months to finish, and require a lot of writing. There are several on the internet.
Continued in Pt 2 . . .