Writing a plot synopsis for a query letter

For a writer, a query letter is hands-down the most important letter you'll ever write. I've been a professional writer since I graduated from college -- marketing, advertising, business, public relations -- so I've written my share of business letters. But no one letter stressed me out to the point of my query letter. I would say, as I'm sure every other writer does: "If they'd just read the first chapter of my book, they'd love it! I'm an author, not a letter writer!" And I was a business letter writer, and I still thought this.

I made the mistake of thinking that a query letter was different than any other business letter. It is and it isn't. It is different in that you're pitching your book (and you have to summarize it). It isn't different in that you want to be as professional as possible. Agents love dealing with professionals. So as much as you may want to, keep the unseemly begging, pleading, and angst-filled prose in your computer where it belongs. Believe me, I know, this is hard to do when your budding writing career is on the line.

As I'm sure you all know, there are tons of books on query letters. But before you go out and drop cash to buy some, go to my agent's site (www.nelsonagency.com). Kristin has a wonderful anaylsis of what query letters worked for her and why. My query letter is one of them. Go to her blog (one of the industry's best for the inside working of an agency), and scroll down the right nav until you get to "Agent Kristin's Queries: An Inside Scoop." Read these and her comments which are worth their weight in gold. Immediately below that is her "Blog Pitch Workshop." Every day for about two weeks, Kristin did a workshop on her blog as to what pitches work in a query and what doesn't. She also gives examples of "perfect pitches" in each genre. Wonderful stuff!

But how did I write my synopsis paragraph for MLTF? I did what everyone else does -- I tried to include everything. I soon found out that "everything" doesn't fit in a paragraph, and it just made my book sound like a jumbled mess. What I had to get at, what I had to dig down to, was the core of what my book was about. Here's the link to Kristin's analysis of my query letter. I did a brief intro of why I was writing to her, got right to the pitch, and then did a brief, professional wrap-up. In my pitch, I used the tone and voice of my book (my big selling point), and hit only the high points of the plot. A good exercise to do this is to gather up your favorite novels that are in the genre in which you write. Now read the jacket or back cover copy. That's what I went for: a combo of big-picture plot summary and marketing promo copy. Give it a try with your own pitch paragraph and see if it works for you.

Tomorrow, I'll share my recipe for spaghetti sauce in my continuing Friday series: "Feeding your family when you're on deadline." The recipes I'm posting are great for making a double batch and freezing half (or more) to take out, thaw, and use when you don't have time to cook. And on Saturday is the Fun Pic. I think you guys will really like this one. ; )

Lisa