The Query Letter: Start with a Stop Sign, Guest Post from John Paine

You need to arrest the agent’s attention with the first line. She does not want to read about the fact you actually completed a novel. Everyone who queries her has done that. She doesn’t want to know anything about you personally, at least not at first. She wants to know: why does this book […]
From Author to Marketer–the All-Important Query Letter

I invited freelance editor, ghostwriter, and blogger John Paine to contribute advice on how to approach the query letter. Here he focuses on how to switch hats–from author to marketer–when formulating your pitch to agents. You feel a tremendous relief when you finish your novel. All those months, all those snatches of stray time you […]