Guide to Literary Agents - Formatting

Formatting & Submitting Your Manuscript (My New Book!) is Out!

Chuck — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:38:41 GMT

This is so cool. Very soon after holding a copy of the new 2010 Guide to Literary Agents in my hand thsi summer, I got some more good news: my other new book, Formatting & Submitting Your Manuscript, 3rd Ed. is out and available now. Awesomeness.

When asked if I would helm the third edition of Formatting & Submitting Your Manuscript, 3rd Ed., I said yes immediately. After all, I kept the second edition right next to my desk at work and consulted it all the time – it would be an honor to update it. My only worry was: How can I make this good book better?

My solution: New query examples and new article examples – and lots of ‘em, baby. (See a review of Formatting & Submitting on The Writing Bug website.)

There’s a reason that this book warranted a third edition. It has more than 100 examples of queries and articles and everything else writing-related. It doesn’t just tell you how to format something, it shows you – with sample queries and submissions that are well constructed, while also showing what to do and what not to do when contacting publishing professionals.

Making submissions look pristine is not an easy task, no matter what you’re writing. Are you confused as to how to format a magazine query or sidebar? I'll show you how to do it. What about formatting a screenplay or a film treatment? I've got examples of those, too. Or what about stage plays, picture books, graphic novels, fiction, book proposals and everything else? Yep – it’s all in here. On top of the examples, this book has hundreds of pages of general submissions tips and info – the dos and don’ts when sending your work to editors and agents.

It all adds up to giving writers the best shot of getting their work read and published – whether you want to call it getting ahead of the curve, to the head of the class, or just to the front of line.

Maybe you’re ready to submit but want to make your work perfect, or maybe you’re just starting out and don’t know whether that idea is a novel or a screenplay. Either way, this is a book that can truly assist you in your writing journey. What's so cool about this book is that no matter what you’re composing, Formatting & Submitting Your Manuscript, 3rd Ed. can help you do it right. After all, it helped me; why not you, too?

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Formatting Queries Question...

Chuck — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 18:35:10 GMT

Q. Hi Chuck. I noticed in your book, Guide to Literary Agents, you say writers should include their contact information in the upper righthand corner of the query letter, but in the Writer's Market both examples of a "good query" for books have the contact information at the bottom left, more like a conventional letter. Is this an important detail? Are both places acceptable?
- Jason

A. I would say put your contact info at the top of the letter. My preference is to center it and bold your name. But you can also push it right - that's no big deal. You can also put some contact info at the bottom of the letter, such as repeating your e-mail and phone, but I would not recommend putting your info only at the bottom. Keep it at the top, and you'll be fine. It's not a big deal.

How to Word a Follow-up Query to an Agent

Chuck — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 18:22:33 GMT

A co-worker of mine is about to follow up on a query to an agent and asked what the proper way to word such a message was. I realized that we had talked about this subject before, but never seen an example. That said, let's look at one. Following your info at the top, centered, and the agent info on the left, it would be something like this:

-----------------------

Dear [Ms. Agent]:

Hi, my name is Chuck Sambuchino and I am just following up on a query that I sent 8 weeks ago for my 90,000-suspense novel, October Surprise. Since I had not heard back, I'm afraid my initial contact got lost in cyberspace, so I am resubmitting the query below.

Thank you for your time, and I hope to speak more with you soon about the project.

Sincerely,
[Author]

[Repasted Query in Full]

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Nothing fancy - that's about it. The biggest rule is to be nice and humble, and not get upset or antsy that you haven't got a reply yet. Just resubmit. It sucks that you may have to wait another six weeks to hear back (and worse, to hear back a "no"), but it is what it is. Just note that, as an editor myself who gets queries, we hate to get these letters because they are reminders that we failed to stick to our own guidelines on how long we take to reply. So when someone gets a humble, simple follow up like this, it can serve as a kick in the pants to reply.