Query Critique Week: send me your queries!
UPDATE: All queries must be received by 12:00 AM Friday (Jan. 21, 2011) — so Thursday night! I am (no surprise) receiving a lot of these, and I don’t want to be SO inundated that I can’t give everyone a quality-critique. So, I said I’d be open until Friday, and I’ll wait until the very start of Friday and then close the submissions. THANKS!!
🙂
Hey, that title kind of rhymes!
Anyways, to kick off the Let the Words Flow Query Week (which is the first week of February), I wanted to offer my own! It’ll be next week, and here are the rules:
- If you want your query critiqued, email it to me by Friday (Jan. 21, 2011). I will critique every query that I receive and email it back to you!!*
- If you are willing to have your query posted on my blog for some community critiquing, please let me know! I will ask my friends (you guys!) to offer feedback on the query in the comments section, and I will also email you my own critique.
- To send your query, simply go over to that contact me icon in the left corner (it looks like an envelope), copy/paste your query there, and send it! Or send it directly to susan (at) susandennard (dot) com — please, no attachments!
- Finally, spread the word! The more the merrier!
If you want help writing your query, I suggest you check out “The Parts of a Good Query Letter”. And don’t forget to tune in for Query Week on Let the Words Flow — we’ll be hearing from some agents, so it should be super exciting!
Now get your query letter ready and send it along!
You tell me: Will you participate? Would you like to see more stuff like this from me — maybe first page critiques or 1-page synopsis critiques?
*Note: Contrary to popular belief, I am not super human. So if I get a TON of queries, then it might take a few weeks for me to critique every one!
January 19, 2011 @ 8:09 am
Thanks for holding this!
I sent my query to LTWF. I wonder if it`s okay to send it to you, too. If I do, however, it will be a bit different, since I had two friends critique it after I sent it to LTWF.
January 19, 2011 @ 1:37 pm
Go ahead and send it to me if you want! I’ll look over it and if you want, I’ll post on my blog next week. Then, we can either 1) remove yours from LTWF, or 2) I’ll update that one to your newest one… Does that work? 🙂
January 19, 2011 @ 8:42 pm
Thank you so much! <3 I`ll send it soon.
January 19, 2011 @ 10:16 am
Wow Sooz, this is such a lovely thing of you to do for us plebs 😀 My query for Robyn Hood is nowhere near ready for human eyes (nor is the book itself…), but I’ll definitely be tuning in for your critiques. Thanks for being so awesome!
January 19, 2011 @ 1:37 pm
You’re most welcome, Caitlin. Whenever it is ready, you know I’ll take a gander!!
January 19, 2011 @ 1:50 pm
What a great idea, Susan!
January 19, 2011 @ 7:30 pm
Thanks, Holly!! 😀
January 19, 2011 @ 2:12 pm
Great idea! You’re so generous and giving with your time, it’s so awesome!
January 19, 2011 @ 7:30 pm
Aww, thanks! I try to be helpful — I just hope I actually AM. 😉
January 19, 2011 @ 7:19 pm
That’s so sweet of you to do, Susan (especially with you getting 100+ emails a day!!). Don’t mind if I take advantage of this. 🙂
January 19, 2011 @ 7:30 pm
Sure thing, Yahong! Can’t wait to read yours — let me know if you want on the blog (anonymously or not).
January 19, 2011 @ 9:40 pm
Wow, that’s very generous of you. I’ll have to get my most recent query together and take you up on that.
January 20, 2011 @ 4:04 am
Sounds good, Melissa! I look forward to reading it! 😀
January 20, 2011 @ 3:59 am
Hi Susan, I have a couple of quick questions! I’m not currently finish with my WIP, but I love practicing queries. Would you have an issue if I sent you a practice query for my unfinished WIP?
My other question is, like you, I prefer to start my queries with something specific to the agent I’m querying. Would you prefer me to write my query as if you were an agent and I was trying to get your attention, mentioning things my book has that I know might appeal to you, or just start in with the pitch for the story?
January 20, 2011 @ 4:01 am
Sorry, that was supposed to be “finished”. I was trying to type quickly because my dog just exploded a styrofoam cup of tea on our bedspread.
January 20, 2011 @ 4:05 am
OH NO!!! Tea all over the bedspread — AAAH! I hope you can clean it up — and send along your query when it’s ready! 🙂
January 20, 2011 @ 4:46 am
Thank you so much for doing this, Susan! It’s really sweet and incredibly generous of you. I loved your query, and have learned so much from the query post you wrote. :]
I’ve sent my query to LTWF Query Week — and I’m wondering if it’s all right to send it to you as well?
January 20, 2011 @ 2:53 pm
I sent you an email — hope it helps. Thanks!! 😀
January 20, 2011 @ 5:33 am
I’m totally participating! Love the idea, Susan, thanks 🙂
January 20, 2011 @ 2:54 pm
Thanks, Brandi! I hope I can help!
January 20, 2011 @ 6:05 am
I just found your blog through a link on Twitter, and, um…I think I love it already. 🙂 I wanted to be a marine biologist, too, though I changed my mind toward writing a little earlier– just before starting college. Hence the English degree.
Anywho…you are totally awesome for offering query critiques! I’m gearing up to jump in the trenches in a few weeks/months, so I could definitely use a critique! Thanks a million!
January 20, 2011 @ 2:54 pm
Yay for writing and marine biology!! And you’re totally welcome for the query critiques. 😀