Click here to read a very worthwhile counter-point on why you should not revise the hell out of your queries.
Thanks to Authoress at Miss Snark's First Victim for putting this together, she makes some very good points, then main one being that an over-shopped query can lose the voice of the author...
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6 comments:
Thanks, Rick! I agree. This is a great post. I'm so glad she put it up!
That was a good post. It's hard to find a happy medium. It's also hard to not obsess about the 250 words that may or may not land you and agent. It was nice to hear her perspective.
And thanks for your blog, Rick!
At the risk of sounding like an echo, may I say "Thanks, Rick!" I agree it's a great post - although I think there's a happy medium to be found. I don't believe it hurts to get some feedback on a query - how you incorporate the advice is up to you, and, yes, maintaining your and your novel's voice is still key.
You are all very welcome, I appreciate your participation.
I have been reading all this with much interest; not surprising—I have 4 versions posted. I most appreciate the comments made here and at the sited blog, regarding the importance of maintaining the author's voice.
I must admit, as a novice, it is tempting to try and incorporate every bit of advice given, simply assuming that everyone else out there must know a whole lot more about this than I do. Personally, I have benefited from reading others’ queries—and the critiques—as much as I have from the feedback I’ve received. Nevertheless, I am even more mindful now of maintaining my own voice. Having said all that, I intend to post my last revision (at least publicly) of STORY FOR A SHIPWRIGHT. That is at least my resolution for the moment…
Rick, thank you so much for this site and all those who have used their time and insights to offer so many comments to people like me. I am looking forward to reading many more queries.
In some ways I agree - it's something we shouldn't obsess about and over-revise (and I think voice for certain genres is a bit overrated)...
But, for beginning queriers, multiple critiques are probably a good thing b/c it's hard to know what you're supposed to do. Sure, you wanna keep your style/voice/respect, but when you're cold-calling people across the oblivion of ether, you need a little more guidance on what the standard operating procedure is (e.g., how much info do I put in, what kind of hooks work better, why the hell am I doing this to myself?)
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