There is a new way to post queries and sample pages for submission.
You can email them to this address:
adaley4.postmyquery@blogger.com
The subject line of the email should be the title for the post (e.g. QUERY- AWESOME BOOK TITLE)
The body of your email should be the query and/or sample pages. Please format them accordingly, I will post them as I receive them. The posts will not go up automatically, I will review them first. If you are submitting a revision, I will add links to prior versions. I will still post items submitted as comments (a.k.a. the old way).
Thanks to everyone who submits their work for critique and the awesome group of commenters who show up immediately to offer advice. You are the ones who create the value for this site. I am just an enabler...
14 comments:
Glad you got the kinks worked out for the email method!
I just needed to take the time to set it up and test it.
The only thing that concerns me is that I don't get cc:'d on the email sent to blogger, so I have to check the post queue regularly to see if there are new submissions. Do you know how to get around this?
Good on you, Rick.
Rick, I don't pretend to know much about how to use blogger etc., but I think if you leave a comment on your own post and check the box "e-mail follow-up comments to YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS" you should get e-mails whenever anyone else replies. I haven't tried it myself though, so I don't know for sure.
Hi Regan,
I do get an email for all comments, there's a global setting in blogger for that.
What I'd like is en email whenever someone submits to the adaley4.postmyquery$blogger.com
address.
Anyone have a work-around?
Rick--sorry, stupid me :) Wish I could help, but we've now exceeded my nonexistent knowledge.
Rick,
Do people every post a synopsis here? I've noticed some of the agents request one - though they all seem to have a different definition of what this involves.
It seems to be just a longer query, possibly including the ending of the novel (the resolution)?
Julie,
A synopsis and query are two very different things. The query is meant to hook the reader, like the back cover of a book. It presents just enough of the characters and plot to leave you wondering what comes next. A synopsis is a much more detailed explanation of what happens in the book, and includes every important plot point including the end.
Synopses are tricky because you want to make sure to have your voice and tone present even though you're essentially summarizing. Think of the synopsis as your novel boiled down to either one or five pages (those are the usual lengths agents request)--the length is so much shorter, but you keep all of the essential elements.
Julie,
I've posted many queries that read like a synopsis, but not an actual synopsis.
If you're able to laugh at yourself, consider submitting your synopsis to Evil Editor (www.evileditor.net). He will review your synopsis, and the minions usually provide good feedback. EE's take will be a lampoon, be forewarned, but if you read past the sarcasm you will find good advice.
Rick,
Evil Editor sounds interesting...when I get around to doing my own synopsis I'll check it out. Are you averse to posting them here, though? I bet the people who crit here could be very helpful, and could probably use the experience in learning how to do those as well. Just a thought! You're already going way above and beyond the call of duty.
I'm known by family and friends as gifted and talented at the art of laughing at myself so I imagine I can handle it.
It's much easier hidden behind my computer.
I hate the idea of a synopsis - it's like giving someone a cheat sheet of your novel I don't think I could ever tell if a book was good by reading a synopsis.
Maybe for a non-fiction book?
I think the synopsis is mostly so that the agent can spot plot holes ahead of time and know how much major editing needs to be done. I can't find the specific post, but Jessica on the Bookends blog once said that she never understood why, when she requests a synopsis and partial, people put the synopsis first. What she really wants to read is the partial, but the synopsis is a kind of "just in case."
Regan,
That's good to hear. I'm sure everyone would rather have their novel read, rather than summarized.
$5 says you start getting subject titles that literally say "Query - Awesome Book Title."
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