All posts tagged: query letter

Write On, Wednesday: Perfecting the Pitch

By Leslie Lindsay This past weekend, I packed my overnight bag and headed to  the University Wisconsin-Madison’s Continuing Ed Writer’s Workshop: Marketing Toolkit.   Besides the hotel room all to myself and the uninterrupted time in a coffee shop, it was a glorious–if mildly terrifying–time away from family and the hustle and bustle of”real-life.”  I got lost in my fiction world.  A little bit.   But I also got a good dose of reality.  Our instructor, Laurie Scheer started our three-hour workshop off with this statement: “There is no conspiracy against you as a writers.  You are all capable.  The publishing industry wants to hear from you.”  Wow.  Read that again if you have to.  They want you.  A wave of relief.  But still, it’s not easy.  For a writer to get noticed in the marketplace, this is what needs to happen before you pitch your book (we’re sticking mostly with the fiction model here, so if you’re a non-fiction writer, don’t take this to heart, although some of the elements do overlap).  #1  Your Logline.  Your what?!  …

Write on, Wednesday: An Assistant Editor SharesSteps to Getting Published with

By Leslie Lindsay She came flying into our meeting last night a few minutes behind schedule, but it wasn’t because of the parking problem the rest of our members experienced, “Oh, I got a spot right in front,” she chirped.  With her tall silver heels and an energy that got us all excited about the possibility of traditional publishing, Kelly Bale, assistant editor at Sourcebooks in Naperville, IL took us through the steps of getting published. As an editor, her first three questions are these: Is it any good?  The writing needs to grab me.  Period. Will it sell? Does it work for this publishing house? Okay… let’s say that all of those criteria are a ‘yes.’  Now, here’s what you as a writer can do to  improve your chances of landing a contract: Write a darn good proposal (non-fiction) or a query letter (fiction) Do your research.  Know your writing category well.  Are you writing romance or women’s fiction?  Do you know the difference?  Are you writing thrillers or mysteries?  Historical fiction? Now do some competitive …