Peter Salomon and the ever-wonderful, ever-incognito Authoress just sent me word that they mentioned me on Authoress’ blog ‘Miss Snark’s First Victim’.
I’d written to the blog in July, just before Moro’s Price was published, thanking Authoress for indirectly helping me to refinine my loglines and query letters. I’d built the original story around a strong logline. A precisely-targeted query letter helped me get several requests for the full manuscript.
Here’s the mention:
‘Miss Snark’s First Victim’, or MSFV, is an incredible resource for authors in many genres. Authoress runs periodic logline and First-Page contests; monthly Secret Agent contests in which the prize is consideration by a single ‘Secret Agent’ specializing in MG, YA, and Adult romance, thrillers, mysteries, science fiction, or fantasy; and an intermittent blowout called The Baker’s Dozen, which must be seen to be believed.
Short of spending hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars traveling to writers’ conventions, where else can aspiring and unagented writers have a chance to put their best work in front of 13 or more top agents at once? Entries are critiqued not only by the agents but by other MSFV readers. At the end of the circus, agents will ask for partial and full manuscripts. There have already been several major success stories out of the Baker’s Dozen, and the contest has garnered a reputation for exposing quality work to agents who might never have seen it. Authors who participate and don’t win or place can also benefit – many of them are contacted outside the contest by interested agents.
While entry to these contests can become a fought-over exercise in first-come, first serve random luck, shy lurkers like myself can benefit immensely from following the MSFV blog. Whether you’re intending to find an agent or become self-published, the marketing tips and tricks discussed here can help any author’s chances of standing out in a crowd.
As for the original Miss Snark blog, one of the best tough-love sites for writers and their misbegotten first attempts at query letters? It’s gone but not forgotten, and archived here: http://misssnark.blogspot.com/
Congratulations on your success, and on getnitg away from the query letters! Queries still do have a great deal of individuality the format is mostly to help agents make decisions that will help them sell the work. Some people do have success with non-traditional queries, too. For the most part, though, the query is like any good sales pitch it grabs the reader’s attention and makes them want to read more and knowing what makes agents want to do that is helpful, even if it does follow a pattern.
Anbhoo, my anti-spambots can’t tell if you’re human or not, so I’m letting this comment stay up until proven otherwise. Whatever its ultimate origin, your post offers some good advice.