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Useful Articles - How To Write A Kick-A** Query Letter
You can find guidelines for writing query letters in many different places: online at sites like Charlotte Dillon's, in resource books like Writer's Market, or at your local writer’s group or conference.
However, I thought it might be helpful for me to post the query letter I used when I was seeking representation for One Night in Boston. Of the 42 agents/editors I sent it to, 36 requested either a par
However, I thought it might be helpful for me to post the query letter I used when I was seeking representation for One Night in Boston. Of the 42 agents/editors I sent it to, 36 requested either a par
According to USFDA, a combination product is one composed of any combination of a drug and device; biological product and device; drug and biological product
tial or a full manuscript as a follow-up, which is a pretty good return. Ultimately, I secured publication with Samhain Publishing, and it will be a Summer 2007 release.
In total, I’ve queried 4 novels over the last 6 years and received all kinds of feedback along the way. Now, I’m sharing with you the tips I’ve found most helpful:
1. You are writing a business letter, or a business email, depending o
In total, I’ve queried 4 novels over the last 6 years and received all kinds of feedback along the way. Now, I’m sharing with you the tips I’ve found most helpful:
1. You are writing a business letter, or a business email, depending o
; or drug, device, and biological product and fixed dose combination would include two or more combinations of drug.
Examples of combination products may in
Examples of combination products may in
n the agent’s preference, so follow the standard format. Contact info, paragraphing, spacing, closing, should all be appropriate and correct.
2. Open your query letter with straightforward information. Some people suggest a “hook” in the first paragraph--just don’t make it too long! I’d also suggest including the title of your work, the genre, the word count, and why you’re contacting the agent (refere
2. Open your query letter with straightforward information. Some people suggest a “hook” in the first paragraph--just don’t make it too long! I’d also suggest including the title of your work, the genre, the word count, and why you’re contacting the agent (refere
lude drug-coated devices, drugs packaged with delivery devices in medical kits, and drugs and devices packaged separately but intended to be used together.
ce, response to conference pitch, found the agent on Agentquery.com, etc).
3. The middle paragraph(s) should include a general description of your work, including the main characters and their struggle/conflict. What is their central goal? What is the overall theme of the story? How is this work both similar to, and different from, other works on the shelves today? What will make this attractive to the
3. The middle paragraph(s) should include a general description of your work, including the main characters and their struggle/conflict. What is their central goal? What is the overall theme of the story? How is this work both similar to, and different from, other works on the shelves today? What will make this attractive to the
here is enormous increase in the number of combination products entering the market in the recent years. Combination products have proven advantages but fixe
target audience? Who is the target audience?
4. Include some brief biographical information about yourself. This means any education/experience with writing and any publishing history or contest wins you might have. It doesn’t mean a long-winded description of how your great-aunt loves your work or how your three cats keep you company when you write in the wee hours of the morning. If you don’t have a
4. Include some brief biographical information about yourself. This means any education/experience with writing and any publishing history or contest wins you might have. It doesn’t mean a long-winded description of how your great-aunt loves your work or how your three cats keep you company when you write in the wee hours of the morning. If you don’t have a
d dose combinations are still in the process of convincing regulatory authority on their advantages over the single ingredient formulations.
Combination pro
Combination pro
ny publications to your name, or specific background that relates to your genre or topic, then don’t put anything at all. A simple statement such as “The Mystery of Seven Slippery Sisters” is my first complete novel is fine.
5. Close with an offer to send more material, if you haven’t included any in the first mailing. Make sure to indicate that the work is complete (and it should be, if you’re
5. Close with an offer to send more material, if you haven’t included any in the first mailing. Make sure to indicate that the work is complete (and it should be, if you’re
ucts have become life saving products for the pharmaceutical companies who doesn’t have many innovative molecules in their product pipeline and have been inc
uerying agents).
6. Proofread twenty times. At least. Then give it to five other people and ask them to proofread it. By the way, this includes confirming the spelling of the agent’s name. Don’t rely on one website or source for this; I’d check at least 2 different places.
7. Open your letter/email with Dear First Name Last Name of agent. “Dear Agent,” “To Whom It May Concern,” and “Dear Sir or Madam”
6. Proofread twenty times. At least. Then give it to five other people and ask them to proofread it. By the way, this includes confirming the spelling of the agent’s name. Don’t rely on one website or source for this; I’d check at least 2 different places.
7. Open your letter/email with Dear First Name Last Name of agent. “Dear Agent,” “To Whom It May Concern,” and “Dear Sir or Madam”
easingly used in the product life cycle management. Even the companies having product patents are trying to extend their product life cycle through the combi
are too generic and suggest that you didn’t do your homework. You need to target a specific individual, and I recommend using the person’s full name rather than Mr./Ms./Mrs. to avoid any possible gender screw-ups. Ashley Grayson, for example, is a man. Wonder how many query letters he receives addressed “Dear Ms. Grayson…”??
8. Make sure to follow the agent’s guidelines when submitting material. Some
8. Make sure to follow the agent’s guidelines when submitting material. Some
nation products and maximize the revenues. But the companies involved in this practice are overlooking that they are burdening the patients both economically
will ask for a query letter only. Some accept emails only. Others want the first three chapters. Include a SASE for snail mail responses. Tell them they may recycle the partial/full manuscript unless you want to pay the return postage to get it back.
9. Make a generous list of agents to target. Many people have an “A,” “B,” and “C” list of their top choices, and they work their way down. Unless the age
9. Make a generous list of agents to target. Many people have an “A,” “B,” and “C” list of their top choices, and they work their way down. Unless the age
and physically. They need to rightly judge the benefits of the combination products and they have to even look at the risks involved when combining the produ
t says “No multiple submissions,” I recommend sending your query letter to multiple agents each day/week/month, according to your timeline. The query process can take a long time, and there’s no need for you to wait for a reply from each single agent before you send out another query.
10. Your query letter should be no longer than 1 page (or its equivalent, for an email). Really, agents slog through so
10. Your query letter should be no longer than 1 page (or its equivalent, for an email). Really, agents slog through so
ts. Some of the combination products were well accepted by physicians while others suffered. Companies involved in development of combination products are fi
metimes hundreds of queries each day. Get to the point, and grab their attention. Period.
Okay! Below is my original query letter for One Night in Boston, along with a few notes in brackets. Good luck with those queries, and remember: do not let rejections stop your query process. What one agent turns down, another may very well scoop up with excitement and enthusiasm. Keep at it!
Dear Susie Agent:
C
Okay! Below is my original query letter for One Night in Boston, along with a few notes in brackets. Good luck with those queries, and remember: do not let rejections stop your query process. What one agent turns down, another may very well scoop up with excitement and enthusiasm. Keep at it!
Dear Susie Agent:
C
ding difficulty in defining their combination products and facing various challenges from selecting a combination to marketing it.
Following aspects would a
Following aspects would a
an anything really change in 24 hours? Can everything?
My mainstream romance novel, One Night in Boston, offers a twist for the contemporary romance reader because it takes place over the course of a single day and night. (Think of the award-winning television show “24” translated into the romance genre: twenty-four hours unfold in twenty-four chapters.) Complete at 85,000 words, One Night in Boston te
My mainstream romance novel, One Night in Boston, offers a twist for the contemporary romance reader because it takes place over the course of a single day and night. (Think of the award-winning television show “24” translated into the romance genre: twenty-four hours unfold in twenty-four chapters.) Complete at 85,000 words, One Night in Boston te
dd to the challenges in developing combination products:
Which markets to tap where the combination products can do fairly well?
Which combination prod
Which markets to tap where the combination products can do fairly well?
Which combination prod
ls the story of Maggie Doyle and Jack Major, college lovers who meet ten years after their relationship ends and discover a renewed attraction that is both stronger and more complicated than the first love they shared. As RWA indicates that you are an agent who is accepting new romance writers I thought you might be interested in taking a look.
[Opening paragraph includes general info about the book, i
[Opening paragraph includes general info about the book, i
cts are meaningful and rational?
Which therapeutic categories to select?
Which Combinations can address unmet needs of the patients?
Do combin
Which therapeutic categories to select?
Which Combinations can address unmet needs of the patients?
Do combin
ts length, its topic, what makes it unique, and why I’m sending her this letter]
Maggie, a single but struggling entrepreneur in rural Rhode Island, faces foreclosure on her interior design business, thanks to a spiraling small-town economy and her mother’s nursing home bills. Her only option: find the stepbrother she hasn’t spoken to in years and convince him to loan her the money she needs. Jack, mea
Maggie, a single but struggling entrepreneur in rural Rhode Island, faces foreclosure on her interior design business, thanks to a spiraling small-town economy and her mother’s nursing home bills. Her only option: find the stepbrother she hasn’t spoken to in years and convince him to loan her the money she needs. Jack, mea
tions increase the patient compliance?
What would be the developing cost?
How to tackle the risks encountered during combination product developmen
What would be the developing cost?
How to tackle the risks encountered during combination product developmen
nwhile, has carried on his family’s business legacy and become CEO of a major Boston corporation. He’s also just become engaged to a successful attorney, who’s planning the city’s biggest wedding and driving everyone crazy doing it. Though the marriage will join two prominent families and please his father, sometimes Jack still thinks about the fireworks of his first love.
Maggie’s search for her stepb
Maggie’s search for her stepb
t?
As combination products don't fit into the traditional categories of drugs, medical devices, or biological products, the USFDA is in the process of devel
As combination products don't fit into the traditional categories of drugs, medical devices, or biological products, the USFDA is in the process of devel
other leads her directly to a high-profile charity ball…and to Jack. A dance, some reminiscing, and a spontaneous kiss startle them both into realizing that old feelings haven’t died. But then Jack’s fianc?e arrives at the ball, and Maggie flees only to find herself trapped in a violent storm that has closed half the city streets. Jack follows her, but when Maggie reveals the reason she left him in coll
ping new procedures for reviewing their safety, efficacy and quality.
Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust
Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust
ege, and the reason she cannot be with him now, both are forced to realize that people change, that memories are tempered by years, and that time alters even the things we most want to stay the same.
[Two body paragraphs give a very general overview of the hero and heroine, their goals, their conflicts, and the underlying theme of the book: that time changes everything, whether it’s 24 hours or 10 year
[Two body paragraphs give a very general overview of the hero and heroine, their goals, their conflicts, and the underlying theme of the book: that time changes everything, whether it’s 24 hours or 10 year
y and representatives from various regulatory agencies are working out to design the regulatory requirements for manufacture and sale of combination products
s]
I am an RWA member who earned her PRO pin in 2003. Previous online publications/contest wins include “Time for Teacher”, a narrative essay published by RunnersWorld.com in 2002, and “Hawkman and the Widow Thompson” (short story) and “Untitled” (poem) which won 1st and 2nd place in WriterOnline’s Mystery Contest (2003) and 5 Senses Contest (2004), respectively. I am currently working on my next One N
I am an RWA member who earned her PRO pin in 2003. Previous online publications/contest wins include “Time for Teacher”, a narrative essay published by RunnersWorld.com in 2002, and “Hawkman and the Widow Thompson” (short story) and “Untitled” (poem) which won 1st and 2nd place in WriterOnline’s Mystery Contest (2003) and 5 Senses Contest (2004), respectively. I am currently working on my next One N
.
As there is an increasing trend of the combination products companies manufacturing such products should be able to tackle the problems involved in the de
As there is an increasing trend of the combination products companies manufacturing such products should be able to tackle the problems involved in the de
ght…book, which will also explore the ways and places desire can bloom overnight. A synopsis, sample chapters, or the complete manuscript of One Night in Boston is available upon your request. Or, you may prefer to read an excerpt on www.allieboniface.com. I am available via email (allieb@allieboniface.com) or telephone (999-999-9999). Thank you for your time and consideration.
[Closing paragraph, whil
[Closing paragraph, whil
elopment. They need to be wiser in analyzing the market trends and the regulatory requirements.
Companies that provide selfless information through particip
Companies that provide selfless information through particip
e a little long, mentions my previous writing experience - notice no full-length publications - my membership in Romance Writers of America, which indicates an interest in and familiarity with the genre, and my contact info. While I did mention my plan for future One Night books, it’s not a wise idea to query more than one project at a time. Notice it’s a only a mention, here]
Sincerely,
Allie Bonifac
Sincerely,
Allie Bonifac
tion in industry events and feedback to regulatory authorities would be able to face the challenges and will be successful in developing combination products
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