Taneeka Bourgeois-daSilva

Aspiring Writers: Draft Your Query Letter and Synopsis (Tip 4)

Tip 4 of 6 Tips for Aspiring Writers

Your 30,000+ word manuscript is complete and you are ready to send it out to various literary agents and/or publishing companies.  Start off by drafting a one page query letter that contains a hook, your summary, author’s bio and your closing.  DO NOT send out generic letters that state, To Whom This May Concern. Spend some time viewing the agents website to gather important information such as their name, submission guidelines and genres of interest.  Make sure that you address your query letters separately to each agent.  When writing your bio, only include the information that is pertinent to your story and that particular field.  For example, if you are a full-time teacher with a degree in English or Creative Writing this coincides with your children’s book.  Mentioning a degree in Cooking or Finance doesn’t help build your platform in the Children’s Fiction industry.

Next, you must put together a two page synopsis that contains your hook and addresses the main characters and their purpose, the main conflict and the conclusion.  Take the hook and summary of your query letter and simply elaborate.  Make sure to discuss your protagonist and antagonist along with their purpose and motivations in the story.  Also, address the major conflicts and how your main characters tackle them.  Finally, provide a sneak peek of what happens in the end of the story.  You should never end with a cliffhanger, but also don’t give away every single detail that happens.  Remember, it’s a summary.

Aspiring Writers Tip 5
Aspiring Writers Tip 6


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