Fiction

How to Write a Query Letter

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Writing a query letter is akin to going to a job interview. It’s your first chance to make an impression, and often times, it’s also your last.

It’s this philosophy, coupled with my experience as a recruiter, that leads me to want to put my best foot forward, knowing that I may never get another shot.

As a person who has conducted hundreds of interviews, I can only tell you that resumes with quirky fonts, or pages of meaningless, random facts about previous jobs, didn’t impress me any more than the people who showed up in sweatpants or hoodies to be interviewed.

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Knowing What You Want

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Do you know what you want?

It’s hard to know how to get started as a writer. Should you write short stories or a novel?  Should you stick with one genre, or try several?  Should you get an agent and submit to traditional publishers, or try the self-publishing route?

The answers to those questions depend entirely on what you want.  A full-time career as a writer?  Financial stability? (That’s a tough one to achieve by writing!)  Fame and respect?  To simply be able to say that you finished a novel-length story?

Some people say “I want to be a writer!” without really figuring out what that means.  Other folks just want to be able to say “I’m a writer” at cocktail parties and high school reunions.  They might not even need any publication credits; simply having tried makes them feel like a writer.

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