A Few Last Things About Queries

I've had a few more thoughts in the last couple of days:

- Always thank them for their time.

- Always check spelling, grammar, and punctuation. This should look professional!

- The title of your manuscript should be in ALL CAPS.

- If you are sending pages with your query (or in the case of PBs, the full MS), ALWAYS mention that it is a simultaneous submission. (This is what you call it when you send the same stuff to more than one person at a time. This is the term you use: "simultaneous submission".)

That last one is important. No-one wants to pick something out of the slush, fall in love with it, and find out when they call the author that he or she signed a contract with someone else the week before. Tell them if other people are looking at your work, and if someone expresses interest, tell everyone else who has that manuscript that you have interest from someone (but don't tell them who) and give them a couple of weeks to decide whether they want to put an offer on the table, too.

Happy querying!

And thanks for stopping by.