(Untitled)

[azriona]

Weird dream last night, probably precipitated by the fact that I woke up at 2am with cramps, and ended up sleeping sitting up on the couch downstairs. I dreamed that for some reason, Bill and I bought a new house, and I was seeing it for the first time. The kitchen was...weird, and little, and every appliance in it (fridge, dishwasher, oven, even

Comments

[time_converges]

We had an avocado green fridge when I was growing up, too. It got replaced by this burnt orange thing while I was in high school. :)

[azriona]

What surprised me about fridge shopping last year when we went was that there weren't any of those "current" colors available. I think the manufacturers learned their lesson on the harvest yellow and burnt orange and avocado green. The closest we got to "topical" colors was the stainless steel stuff - which was also about $200 more than the regular white or cream fridges. Yes, thanks, I'll happily take the more expensive stainless steel that is also a pain in the ass to keep clean. Yay!

[time_converges]

Yeah, I love how the stainless steel looks, but it's impossible to clean!! We just have plain off-white now, much better.

[talloakslady]

I hate that disconnected feeing from sleeping too late, or napping.

[azriona]

Hence why I don't nap. Or try not to, anyway.

[talloakslady]

I try not to, also. This winter, though, changed it up a bit.

[earlgreytea68]

Don't worry about not being exactly done before you write the query letter. You've got time.

[azriona]

Yeah, and I'm rethinking adding the two scenes now, too. *kick*

Do you think published writers ever go back to their published works and think, "Dammit, I should have changed that sentence"?

[earlgreytea68]

Oh, I think they do all the time!

[editrx]

Query letters really aren't a thing to sweat over. Let me know if you want an eye on it, but I'm sure you'll do just fine. Be succinct, clear, and don't wax eloquent over your piece -- the one thing editors hate to see is an author telling them just how good their story/novel is. Let them know what it's about, who you are (if that's relevant), and otherwise let the piece stand for itself.

[azriona]

The Short Answer:
Why, yes, thank you, that would be endlessly helpful, if you wouldn't mind.

The Long Answer:
I found a couple of samples online, so I feel okay about the format. It's the part where I'm supposed to sell the story that has me wondering. It took me the better part of two weeks to figure out how to explain to anyone else what the story was about without going into massive detailed run-on sentences, and even then, how can you be sure the people who reply, "Oh, that's interesting," really think it's interesting, or are just saying that to be polite?

Anyway, I don't think I start off with saying, "THIS IS THE BEST STORY EVER, YO, AND YOU MUST BUY IT AND LOVE IT." It goes, "I wrote a book, it's this many words long, it's about this, I can send you the first thirty pages at your request, thank you very much, live long and prosper, etc etc, love/sincerely, me." I somehow think that saying I have a nice little readership for my Doctor Who fanfic is not exactly going to fly. :)

[editrx]

1. Sure -- you can send it via me AT livejournal DOT com, and it comes to my mailbox.

B. (or is that (b)?) What you describe is just what a cover letter is supposed to say. But, um, are you NOT sending any sample? You need to look at each publisher you're sending to and see what they want to see: 1 chap, 3 chaps, X number of pages, whatever. Unless you're sending this to an agent (again, most want to see a sample anyway), they almost always want to not waste time asking for a sample. Do you have Writer's Market to hand (or in your local library)?

[azriona]

1. Shall do.

2. I do, the 2008 version. It's about half and half of the agents who say to send a sample, or to not send a sample. I haven't looked at the publisher section yet.