Query Tip Tuesday

For this week's query tip, I'll be referring to another one of my favorite sources: Query Shark.


If you haven't visited Query Shark and you plan on querying at some point in the near or distant future, I'd suggest you click on the link and spend some time there. Similar to what Jessica Faust does on her Wednesday blog, Janet Reid critiques queries (submitted for that very purpose). Here, you'll learn, as stated at the top of the page, "How To Write Query Letters ... or, really, how to revise query letters so they actually work."

Feeling brave? Thinking of submitting your query letter? Great. But don't do it until you've read entirely through her blog. You don't want to send in a letter that reeks of mistakes she's already covered (see post Why you REALLY want to read ALL the posts).

This is a great way to become familiar with what works and what doesn't work when summing up a novel in just a few short lines. You'd be amazed at how easy it is to ramble about things that simply do not matter. Even if you're not ready to query, be reading over these examples. Trust me, it will help.

If you missed yesterday's post, scroll on down and read about Tasha and her awesome blog, My Book & Me, where she rates and reviews the books she reads. Who knows, perhaps she could read and rate your book down the road.

Also in yesterday's post, I mentioned something truly amazing: Patrick McDonald, the very creator of QueryTracker.net, has offered to donate one FREE PREMIUM MEMBERSHIP for my next giveaway! That's right. I'LL BE GIVING AWAY A QUERY TRACKER PREMIUM MEMBERSHIP, right here on my blog! I'm so, so excited about this, but I'll have to wait and give you more details later.

For now, I want to hear from you. Have you ever been to Query Shark? Are you querying yet? Past the point? Dreading it every day of your write-ridden life?  Don't get shy on me now; let's hear it.

Someone Worth Getting to Know!

So as promised, I'm featuring the lovely winner of my Krispy Kreme Giveaway. 

Tasha, also known by her blog name, Hello Tata, is a sheer lover of books. In fact, she is certain that if there were a program for "reads too much anonymous", she'd be first in line. Of this, she says, "My intro would start like this: Hi, my name is Tasha, and I'm a book-aholic." She went on to say, "I read a ton. To the point I joined a book club and got kicked out because I read the entire book list in a months time. I went through the entire Twilight series in a weeks time, and am one book away from being current with the Pretty Little Liars series (I started last week)."

Writers, most of us book-aholics ourselves, LOVE meeting fellow book fans, don't we? This one even started her own blog called, My Book & Me so she can share her "love and sometimes hate" for the books she reads.

Though she's only been blogging for about a week, she already has thirty-five followers! Interested readers who want to know her thoughts on the books she reads. Of her fast-growing blog, Tasha says, "I never really expected it to grow at the rate that it has, but thanks to Twitter, Goodreads, Book Blogs, and many other blog and book sites, it has, and will continue to grow."

Coming up soon (June 6th-13th) on My Book & Me, Tasha will be hosting the Small Blog Big Giveaway Blog Hop Event, where she'll be giving away a gift card to Amazon or Book Depository.

Also, on June 19th- 25th she'll be hosting her very own event called, The Birthday Week Extravaganza! She says that during this time, she'll have "a week's worth of guest blogs from various authors, along with giveaways!"

Sounds awesome, right?
Hop onto her site, follow her post! It's awesome!
Foller her on Twitter @ https://twitter.com/#!/luvlovemedew

For those of you interested in building your platform, Tasha's a great person to connect with. And if you love to read, tune in to hear about the books she reviews.

Thanks again for all those who entered, and those of you who just stopped by.
Please drop your lovely comments below. I LOVE your comments!

Oh yeah! Before I forget - You know how much I love QueryTracker.net. Well, Patrick McDonald, the very creator of QueryTracker.net, has offered to donate one FREE MEMBERSHIP for my next giveaway! This is huge! In case you missed that, I'LL BE GIVING AWAY A FREE MEMBERSHIP TO QUERY TRACKER, right here on my blog! (Ouch, my voice hurts from all that excited yelling.) Stay tuned for more details.