Writing a Query Letter (Query Letter Format is below)
Your query letter should be limited to the equivalent of one page, single-spaced. If you are emailing it, send it to yourself first. Print it out and make sure it is only one (1) page.
Include a brief summary of your manuscript, as well as any pertinent author information. A good query letter gets straight to the point: What is the book about? What is the genre, plot, length, and so forth? With nonfiction, what is your platform, what are your qualifications, including credentials, national following, etc? Please mention any previously published works, awards, or associations you may have with pertinent individuals or groups. Please leave out any information not directly related to your project or your relevant experience.
Our first introduction to your writing is your query letter. Let us know a little about, you, the author. Are you embarking on a writing career or desiring a single publication? How did you find us? We like to read entertaining and informative letters. Also check your local library or bookseller for a book on writing query letters. Have others read your letter for clarity as well as any grammar and spelling errors.
Get to know the types of books we represent. Do NOT waste time submitting work in a genre we do not consider. If your manuscript fails to comply with our current needs, you will receive a polite rejection notice. These decisions are made with great care and are final.
Note: There is no way to "cut in line". Unsolicited chapters will NOT be read or returned.
Please be patient while we process your query. Review of queries currently takes up to 2 weeks
from the time of receipt. Please do not call to check on the status of
your manuscript. If you would like to know about the status of your submission, please feel free to contact us after 2 weeks via email at: contact@weavingdreamspublishing.com.
Query Letter Format for WDP
Date
Address of Recipient
Salutation (to a specific person)
The first paragraph (and sometimes flowing into the
second) is the most important --it must summarize your book in just a few
sentences, like a TV movie blurb or 30-second commercial. What is your book
about? What is your theme? What is it that makes your characters different,
what makes them and their conflict interesting, what will they learn, how will
they be changed by what happens to them? Remember the basic fiction formula: characters
plus problem = conflict; conflict plus action leads to resolution and change.
Second
paragraph (sometimes third depending on the first paragraph) should introduce
your book -- the title, word count, type of book and what genre it is, etc. For
non-fiction, if it is completed or not (or how far along it is).
The third paragraph is about you -- your writing
experience and credentials, prior publishing history, if any (of any kind,
including articles, poetry, stories); professional memberships; any other
relevant information -- expertise that helped you write this book, for
instance, or another career. If you have none, leave this paragraph out.