Open Mic Monday: Your Questions Answered

Last week, we asked our readers to submit their writing and publishing questions. So let's get down to business with our first question:

Dr. Dyer,

Thanks for allowing us to email questions your way!

As a psychotherapist in private practice for 24 years, I've maintained my own sanity by writing--prolifically. I have several fiction and nonfiction mss, for children, YA and Adult. I think an agent deserves to know that I have this breadth of work that I'm ready to publish.

I've clarified this to two top-pick agents, who each responded with a form rejection, proving they'd not read my specific letter. I realize that most agents are swamped, and they are free to decline a project without explanation. But, in these two cases, my letter was not read. I did not enclose a query or partial in my letter. There was not a manuscript to evaluate or to determine "was not right for their list at this time," although they both stated "I assure you that your material was carefully evaluated."

Do I bring my question back to their attention, seeing as they were top-pics, or do I write them off? I don't want to offend/alienate them by phoning, or calling this to their attention, but neither do I want to ride off in the sunset with a bogus rejection, when I think there was a shot at a mutually beneficial partnership.

I would greatly appreciate your advice!

This question brings up a lot of great points for people who are starting the query process, so let's go through a few basic rules of thumb for querying.

~ Your first official contact with an agent (unless you meet them at a conference or in the proverbial elevator) should be a query letter. The purpose of the query letter is to save time, paper, and postage by asking whether an agent might be interested in your project before submitting anything. Unless you are extremely famous in your own right (I'm talking paparazzi-famous), no agent is going to agree to review your material (let alone offer representation) without knowing the details of your project. Which means you need to send a proper query. Any other correspondence will likely be seen as a waste of time, as it won't give the agent the information she needs to be interested in your project.

~ You may have noticed that I keep using "project" rather than "projects"; that's for very good reason. Your query to an agent should be focused on a single project. It's absolutely fabulous to be prolific. A writer should definitely work on multiple projects, but when you're seeking representation, you need to choose a single project to market. Agents receive hundreds of queries per week. To make your project stand out, you need a well-crafted pitch to get their attention. You only have a couple of minutes before they'll be moving on to the next letter in the pile, so you need to focus on one manuscript. Pick your best project and query that first. If the agent asks about other projects (or offers representation!), you can tell her about all your other work.

~ Just as you focus on a single project in your query, you should also focus on a specific genre when seeking representation. Many readers are loyal to their favorite genres. Many avid mystery readers wouldn't be caught dead with a romance novel. Erotica fans might not find a sci fi novel... erm... stimulating. Certainly the readership for midgrade vs. YA vs. adult represent different markets. While it might seem like a huge benefit to be able to write in multiple genres, chances are that an agent will not see it as such.

Let's consider a hypothetical situation to demonstrate why: Congratulations! Your debut romance novel is a huge hit! You've got fans... yay, you! So you immediately move forward with a high fantasy novel. But your romance fans don't like high fantasy. And the folks who read high fantasy have never heard of you, cuz they don't read romance. For a publisher, it's essentially taking a chance on a debut author all over again. Meanwhile, your romance fans might lose interest cuz you're not releasing another romance novel right away. In general, agents would rather you stuck to a single genre, built a loyal readership who will anxiously await the chance to plunk down money for your next novel. If you are very prolific and can keep up with the demands of two different sets of readers, you may be able to successfully publish in more than one genre, but your agent will probably want to discuss that decision with you at length to decide whether it makes sense for your writing career. In other words, this is not the sort of discussion to have at the query stage.

So now to turn to the specific question Laurie submitted.

The query process is quite a bit like dating. What you want in a query letter is put your best foot forward, be intriguing, and leave your potential partner wanting more. Yes, eventually you want a long-term relationship and you'll need to discuss things like how you will manage your finances and how your manuscript children will be raised. But you do not want to try to nail down all these issues on your first date.

I suspect the agents you mention did, indeed, read the letter you sent. Given the number of authors seeking publication, an agent's focus is generally leaning towards rejection. They can only review so many projects, so if yours doesn't compel them to read, you can expect to be rejected. Since agents are pretty strapped for time (and since reading queries doesn't directly contribute to their income), most use a form rejection letter. The form letter is generally worded as a response to a query, as that is the most common correspondence they receive. Since they weren't interested enough in your work by the letter you sent, you received the form rejection. It's unlikely that an agent would spend time changing the language of her standard rejection to reflect the specifics of your letter.

Since these agents are your top picks, I understand your reluctance to write them off. However, I would absolutely recommend you NOT phone the agents in question. Most agents say they dislike unsolicited callers and some consider it a big mark against you. The good news is that agents receive so many queries, you don't have to write them off yet because you haven't queried them. And chances are good that these agents receive so many letters, they won't remember your previous message.

So here's my specific recommendations:

1. Choose your best, most polished manuscript in your favorite genre.

2. Craft a specific pitch for that project. If you haven't already, check out Elana's series on query letters here on the QueryTracker.net blog.

3. Make sure the project you're marketing is one that would interest the agents in question.

4. Query away!

Good luck! Your experience will definitely be a plus in your query letter bio.

Thanks to Laurie for getting us started with a great question!

Now stay tuned for another question addressed by Carolyn Kaufman on Showing vs. Telling. Beyond awesome... seriously.

Publishing Pulse 3/6/09

New Agents on QueryTracker:

Carrie Howland - Donadio & Olson, Inc.

Alanna Ramirez - Trident Media Group, LLC

Brendan Deneen - FinePrint Literary Management

Literary Agents:

The Web site Editor Unleashed, which is run by former WD editor Maria Schneider, is hosting a live forum chat with agent Michael Bourret of the Dystel & Goderich Literary Agency.

The chat goes down from 1-2 p.m., on Wednesday, March 11. Visit the EU Web site here. If you're writing juvenile fiction and have a question that no one can seem to answer, this is a perfect place to ask it!

Michael's interests: "a wide range of books, from middle grade and young adult fiction, to arts and entertainment, to serious nonfiction. He is a politics and news junkie, as well as a connoisseur of fine wine and reality television."

Colleen Lindsay started the first Query Fail on twitter. It was fun to watch all the tweets come through from the various agents, publishers, and authors. Check out her post on it here (oh, and see all those people on twitter? Baaaa...).

Fun Things To Win:

We all know that as important to writing is reading. I think I spend more money on books than anything else in my entertainment budget. So what's better than reading books? Reading FREE books. I'm sure there are scads of contests scattered across the Internet. My addiction is so severe that I usually rely on a handful of blogs to keep me in the loop.

Win a signed copy of Charles de Lint's THE MYSTERY OF GRACE. I totally entered.

Cynthia Leitich Smith, author of TANTALIZE and ETERNAL, runs one of the best blogs on the planet. She lists giveaways, author interviews, and much more almost every day. Click here to enter to win NEVER TRUST A DEAD MAN by Vivian Vande Velde (say that three times fast!).

Enter to win ETERNAL by Cynthia Leitich Smith, who also gives a great interview. In fact, this blog (In Bed With Books) has tons of giveaways, so check it out.

Other Interesting Tidbits:

1. Blogging is a fun way to "get yourself out there." Heather did a post this week on using Google Reader to follow the blogs you like. Do you want to become one of those people other people follow? (If you can follow that sentence, you deserve some sort of prize.) If you do, you need to blog. Not sure what to blog about?

Well, a couple of us QTBloggers have started doing a Work in Progress Wednesday. Mine from this week is here. Archetype posted here. The real inspiration came from Kate Karyus Quinn on her blog. If you're a blogger/writer wondering what you can post about (believe me, I've been there), try posting a Work in Progress Wednesday! There's nothing like giving a report, receiving positive comments and encouragement, and just the sheer thrill of blogging, of course. If you like, post your blog address in the comments. I'm always looking for new blogs to follow and read. (I've tried clicking on the tiny heads in our sidebar, but some of you have more than one blog!)

2. There is something in the works for Monday that I think you're going to love. Last Monday, we opened up the blog in our first Open Mic Monday. If you didn't get a chance to ask a question, please do! We want this blog to be for you. Lady Glamis asked a question about showing vs. telling. And the five of us have been cooking up something special to answer her question...don't miss it!

3. One last thing: You may have noticed our sweet, new graphics telling you a little more about the QTBloggers. We did an introductory post when we first took over the blog, but our readership has grown so much since then. So now, at the end of each post, you can see us and read a little bit about us. We'd like to get to know you too! Leave us a comment with a little tidbit about yourself. What genre do you write? Where are you in the querying stage? How long have you been writing? Who is your favorite author? Or maybe you're a random-fact person like me and just want to pontificate on the awesomeness of say, ginger ale. Go for it! We'd love to hear from you.

How to Unleash Your Creative Genius - Six Tricks to Capturing Dreams Part II

For those of you who missed last week's article, you can find the first four tricks here.


Trick Five – Pick a character

Have you ever started out as one person in a dream then seamlessly become someone else? Some experts believe we play all the characters in our dreams. For writers, this means we can expand our repertoire endlessly. Pick a character (any character!) from your dream, and you should be able to understand their viewpoint and motivations.

This trick gives you as an author great versatility. That boogie-man that chased you in your dreams the other night? You already know how he thinks, and can nail his voice in your writing.

Trick Six – Invigorate and Inspire

You may be surprised to learn that Thomas Edison invented, among other things, the power nap. He renewed his creativity by curling up on his workbench to sleep for twenty minutes at a time, often gaining great flashes of insight on a particular problem that had been plaguing him. He trained himself to remain in that in-between sleep state for as long as possible.

Artist Salvador Dali took this technique one step further. He napped with a fork clenched in his fist, held out over a plate he’d set on the floor. As he began to doze, his grasp relaxed and the fork clattered onto the plate, waking him. He would immediately sketch the images he had seen in his dreams.

While you don’t need to go so far as finding a workbench or plate and fork, a short snooze will give you a burst of energy and some fresh inspiration to go along with it.

Why It Works

The dreaming mind is free of all the creativity blockers that are usually present in the conscious mind. While you sleep, the power of your creativity has free reign over your brain. Dreams take you to new and exciting worlds. Your writing will be more vivid; as far as your brain is concerned, you are writing about places you have been and events that have happened to you, albeit while dreaming.

Don’t be surprised if ideas come to you in their entirety. “…because I had dreamed it, I couldn’t believe I had written it,” said Paul McCartney of Yesterday after waking with the song in his head. “I thought, ‘I’ve never written anything like this before.’ I had the tune, which was the most magic thing!”

Apply It!

Keep a dream journal and write your dreams down. If you don’t have time to log the whole dream, write down a few details. You may be surprised when you come back to your notes and discover that you can recall the dream in its entirety. Refer to your dream journal often, most especially when inspiration seems to run dry. It's possible to weave many dreams into a single story.

Now, close your eyes, dream big, and let the magic of your own creative power come to you!

Would you like to post this article on your own blog? For a free download, enter suzette saxton in the search engine on GoArticles.

You're a Writer; You Need a Reader.

As requested, I'm starting a series of posts regarding social networking and building an online presence.

The next posts will cover the basics of social networking sites, social site etiquette, and tips on using your online presence to network effectively.

For today, though, I'm going to discuss a helpful basic tool: blog readers.

Writing a novel is a creative process, but getting that novel published is all business. So if you want to find an agent and publish your work, it makes sense to keep informed about the publishing industry.

Since you're hanging here with us on the QueryTracker.net blog, you're probably aware that there are many industry blogs and news feeds available online. But keeping track of them can get tricky.

That's why, in my opinion, you need to use a feed reader. If you don't use one already, GET ONE TODAY.

There are a lot of feed readers available, but the easiest to get started with are probably Bloglines and Google Reader. If you are already following the QueryTracker.net blog (i.e. if your tiny avatar is currently smiling at us from the sidebar), you've already got a head start with Google Reader. Once you create a Google Reader account, you'll find all the feeds from blogs you're following on blogger already added to your reader page.



It's very easy to add any other feed you'd like to keep track of... you just click "add a subscription" and type in the address of the feed you want.

You can subscribe to all those fabulous agent and editor blogs, news feeds on books and publishing, and all your favorite authors' blog feeds. If you like, you can organize them into folders like I do. Once you've added all your feeds, Google Reader (or Bloglines, or whatever reader you choose) will watch all those sites for you and compile any new posts for you to read whenever you want.

Fabulous! You can also star your favorite posts for quick reference. Uberhandy.

With my subscriptions, I always feel in-the-loop as far as publishing news goes. If you need good feeds to follow, there are quite a few industry blogs listed on my private blog. Most industry blogs will also have links to other great feeds to check out.

So if you're not already a blog reader guru, go feed yourself! And if you're all over Google Reader already, don't worry... I'm just getting warmed up.

Stay tuned for my next posts covering social networking and your online presence.

Interview with Literary Agent Ginger Clark

This interview comes from one of Ms. Clark's clients, Gretchen McNeil. Be sure to pop over to her blog, Seanchai. Gretchen interviewed her agent and graciously agreed to be a guest-blogger here for us. Leave a comment here or on Gretchen's blog so she knows how much you appreciate it!

I am very pleased, lucky, thrilled to have the opportunity to interview my fantabulous rockstar of an agent, Ginger Clark. Since 2005, Ginger has been a literary agent with Curtis Brown, following six years as an assistant literary agent at Writers House and a stint as an editorial assistant at Tor Books. Her client list includes Jeri Smith-Ready, Tim Pratt, John Dickinson, Richard Kadrey, Patricia Wrede and 2010 deb Kasey Mackenzie.

Welcome Ginger!

*Ginger waves enthusiastically* You'll have to take my word on that.

So why agenting? Something you always wanted to do or something you fell into and found you enjoyed?

I wanted to be an editor when I first graduated college (and had even interned at a medical publisher in Philadelphia to get some experience), and I did a year or so at Tor Books as an editorial assistant. My next job was working for a literary agent, and after six months there I knew I did not want to go back to the editorial side. I think people who don’t know anything about the business (like recent college grads!) think that the only way to work closely with an author and help them get their books read is to be an editor. And that’s not the case. Often, the agent works more closely with the author than the editor.

I will readily admit to being one of those people who thought that the editor did most of the work with the author and I'm very happy to be proven wrong. But my own ignorance in the matter illustrates some common misconceptions about what, exactly, it is an agent does. Could you give us a day in the life?

It’s a lot of email and talking on the phone. My day starts with me looking over emails from the previous night while eating breakfast. There will be emails from clients asking about a variety of issues—when will their contract be ready to sign, when should they expect to be paid for delivery of their book, what did I think of the new cover their editor just sent, what’s going on with a book out on submission, etc. etc. I answer these, and then I do other work, like reviewing contracts, or following up on submissions, or talking to editors about some issue going on. At some point I go to lunch—which is either an editor taking me out to learn more about my list and discuss what they are looking for, or I get food and bring it back to my desk and eat there. Whenever Pub Lunch arrives in my inbox I read it right away. The afternoon is more of the same. And I often have chats with co-workers about industry news, or news in general. Then I go home and do reading for work—either books that have been submitted to me, or manuscripts from clients that I’m reading or re-reading, or books represented by other agents here that I am going to be sending out for submission in the United Kingdom.

Wow. Wow. Unagented writers, take heed! This is why your queries don't always get answered with lightning-fast speed! (unintentional rhyme, I swear) Apparently, agents really don't have enough hours in the day. I mean, do you ever get a chance to read just for fun?

I love certain writers, like Elmore Leonard, Carl Hiaasen, Diana Wynne Jones, Charlaine Harris, Patricia Briggs, Christopher Moore, Michael Chabon (I think the Yiddish Policeman’s Union was the best book of 2007, no contest), William Gibson, John Green, Melissa Marr, Neal Stephenson, and lots of other authors I am forgetting at the moment. Oh, and I adore “The Luxe” series—book 3 is waiting for me at home and I am eager to get to it.

Ooo. I just finished John Green's Paper Towns and I thought it was just gorgeous.

Jumping back a bit, your mention of editor lunches made me think of expense accounts and expense accounts made me think of the current lack of one, nationally. Which made me think of all the doom and gloom we've been hearing in the media about publishing. So how do you see the recent economic downturn effecting trends in the industry?

I think people are going to be focused on buying books that will definitely make money for their company. I think this means more selective acquiring on the part of editors; less literary and more “offbeat” fiction selling; and smaller advances. Editors are being told to be circumspect about what they buy—and that’s understandable. (Editors are also being told to take fewer lunches, to watch their expenses in general, etc. etc.) With all the layoffs (which have been widespread, depressing, and heartbreaking) there are fewer editors out there, with suddenly a lot more books on their lists. They are going to be more conservative about buying new titles. Because readers are not buying books as much as they used to, and I expect that will continue until our economy recovers. At least, I hope sales return to what they were before.

When you so generously agreed to this interview, I posted a general call for questions across the Internet. Got quite a response (you're so popular…) and I've picked three questions from the hopper:

1. YA is perceived as being hot right now. True or false? And what trends to you see dying/rising?

True. Particularly if it is some kind of urban fantasy (i.e., fantasy that takes place in our world, in a modern setting). Kids are buying urban fantasy at the same rate we’re seeing on the adult side (where it has been big for several years now). I think post-apocalyptic fiction will be booming soon, if it is not already, for both adults and kids. And I think there is real growth in the middle grade market, too. I’d like to see more middle grade.


2. What would you like to see more of as an agent? As a reader?

Right now, I am focusing more on building the kids side of my list than the adult side. I’d like to see more YA post-apocalyptic fiction; more YA urban fantasy that involves more unusual paranormal elements (less vampires, more witches, ghosts, were-creatures); more middle grade fantasy of all kinds; and more YA military science fiction. I’d really, really love more military SF on my adult side of my list, too, but I think that YA military SF could do well right now, as long as it was the right kind of military SF.

3. What grabs your eye in a submission - query, partial or full? What makes you immediately hit the eject button?

I accept emailed queries and mailed queries. One page, no more. I’d like to see the author summarize their book in a paragraph or less, and be able to point out authors whose work is like theirs. And of course, what makes me hit “delete” are the usual mistakes—addressing the letter “Sir/Madam,” calling me someone else’s name, misspelling my name, lots of typos, a weak command of the English language, etc. etc.

I think you just made a lot of authors very, very happy. I can practically hear the queries hitting your inbox.

I have one more question for you before I hit you with the Fast Five. This one is to satisfy my own curiosity. What's your favorite part of your job?

Being able to pass along good news for a client. Oh, and I do love traveling to the Frankfurt and Bologna book fairs. They are a lot of hard work both before, during, and after the Fairs, but meeting foreign editors who are just as enthusiastic about books as I am is really, really invigorating.

My least favorite parts are passing along bad news to a client and not having any way to fix the problem (which does happen)…and jet lag.

Ha. Jet lag. What, you don't like falling asleep at noon but being wide awake at 3a.m.? Sounds like college to me!

Ginger, I want to thank you so much for taking the time out of your ridiculously busy schedule for this interview. I think everyone will appreciate your candor as much as I do! And to play us out, the Fast Five:

Pie or cake? Pie, unless it’s Red Velvet Cake. Then it’s cake.
Coffee or tea? Coffee.
Mac or PC? PC.
Guilty pleasure? “The Hills” and Cadbury Dairy Milk (but only the British stuff! The American stuff tastes like earwax. Know the difference so you won’t be disappointed!!).
Can't live without? Besides my husband? Lesportsac. And Publishers Marketplace.

I have a feeling all your snail mail queries are going to start coming with bribes of Cadbury and Lesportsac. Everyone, give it up for Ginger Clark! *applauds wildly*

Gretchen McNeil is a coloratura soprano, voice over artist, television producer and writer. She graduated cum laude from UCLA before earning her Master’s degree from the Maryland Opera Studio at the University of Maryland. Her opera credits include Zerbinetta (Ariadne auf Naxos), Adele (Die Fledermaus), Woglinde (Das Rheingold), Serpetta (La finta giardiniera) and Blondchen (Die Entführung aus dem Serail).

She can be seen in performance with Los Angeles-based circus troupe Cirque Berzerk. Gretchen's television production credits include [adult swim]’s Minoriteam, Pepsi's online cartoon On the Bubble, and G4's Code Monkeys, where she can also be heard as the voice of the wise-cracking game programmer Mary.

Gretchen is repped by Ginger Clark of Curtis Brown.

Q&A with the Psychologist

Want to use psychology to give your story authenticity? As promised, I'll be answering a psychology/writing question today on the blog.  If you have a question, feel free to email me using the link at right or by using the Q&A form on archetypewriting.com.
Disclaimer: The information on this site is provided as general educational information to readers and should be not be understood as specific advice for any particular individual(s). People who are seeking help for "real-life" problems are advised to consult a local mental health professional.

On to the question! 

Q: My story is about a young girl age 17 who not only sees ghosts but communicates with them. After numerous times of her family witnessing her talking to "no one" they seek help for her. In my story the doctor recommends that she be committed for three days without visitors so that she may do an evaluation. Is that realistic? When the girl sees that her parents are going through with it she gets very upset. To calm her the doctor gives her a shot of Thorazine. Is that a proper med for this and would it continue to make her a little groggy the next day? What might be an early diagnosis for someone who claims that they see ghosts?

A: Typically people are only committed in the US if they’re a danger to themselves or someone else, or if the doctor is in a rush to get the person stabilized. Since this has been going on for some time, there wouldn’t really be any reason to commit her unless there was a crisis of some kind. For example, if the voices tell her to harm someone or herself, or she’s just at the end of her rope with the voices and doesn’t know if she can take it another second. Committing her without those reasons feels hasty to me, and maybe a little irresponsible — not to mention expensive! On top of all that, insurance probably wouldn’t agree to pay for the hospitalization unless there were an immediate crisis.

So create a crisis of some kind if you really want her in the hospital.

Thorazine is a heavy-duty drug, though it is sometimes used at lower doses for the “problem” you’re describing. These drugs are only injected if someone is acutely psychotic and extremely agitated and emergency measures have to be taken (e.g. the patient is terrified that the doctors are going to kill her). Droperidol (Dropletan, Dridol or Inapsine) is commonly used as an injectable in these cases.

I think giving her a shot of a heavy-duty anesthetic/antipsychotic is too extreme for the doctors at the hospital to do to her. They’d have to be pretty darn sure about doing something like this if they wanted to avoid the possibility of litigation (in general, not necessarily with your character).

Besides, they’d get her on an antipsychotic medication (also called neuroleptics if you want a fancy word) as soon as she got into the hospital, so there’d be no reason to give her another unless she was having acute psychotic agitation like I described above.

Normally “atypical antipsychotics” are preferred when they’re an option because they have fewer side effects. These include risperidone (Risperdal) and olanzapine (Zyprexa). Sedation is common, especially in the first couple of weeks of taking them. Essentially, doctors want to get the patient on something she’s going to be able to take for a while — these are drugs that are commonly taken for a while, though not without side effects like weight gain.

Possible initial diagnoses for someone who sees ghosts and has been seeing them for some time:

Especially in a teen, everyone would want to rule out drug and alcohol intoxication as a possible cause. I checked with Heather (Dr. Dyer), and she said they’d probably run a urine tox screen and alcohol level at least.

If she came back clean, schizophrenia is probably the most likely diagnosis, especially if she is hearing voices in addition to seeing things. However:
* If she’s had the symptoms for less than a month, a diagnosis of Brief Psychotic Disorder is likely, at least at first.
* If there was a crisis or major stressor of some kind in addition to her having symptoms for less than a month, she’d be even more likely to get this diagnosis. Doctors usually refer to this as a “brief reactive psychosis.”

Dr. Carolyn Kaufman is a clinical psychologist and professor residing in Columbus, Ohio. A published writer, she runs Archetype Writing: Psychology for Fiction Writers. Visitors will find not only articles about psychology tailored to their needs, but they can ask Dr. K their writing/psychology questions. She is often quoted by the media as an expert resource.

Open Mic Monday and QueryTracker.net Feature of the Week

New Monthly Blog Feature : Open Mic Monday! 

The first Monday of each month (That's today!), the QueryTracker Blog Team will take questions about writing and the journey to publication.  If you have any question you want answered, even if it is something subjective that solicits an opinion answer, throw it at us.  We will research and compile our answers to be posted the following Monday, the second Monday of the month.  

Please post your questions in the comments of this post or email your questions to one of us by using the email addresses on the right side of this blog.  If your question is urgent, like about a full submission that has to be sent out immediately, state that, and we will contact you personally with the answer so you don't have to wait until the next Monday's post.  

We appreciate our blog readers and want to thank you for joining us.  Our subscribership keeps growing and we are grateful for your support.  

And now, for our weekly QueryTracker featured feature:

The QueryTracker Forum

One of my favorite QueryTracker.net features is the QueryTracker Forum.  To access it, select the "FORUM" button on top right of he QueryTracker Home Page.  

The Forum features discussion topics like:

Query Letter Review
First Five Pages Review
Synopsis Review
Publishing
Agents
Success Stories
Fiction Writing
Non-Fiction Writing
Resources for Writers
Book Talk

If you want an excellent critique of your query letter or synopsis, the QueryTracker Forum is your place. You also come into contact with other writers in different stages of the publishing process. The Forum has members ranging from newbies to published authors. I met many of my online friends on the QueryTracker forum including my co-authors on this blog.

The Forum is my favorite QueryTracker feature. If you are a writer, I can't recommend it highly enough. Get on over there and join.  

And don't forget to throw us some questions for Open Mic Monday by posting them in the comment section of this post or emailing us.  Have a great week, everyone!  

Mary

Mary Lindsey writes paranormal fiction for children and adults. Prior to attending University of Houston Law School, she received a B.A. in English Literature with a minor in Drama.

Mary can also be found on her website.