Writer's Digest Books - How to Write Attention-Grabbing Query & Cover Letters

How to Write Attention-Grabbing Query & Cover Letters

By John Wood

Item No. #10707

John Wood sees it with numbing regularity: the query letter that comes close to making a sale--until the writer makes some fatal, but avoidable mistake.So the Modern Maturity senior editor wrote this letter-writer's guidebook. Read it, learn from it, use its secrets to write queries that get accepted.Discover:

why boldness beats blandness every time

how to rocket your query right past the slush pile

how to make a big imprssion with a little cover letter

the 10 basics you must have in your article query

the 10 query blunders that can ruin your chances

how to dramatize your novel with a query/synopsis package

what a book proposal is, why you need it, and how to write itAs you publish more, your professional correspondence will increase. Whether the correspondence is a complaint to your editor, a celebrity interview request or anything else connected with your career, you'll make it ring with style and professionalism with this book.Wood includes chapter-ending Question & Answer sections that clarify issues concerning the type of letter at hand. He's also packed the book with illustrative samples. You'll see many that are pure dynamite--and one real bomb.Read this book and immediately begin to write energetic, masterly, persuasive letters. Keep editors hanging on your words. Make them eager to buy your work.About the AuthorJohn Wood has been a senior editor at Modern Maturity since 1983 where he has read, in his estimation, more than 25,000 query letters. From 1989 to 1991, he also served as an editorial consultant for Newcastle Publishing Company, where he helped conceive and edit the "Looking Forward Collection," a new line of books geared to people over fifty.He has lectured to writer's orgainzations, has been a judge for various writer's contests and has served as a consultant to the Writer's Digest School. His articles have appeared in Basketball Digest, Newsday, the Miami Herald, Writer's Digest, and Writer's Market. He lives in Los Angeles.Table of ContentsIntroductionChapter One: The Art of CorrespondenceChapter Two: The Writer and the Editor

From the Writer's Desk

From the Editor's Desk

Q & AChapter Three: The Article Query: The Ten Query Commandments

Ideal Article Query Letters

Sample Letters

Q & AChapter Four: The Ten Query Sins

Poor Article Query Letters

Q & AChapter Five: The Nonfiction Book Query & Proposal

The Query

Ideal Nonfiction Book Query Letters

Sample Letters

The Proposal

Ideal Nonfiction Book Proposal

Q & AChapter Six: The Novel Query & Synopsis

The Query

Ideal Novel Query Letter

Sample Letters

The Synopsis

Q & AChapter Seven: The Cover Letter

Ideal Cover Letter

Sample Letters

Q & AChapter Eight: Other Correspondence

Letters Between You and Editors

"How Do I Deliver a Manuscript to an Editor?"

"How Do I Thank an Editor?"

"How Do I Follow-Up With an Editor?"

"How Do I Say 'No' to an Editor?"

"How Do I Say 'Yes' to an Editor?"

"How Do I Complain to an Editor?"

"How Do I Respond to a Complaint From an Editor?"

"How Do I Respond to an Inquiry From an Editor?"

Letters Between You and Others

"How Do I Arrange an Interview With a Celebrity?"

"How Do I Arrange an Interview With a Noncelebrity?"

"How Do I Request a Press Trip or Obtain a Press Pass for an Event?"

"How Do I Request Information from Someone?"

Q & ABibliographyIndex