Tuesday, July 5, 2011

10 Killer Queries That Worked

Confession: I love query letters. Reading them. Writing them. Whatever. I can't get enough of them.

Yes, I am weird. But you knew that already, didn't you?

Anyway, I thought I'd share a few of the most awesomesauce queries I've ever read. This is mostly because I wanted to compile them all in one place, but also because I feel like they help writers struggling over their queries. Seeing how others boil down their stories into 3-4 paragraphs is both encouraging and educational :)

In no particular order, here are some of the best queries in the universe:


1) Lisa and Laura Roecker's query for THE LIAR SOCIETY



2) Karsten Knight's query for WILDEFIRE



3) Kirsten Hubbard's query for LIKE MANDARIN



4) Elana Johnson's query for POSSESSION 
(then titled Control Issues)



5) Kody Keplinger's query for THE DUFF



6) Susan Dennard's query for SOMETHING STRANGE AND DEADLY 
(then titled The Spirit Hunters )



7) Gennifer Albin's query for CREWEL 
(I actually stole the idea for this post from her Friday Five about queries. Yes, I am evil...)


8) Miriam Forster's query for THE HOUSE OF A THOUSAND DOLLS


9) Heather Brewer's query for EIGHTH GRADE BITES


10) Lisa McMann's query for WAKE




If you haven't read any of them, or just a few, I suggest taking a closer look at every single one. They're that awesome, I promise you.

For those of you in the querying trenches, best of luck! *hugs*

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go write a query letter... 

*cracks knuckles*


How about you? Any queries you love that aren't on this list? Any queries you'd love to see, like one from your favorite book? Share them with me in the comments!

10 comments:

  1. queries ackkkk i hate them more than i could ever put into words.

    hope yours goes well, though. :D

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  2. LOL! They can have that effect on people :)

    Thanks on the query wishes! I have a draft done, but I haven't even finished the first draft of my manuscript. *facepalm*

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  3. Yeah thanks for compiling these and putting them all in one area!

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  4. I agree - thanks for putting these fab queries in one place - very helpful!! Good luck with yours!!!! Go easy on your knuckles tho! LOL! Take care
    x

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  5. Wow, awesome. This is so useful. Thanks for gathering these!

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  6. Wow! These are great queries! I wish writing a query letter was my problem. My problem is finishing a manuscript!

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  7. I had two of these on my blog, along with analysis from the writers. Yay!

    But some of the others I haven't seen. I'll have to take a look, thanks Amparo!

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  8. Thanks for posting! These are all amazing. What a great idea!

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  9. Thanks, y'all! :) There are a billion other queries that worked, so I've chosen to split them up in several posts. You can never have enough killer queries :)

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  10. I love reading queries too! These are some really good ones.

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