Preparing query letter for AngryRobot open month

[anthorn]

I need some help with some of the terms.

What do they mean by sending in 2 page max.
Character summaries?
Plot?
Intentions/Insperations?

Do they want a straight down to buisness plot or one that catches the attention, like the summaries found at the beginning of book x of series xx?

 

[HareBrain]

I think the best examples of "beginning of book x" summaries are pretty businesslike. What you defnitely don't want to do is the kind of hyped-up attention-grabber you find on back covers. These people will have to read tens of summaries a day. Don't give them a reason to howl with despair.

Also, I'm no expert on the thought-processes of any robot, angry or otherwise, but I imagine they want the character summaries and then the plot because if the characters are well-conceived, the plot will need next-to-no describing, since it will fall out of the characters' conflicting motivations.

 

[anthorn]

So I should look to the what came before section in an R scott Bakker book as a blue print of how to describe the plot?

What are character summaries, is it essentially, just describing their arc like this.

[FONT=Courier New, monospace]Anthorn Xebiar. Anthorn is one of the two main points of view. We first meet him as a child, as he journeys to Caraksand to become a Guardian. He sees this as his destiny, that he will become a hero, though he will learn the truth is far removed from what his father's stories led him to believe. He is [/FONT]

 

[Menion]

Anthorn Xebiar. Anthorn is one of the two main points of view. We first meet him as a child, as he journeys to Caraksand to become a Guardian. He sees this as his destiny, that he will become a hero, though he will learn the truth is far removed from what his father's stories led him to believe. He is

Is that it? I would add a far amount more, at least maybe 10 to 15 lines.

 

[anthorn]

I would, but I am not sure if I'll have enough to put the plot and the other stuff like Intentions. They want 2 page max

 

[TheEndIsNigh]

Hi,

No experience of submissions etc. However I'm a bit confused about your name and the character?

I'm also worried that you can't think of more to write without it getting out of hand. Somewhere on this site ther is a thread relating to what you should include in a synopsis and although not the same a the submission letter it would be better to give them something to work with. This is your first impression point. I can't believe they will read all the entries: I suspect they will be heavily filtered. If all you've got to say about your book is six or seven lines then..?

 

[J Riff]

Maybe. Perhaps you want to simply state the characters roles:
Anthorn - bombastic King of New Bratian, a near-sighted martinet.
Xebiar- his alcoholic son, planning to overthrow his Dad
Princess Xiff - a reptilian alien shapeshifter
Dr. Etc. - arch-fiend, etc.etc.
and let the plot fill it in. I wonder how much summary and synopsis they actually want to read sometimes. Remember, two pages is the Max they want, so one page should be fine.

 

[Sapheron]

Not sure if this instantly qualifies you for not being published or if they set the hounds on you or what-not, but would it not be best, perhaps, to send a polite e-mail to the publishers themselves and ask them to clarify exactly what they want from you? Hell, you could even do it from a different e-mail to avoid looking like a fool when you send it in if you're paranoid.

 

[Ursa major]

While "Anonymous of Durham" is asking his question, perhaps he ought to ask about the whole package, namely:

We require a brief (two pages max) summary of characters, plot and your intentions/inspiration, in that order — plus the opening five chapters. No more, no less. DO NOT send us the opening chapters of your unfinished manuscript – we’re only interested in novels that have been completed.

This should be emailed to us, either as Word, RTF or PDF files (we prefer RTFs). Please don’t just send us a complete manuscript. Please note that we do not accept hardcopy manuscripts. SIngle- or 1.5-line spaced please, in English.

Are they asking for the five chapters to be single- or 1.5-line spaced (which would be odd, but perhaps it isn't an issue with an electronic submission**) or only the Summary? (The line spacing requirement looks like a follow on from the ban on hard-copy manuscripts, but that's contradicted by the mention of English.)





** - If they are asking for single- or 1.5-line spaced manuscripts, is this something peculiar to them or a growing trend? How does this affect page-calculated word counts? (Are we actually entering an era when authors can use their WP program's word count? * Goes to lie down. * )

 

[HareBrain]

Are they asking for the five chapters to be single- or 1.5-line spaced (which would be odd, but perhaps it isn't an issue with an electronic submission**) or only the Summary? (The line spacing requirement looks like a follow on from the ban on hard-copy manuscripts, but that's contradicted by the mention of English.)



** - If they are asking for single- or 1.5-line spaced manuscripts, is this something peculiar to them or a growing trend? How does this affect page-calculated word counts? (Are we actually entering an era when authors can use their WP program's word count? * Goes to lie down. * )

As I understand it, double spacing became standard to allow handwritten annotations between the lines, something that doesn't apply to electronic files, where more words per screen makes for less hitting of the page down key.

I can't imagine any word processor word-count that would be less accurate than a page-number-based one. I really don't understand why anyone would prefer that method. (I await enlightenment.)

 

[Ursa major]

My understanding is that the industry is comfortable with, and used to, page-based numbering.

What a publisher is presumably interested in is the number of pages in the book, and this would have to be estimated, based on whatever form of word count is provided. If the formula it uses in generating the estimate is designed for 200 words per page of Courier (or 250 words per page of Times New Roman), putting in a (presumably larger) word count from, say, Word, would give the wrong estimate for the number of published pages.

 

[Susan Boulton]

I have always used wount count on word no matter the formatting.

If they ask for single or 1.5 in a submission, do it. It's what they are asking for. I have submitted various sample chapters both in the body of the email and attachments in sinlge, 1.5. and double-spaced. To me the various agents/publishers submiison guides were the bible when I was submitting.

 

[Ursa major]

They also want something else, according to this interview with Marc Gascoigne:

A one-line synopsis, a one-two page synopsis (plot, characters, intentions), and the first five chapters / 6-10k words. The novel must be finished. We will only review one novel, but brief notes regarding sequels are OK. The most important parts for me are that one-line synopsis and the first few pages of that first chapter.

If I had to add one thing to all of those, it would be this - Really, really work on that one-sentence elevator pitch/movie tagline for your novel with your pitch. If you can't get the very basics of your book down into one sentence, or the line you come up with is desperately dull, perhaps you should take that as a hint.

 

[drosdelnoch]

A quick search of the net will provide you with a good few tips on how to write your query letter. Agent Query is a good one to utilises. There are a few books that may also offer advise for you but I'd also recommend the book "Writers Market UK 2010." It includes a list of agent, a few helpful articles and to be honest is a book that I can't recommend enough to have for reference.

If you don't wish to pay for it, the odds are you can reference it at your local library. Other than that, whilst AR has an open month, I'd advise trying to get an agent. They'll help make sure you get your stuff to the right person and are generally used by publishers to help weed out the good stuff.

 

[anthorn]

Here are some email responses.



RTF is a filetype (it stands for Rich Text Format). The option to save as an RTF file is in Open Office - probably listed under "Save As" on the File menu (I don't have it on this machine, or else I could be more specific).


Kind regards,



Thanks for getting in touch.


Just a brief summary of the main characters - who they are, and any important character traits - will be fine.

These are from Lee Haris, editor.

 

[Susan Boulton]

I have always used wount count

What the heck was I typing? I meant word......