Query Letter Critique

[ctg]

I wonder why these people have upped the specifications from one page to two pages.

 

[Ursa major]

When were they asking for one page? Was it recently?

 

[anthorn]

They've been asking for two pages all the time I thought and the email responses seemed to suggest this too. See the email i posted. Sounds like they want one page for character summaries and a synopsis 2 pages or less

 

[Evelinn]

I have written some of these letters. Keep in mind that the person sitting on the other end probably has a stack of other letters to pour through. Somehow you`ll have to make yours stand out. Keep it short and to the point, but don`t lose the element that is you in the writing. You`ll want them to remember you Good luck.

 

[The Judge]

I know what they're saying in their email appears contradictory, anthorn, but I really think you should go by what is said in the main page which Ursa has repeated for us. If you send a 1 page character summary and then a 2 page synopsis you run the real risk that they think you have deliberately ignored the guidelines.

Unless they change the guidelines on the Open Door Month page itself, I'd urge you to send no more than a single 2 page document which contains everything. And I'd also suggest that you don't overload those 2 pages using a 10pt font.

 

[anthorn]

Do you think I could get away with the...........For the attention of Lee Harris in the email?

 

[Susan Boulton]

Do you think I could get away with the...........For the attention of Lee Harris in the email?

Yes, it shows you have done your research and know who the editor is.

 

[anthorn]

I was thinking of putting it in the body of email rather than the actual word document,

 

[Jake Reynolds]

Okay, I'm going to be a bit of a jackass, and I apologise in advance. With the Guardians, place names like Lull and Onchara, and the aspects, I really got a sense of Final Fantasy when I read the synopsis and characters, and then when the name Balthier came into it it broke my whole flow of who the characters are. Is there a way you might change that name, because it really highlights the rpg nature of the story?

Just a thought.

 

[anthorn]

One there is no RPG nature to my story. Two I had the Guardian idea before i had heard of ff. And three. No. I am not changing my names.

 

[Jake Reynolds]

Fair enough, just a thought. Good luck with it.

 

[anthorn]

Thanks very much.

 

[Ursa major]

The page at Angry Robot has changed. In fact there are now two, one of which gives a link to the other:

First link: Open Door Month – Guidelines :: Angry Robot Books

They give plenty of guidelines, including how they want to see the summary. Note that their guidelines aren't quite the same as they mentioned earlier. (I was going to list some of their requirements, but as they're only a click away and I don't want to mislead anyone, you're better off using the links.) Note especially rules about the subject line of the email.

The second link looks to be what we've seen before: March 2011 – Open Door Month :: Angry Robot Books.


Good luck, Anthorn and anyone else.