re-writing the query letter sumamry. help! - Page 2 - Writers Forum

Mike C · 07-11-2007, 02:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JP Wagner

im all open for people telling me i suck as long as they tell me a way to unsuck.

Remove references to furries from the query. Seriously, it could be the world's best query, but a prospective agent has to believe that your book is something they can sell. It's not a question of having 'closed minds' but of having subject matter they're liable to see as a joke. And even if an agent was tempted, they will be aware that they'll be trying to sell the book to publishers that will also view the subject matter as a joke. When I worked in sales I was told "Don't back losers". In other words, don't try to sell people something they don't want. Agents have to earn a living, and therefore have to work the same way.

I'm not trying to trash you, your ideas or your book, I'm trying to give you a reality check. Your query is there to achieve one thing only - to make the agent read the first few pages. The word 'furry' significantly reduces that chance. Yours might be the breakthrough book that makes furry the new rock and roll, but if you can't get it read, what's the point?

JP Wagner · 07-11-2007, 03:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike C

Remove references to furries from the query. Seriously, it could be the world's best query, but a prospective agent has to believe that your book is something they can sell. It's not a question of having 'closed minds' but of having subject matter they're liable to see as a joke. And even if an agent was tempted, they will be aware that they'll be trying to sell the book to publishers that will also view the subject matter as a joke. When I worked in sales I was told "Don't back losers". In other words, don't try to sell people something they don't want. Agents have to earn a living, and therefore have to work the same way.

I'm not trying to trash you, your ideas or your book, I'm trying to give you a reality check. Your query is there to achieve one thing only - to make the agent read the first few pages. The word 'furry' significantly reduces that chance. Yours might be the breakthrough book that makes furry the new rock and roll, but if you can't get it read, what's the point?

alright, i can do that. thanks for the advice.

and i dont wanna make furries rock and roll, and no im not a furry myself. im using furries to explore other things. heh, and furries really wont like this book to be honest.

Mike C · 07-11-2007, 04:56 AM

So your story is about a man's journey through the dark underbelly of society, where the distinctions between man and animal blur... or words to that effect. Try that angle.

lin · 07-11-2007, 08:25 PM

Start by removing the word furry every time it appears.

Rewrite it as a business letter, not a piece of fuzzy cuteness.

jesterscourt · 07-12-2007, 01:09 AM

You know, it's kinda funny how you bring up the whole "I'm not a furry" thing a few times in this thread. I didn't really think you were one to begin with, and from that Wikipedia article, it looks like not everything is about the (to me) very odd sexual element to the whole shebang. However, it does bring up an interesting point, if you wrote a story from the vantage point of a murderer, would you come into the thread saying "I swear, I'm not a murderer, this just came from research and my imagination..."

Just my weird train of thought right now...

JP Wagner · 07-13-2007, 08:22 PM

good point jesterscourt, but i have been accused a few times of being a furry for writing this thing already, but thats really secondary to the fact that people think im making furries out to be good in this book. if people dont think im a furry, then theyre less likly to think its making furries look good.

BWE · 07-18-2007, 09:27 PM

Use the word furry in a creepy way. Make it clear that you know it's creepy.