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If you’re working on your query and finding it hard to come up with something that makes your book sound special, maybe it’s that your book isn’t special.
- Jessica Faust, literary agent
(Source: bookendslitagency.blogspot.com)
The need for an out of mind experience
As a so-called writer, I’m reminded of one of the dangers of all this time we spend with our work. We’re so deep into it, know the twists and turns, expect the reactions of characters, and ultimately know the direction we aim to take.
But does the reader know all this? Have we left out (or deleted) key elements that set the stage, or come full circle with the seeds we’ve planted? I know that often, in the quest for really tight writing, I have reduced the sauce a little too much. And when that’s the case, it’s time to step outside and look through the window.
Jessica Faust posts in relation to queries,
Believe it or not I get a number of queries that I just do not understand. I think the biggest problem with queries like this is that the author is too much in her own head. She knows the story so well that she forgets she’s talking to an audience who knows nothing. It’s either that or the query has been edited so much that the author left in only her favorite lines and they don’t necessarily match or make sense.
