Loglines and You: Michael Ferris explains it all in Script magazine

Even the most seasoned writers I know struggle with loglines -- the single sentence at the top of your query that presents a succinct explanation of the plot, tone, and style of the book. Sounds simple enough, but that single sentence can really suck your head inside out. So Michael Ferris' "Loglines and You" article in Script magazine immediately caught my attention. He's talking about pitching a screenplay, but the rules apply to querying a novel or memoir.

Quoth Ferris:

"...your goal with a logline is not to talk about or encapsulate the story in (hopefully) an exciting way. Instead, a logline is meant to highlight the aspects of your script that would entice someone who didn’t give a crap two seconds ago into wanting to read/know more. If you can write one sentence that entices the reader to want to read your script, AND also gives some semblance of what they story will be, you’ve written the perfect logline."

He goes on to offer this example: "A journey of forbidden love between a poor boy and a rich girl on the final voyage of the RMS Titanic." Which isn't actually a sentence, but you get the drift. (They don't need predicates in Hollywood. It's a town without pity.)

Read the rest here (before that logline sucks your head inside out.)

Six Simple Steps to Writing an Effective Query

I'd like to direct your attention to the funniest thing I've read in ages, Slushpile Hell, where "a grumpy literary agent wades through query fails."

The site's quotes are definitely great examples of how not to write a query. But I'm often asked about the right way, so I thought I'd devote a brief post to the topic.

A solid query letter (or e-mail, as often as not, these days) does the following:

1. Conveys that you have done your homework, checking in the most recent edition of the Writer's Market or, better yet, the agent's or publisher's website (for more up-to-date information) to find out if this submission is appropriate for this publishing pro and if he/she is accepting unsolicited queries. If you can't do even that much research, you're wasting everybody's time.

2. Quickly lets the recipient know what it is you're shopping. For example: "I'm seeking representation (or a publisher) for Sparrows in the Storm, a 90,000-word historical romance" or "an 80,000-word novel in the tradition of Jodi Piccoult and (name another remotely similar author the publishing pro's likely to have heard of and hasn't been dead or out of fashion for decades.) The second approach is helpful to let the person know what type of reader would enjoy your book, and (more importantly, from a sales standpoint) how it might be marketed.

3. Encapsulates the book's marketing hook in one to three sentences. For example: "As a hurricane builds in the Gulf of Mexico in 1821, the beautiful mixed-race mistress of a powerful New Orleans merchant runs away with a handsome British sea captain -- a decision that endangers both their lives and changes the face of the region's slave trade forever." (I'm making this up as I go along, so don't read too much into my storyline.)

The description above not only cues the reader that as a historical romance, this story has all its fingers and toes (attractive, star-crossed lovers and a powerful adversary) but how it's different from other historical romances on the market. (Unusual setting and a story that crosses racial boundaries and isn't afraid to take on the slave trade, which has been almost a taboo subject in commercial romance for quite some time. The agent/editor might be curious about how you handled such a topic, or it could scare her off, but at least it will get her attention.)

Do not attempt to summarize the entire synopsis in the query. If the marketing hook is sufficiently intriguing, you'll get the opportunity to send chapters and/or a synopsis.

4. Provides any pertinent information about you. In the above example, it would be relevant for the agent/editor to know if you happen to be a professor of Southern history at Tulane University in New Orleans, or if you are a New York Times bestselling novelist or a major award winner. A publishing track record (with publishers the pro will recognize) would be good to know as well. But these folks generally don't care about your day job, your hobbies, your family (unless maybe your sister's JK Rowling, and she's promised an endorsement) or your fourteen polydactyl cats. For the most part, your story should speak for itself.

5. Is no longer than one, single-spaced page, in standard business-letter format. (This is relaxed for e-mail, but let's not get too chummy or start with the emoticons.)

6. Is professional and appropriately confident. Groveling is poor form, and boasting's even more off-putting. You're a professional with (you believe) a commercially viable product, and you're looking to enter a mutually advantageous business relationship. Acting as if you're the Eighth Wonder of the World who's destined to make everyone a fortune because your mother loved your story just makes you look like an idiot - and a delusional prima donna to the person you are querying.

Querying publishing professionals can be a time-consuming, stressful process. But by following these common sense tips, you're at least assured of not ending up on some agent's "query-fail" site! And you have a good, fighting chance of finding a partner that can take your career to the next level and put your book in readers' hands.

Woo, hoo! Free Resource on Writing Queries

Here's a heads up for everyone out wandering the barren wastes of query-land. Literary agent Noah Lukeman, author of The First Five Pages: A Writer's Guide to Staying out of the Rejection Pile and other helpful writers' resources, is offering the 75-page How to Write a Great Query Letter as a free download!

The Amazon customer reviews are terrific, so snap up this freebie while it's available. And if you enjoy it, be sure to consider buying one of Lukeman's terrific books on writing.

Here's what Amazon has to say:

Noah Lukeman is author of the bestselling The First Five Pages: A Writer's Guide to Staying Out of the Rejection Pile (Simon & Schuster, 1999); of the bestselling The Plot Thickens: 8 Ways to Bring Fiction to Life (St Martin's Press, 2002), a BookSense 76 Selection, a Publishers Weekly Daily pick, and a selection of the Writers Digest Book Club; and of A Dash of Style: The Art and Mastery of Punctuation (WW Norton, 2006). His books are already part of the curriculum in many universities. He has also worked as a collaborator, and is co-author, with Lieutenant General Michael “Rifle” DeLong, USMC, Ret., of A General Speaks Out (Zenith, 2006), a Main Selection of the Military Book Club. He has contributed to Poets & Writers, Writers Digest, The Writer, and to The Writers Market, and was anthologized in The Practical Writer (Viking, 2004). Foreign editions of his books have been published in the UK and in many languages, including Portuguese, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Turkish and Indonesian. Noah Lukeman is also president of Lukeman Literary Management Ltd, a New York-based literary agency, which he founded in 1996. His clients include winners of the Pulitzer Prize, American Book Award, Pushcart Prize, and O. Henry Award, finalists for the National Book Award, Edgar Award, Pacific Rim Prize, multiple New York Times bestsellers, national journalists, major celebrities, and faculties of American universities ranging from Harvard to Stanford. He has worked as a manager in the New York office of Artists Management Group, Michael Ovitz's multi-talent management company, and has worked for another New York literary agency. Prior to becoming an agent he worked on the editorial side of several major publishers, including William Morrow and Farrar, Straus, & Giroux, and as editor of a literary magazine. He earned his BA with High Honors in English and Creative Writing from Brandeis University, cum laude. To contact the author, visit: www.adashofstyle.com.