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Tips On Queries

What To Expect In Return

Submitting Your Manuscript

WHAT MAKES AN EFFECTIVE MANUSCRIPT DESCRIPTION?

One that creates interest by giving an idea of the central conflict faced by the main characters and/or a sense of the plot and any “hook” it contains.

Conflict is the foundation of all good fiction, whether drama or humor. Hopefully your finished manuscript is full of conflict both internal and external. You want your description to contain that conflict too.

So your description should do the following:

1. Explain the central conflict, internal AND external if possible.

2. Give some idea of the plot.

3. Convey some sense of the mood or style of the manuscript, often by choosing specific words. Or at least enhance interest by choosing dynamic words over bland, static ones.

WHAT A DESCRIPTION OF YOUR MANUSCRIPT ISN'T:

The description in your query is NOT a blurb, which is more stylish, concise, often vague, that is used on a book jacket or ads to market a finished book to retail buyers.

“In a secret shed behind the barracks of the Pennsylvania State Police, Troop D, there's a cherry Buick Roadmaster no one has touched in years---because there's more power under the hood than anyone can handle.”

Teasing? Yes. Have any idea what that story is actually about? No. The description should be clear and unconfusing. If someone can't tell what the manuscript is actually about by reading the description then it's not effective for the purposes of an industry query.

WHAT A MANUSCRIPT DESCRIPTION IS:

Here’s an example of an effective description for query purposes:

“Marcus Walker was just another young commodities trader in Chicago---until he's abducted aboard a starship bound for deep space. Now he's just another novelty, part of a cargo of "cute" aliens from primitive planets destined to be sold as pets to highly advanced populations in more civilized regions of the galaxy. This former college football star and successful broker is used to getting his way by being at the top of the food chain and letting people know it, but this new position he's in is far removed from his former status.

Together with the small and odd assortment of allies he must recruit and hold together from among the various alien races, plus the genetically-enhanced talking dog that teaches him how to make friends, he tries to regain his freedom and maybe get revenge against his captors...if he can."

You definitely know a little bit about the general plot of the story. The external conflict is clear, i.e. the protagonist is abducted by aliens and seeks to escape.

Further external conflict is implied, i.e. the protagonist tries to recruit and ally with disparate aliens. And internal conflict (within the main character himself) is implied by putting a successful broker and football star in a powerless position and forcing him to grow personally if he's to learn a new way of achieving his goals.

ACTION WORDS AND ADJECTIVES:

Action words make a description sound more dynamic. Likewise, robust adjectives give a better sense of the tone or mood and give the characters some texture.

Adding these might make the description above look like this (underlines for instructional purposes only):

“Marcus Walker was just another young commodities trader in Chicago---until he's attacked and tossed aboard a starship bound for deep space. Now he's just another amusing novelty, part of a cargo of "cute" aliens from primitive planets destined to be sold as pets to highly advanced populations in more civilized regions of the galaxy. This former college football star and hot-shot broker is used to getting his way by being at the top of the food chain and brashly letting people know it, but this new position he's in is far removed from his former status.

Together with the small and quirky assortment of allies he struggles to recruit and hold together from among the various alien races, plus the genetically-enhanced talking dog that teaches him how to make friends, he fights to regain his freedom and maybe strike revenge against his ruthless captors...if he can."

In the above example, "attacked and tossed" is more dynamic than "abducted". "Hot-shot" is more evocative than "successful". "Struggles" is more dynamic than "tries", and "strike" better than "get". Replace such bland and general verbs with action verbs when possible.

Additionally, the addition of "amusing" and "quirky" communicates to the recipient that there are elements of humor in the story, hinted at by the inclusion of the "genetically-enhanced talking dog"...an indication of the story's tone.

Still need a nudge? Here are some questions to get you started in the right direction:

1. What exactly is at stake for the main character, either at the outset of the story, or as a result of something (usually the 'inciting incident') that occurs during the story?

2. Is there some character growth that's lacking in the main character at the outset of the story but that occurs (or FAILS to occur) by the story's end?

3. Is there another character with whom the main character has a significant relationship? If so, what is its nature? If it's mostly cooperative but with a single source of conflict between the protagonist and the other character, what is that source? If instead, it's totally contentious but they're forced to work together, why? Does their relationship change somehow as a result of the story?

4. Is there a main antagonist in the story and if so, what's the nature of the protagonist's relationship to him/her?

REPLIES:

Most recipients of your query won't respond.

Based on the volume of queries a publisher, agent, or manager receives, it's just not practical to send a return email to say "no thanks" to everyone. If you do receive them, it's rare so consider it an extra courtesy.

Most replies are to give permission to send the manuscript or to request additional information such as an author's bio or a few sample chapters. Well written and informative story descriptions will cut down on the number of bios or sample chapters you will need to send before getting permission to submit your entire manuscript. But some recipients will seek that additional information anyway no matter how good the description.

Presentation of your manuscript is important only because if not done properly you risk looking like a neophyte who is unlikely to have written anything of value and possibly having your manuscript tossed away without being read or at least without being taken seriously.

FORMAT:

Industry standard in the United States is 8 1/2 x 11 paper, loose pages with NO binding. If you're sending your manuscript from overseas, the recipient will recognize that you'll probably use A4 paper since 8 1/2 x 11" is not readily available nor the standard where you are.

If your book has already been SELF-PUBLISHED or by a POD printer (Print-On-Demand), NEVER send a copy of the book, ALWAYS the raw MANUSCRIPT. Traditional publishers don't think highly of self-publishing or POD and will NOT be impressed. Many don't even allow submission of your work for consideration if they know it's already been self-published or POD'd.

Your manuscript should be double-spaced with a 1" or 1.5" margin on all sides. A professional font such as 12pt Times New Roman or Courier should be used and not artistic or all-italic fonts.

The very first page should be your title page with the title and contact information.

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Place your name, address, phone number, and email address in the upper-left corner of the title page.

Place the title of your story halfway down the same page. Then two single lines below your title, put a centered byline such as "a novel by John Doe". Including the genre might make this "a dramatic novel by John Doe" or "a science-fiction novel by John Doe". It can be a good idea to include the genre in that manner so the reader has the right frame of mind when he/she picks up your manuscript and begins to read.

You do this even though your name is already in the upper left corner of the manuscript. The name in the upper left is the legal name of the person that is to appear on a check and in the contract. The byline is the name you wish credited as author of the book when it's printed, in other words, your pseudonym or nom-de-pleume (pen-name) if you use one.

Centered at the bottom of the title page you should place an approximate word count such as "Approx. 98,000 words".

Do not include any kind of date on your manuscript since the older it is, the less value it has in the eyes of the recipient. It tells them it's been out there for a while and nobody else has wanted it, possibly because it's terrible.

You don't need to include a copyright mark and doing so might insult the recipient by implying you think they might "steal" it. Remember, a writer has copyright protection the instant the work is put down on paper and no additional protection is given by printing the symbol on a work.

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Begin the text of your manuscript half-way down the NEXT page starting with the chapter heading (Ex: "Chapter One"), followed by a blank line, then the chapter name if any.

Include a header in the upper-right corner of every page of your manuscript except the title page. This header consists of the last name of the name in the byline, one signifying word from the title of your book for identification purposes, and the page number. This is so that if the pages of the unbound manuscript get shuffled or dropped they can be put back in the correct order. An example of the header in the upper-right corner of page 4 of Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" would appear as "Twain-Huckleberry-4"

WHAT ELSE TO INCLUDE:

Include a print out of their email request for your manuscript or a note reminding them that they've done so. Also writing "requested material" on the box, or on a post-it note affixed to the title page is not a bad idea to distinguish it from what may be a large volume of unsolicited manuscripts that get thrown away.

If you're inclined to send your manuscript via overnight simply to make it stand out, save your money. Unless it's a very small company, the person receiving the incoming mail is not the same person who will look at your manuscript. That reader will only see it after it's been opened and removed from the box anyway.

However, DO use a sturdy mailing box. Flimsy cardboard boxes such as those in which new copy paper is sold often tear along the seams when in the mail and fall apart. The cardboard boxes used for U.S. "Priority Mail" are excellent for manuscript submissions, are sturdy, snug, and Priority Mail is really just first class US. mail anyway ($3.85) so it's not really an additional expense. And maybe best of all, the boxes are FREE.

RETURN OF YOUR MANUSCRIPT:

Don't expect your manuscript copy to be returned. Some requesters will instruct you to include a SASE (self addressed stamped envelope) if you do desire the copy returned to you. We recommend against it. It's one more burden you're placing on the recipient, and it can make you look unsuccessful and stingy.

Just consider that cost of the manuscript copy the cost of doing business. You're not going to save so much anyway when you consider the cost of the return postage. Plus, you still may not get it back anyway. It's not unheard of for a larger company to honestly misplace your SASE especially since it may be weeks after receiving the manuscript that they finally get around to reading it. And a smaller company just might find your return postage handy for offsetting their own mail costs and use it for their own mail.


CONTACT: It's not necessary for you to follow up after having sent your manuscript but you can if you want to. Give them at least 8-12 weeks before following up. It can sometimes take that long just to get your manuscript to the top of the submission pile.