When Queries Tell Me Nothing

I am working my way through submissions today and decided to take a break. Actually, it was a coffee break that extended to blogging but hey, it is still a break. Needless to say, I was once again finding a common trend in submissions today that authors need to consider.

As always, we know that. in the end, it is about the story. Is it quality writing? Is it marketable? Blah, blah, blah... However, for us to get to that manuscript, we have to get through that query letter. If that query letter doesn't sell the story, then we will never see your writing.

The majority of rejections that I sent out today so far were for query letters that simply were not interesting. Not that the project wasn't, but the letter just sat there. Essentially it was:

Dear Mr. Eagan,

I have written a contemporary romance called Come On Baby Light My Fire. It is a 70,000 word story about a fire fighter falling in love with a girl. 

I can send it to you. It is finished.

Signed,

Everyday Author

What I find amazing is that authors are told, time and time again, to SHOW DON'T TELL in their stories, and yet, when it comes to business writing, they can't do the same thing.

If you are someone saying, "Here is another example of how the industry makes you jump through a hoop" I guess I am going to have to agree with you. This is about marketing. Just throwing a book out there and hoping someone will just jump at it because you liked it is not going to work.