When I set out to learn about my mother's bridge club, the Jewish octogenarians behind the matching outfits and accessories, I never expected to fall in love with them. This is the story of the ladies, their game, their gen, and the ragged path that led me back to my mother.When I started out in publishing, I learned that one of my favorite books was found in the slush pile, Ordinary People by Judith Guest. More recently, the Twilight series was found in the slush. I’ve always kept my eye on the slush, though most of what passes through are projects that are not right for me (fiction specifically, self-help, business, global politics). I also get a lot queries that people assume are right for me: psychology, memoir, mental illness, family crap, etc. In all fairness, I worked on a lot of those book and was even called The Pain and Suffering Editor. At some point, I found myself more interested in stuff outside myself. That point was probably when I went on Lithium. LOL. I never get stuff I really want to see: science, history, narrative on-fiction, investigative journalism. Today, I received a wonderful query. I’ll keep you posted if the pages are as good as the letter/title/author’s credentials. Eternal springs hope.
Do you know how to write an effective query letter?
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Betsy Lerner 
Evidently, I do not know how to write an effective query letter.
Me neither
“Do you know how to write an effective query letter?”
Twice I have. But it takes more than that, as you know. The letter has to arrive at the right person at the right time. So good luck, my fellow scribblers.
Yes, true. But most of the queries I receive show that the writer hasn’t checked out my bio on my agency’s website. So right place can be addressed. Right time you have no control over, it’s true. I’m going to do a query writing workshop here. Im going abroad today so I don’t know if I’ll have good enough WiFi but it will be my priority when I’m back. I can definitely tell you what not to do.
I never had to write one – gasp!
What I learned thru reading about those who were querying (b/c one day I might need to know) is the query should answer these questions: who, what, and why.
I’ll be interested to see if this is right from you. (assuming that’s you, Betsy – Anonymous?)
No. I have a difficult time trimming the excess and leaving just the heart of the matter.