Simple Ways to Get Responses to Your Queries

April 5, 2016 D. H. McKee

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Here’s some advice to give your queries an edge. One thing I’d add to this list is that you should always adhere to the query guidelines. If the agent asks you to use specific wording in your subject line, pay close attention. As one who parses a lot of emails in lists, I like to look for the outlier … and delete it.

1. Make your subject line clear and distinctive. If you’re a published author, a bestselling author, if you have a mystery, a romance, an offer of representation make it clear in the subject. Adding more than just query can help your query stand out. Even if all you have to add is the title of your book. It’s very common for the title alone to be a deciding factor in why a book is first requested. Just ask Sally MacKenzie, author of The Naked Duke.

Check out the full article at: BookEnds Literary Agency

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About This Site

As a guy who occasionally curates art shows and wrangles artists together, I often have to edit and post artist bios, profile pictures, and artwork images. This can be a problem, since many artists and writers aren’t used to selling themselves. Artists rarely know how to present their art for display in a brochure, and writers aren’t used to writing about themselves.

Writers often treat the bio like it’s an interview or something. Maybe like they’re having a conversation with you, the reader. While it may work sometimes, the most common way to write a bio is to write in the 3rd person.

I’m like those writers, and I’m talking to you directly, unlike the common way to do a bio. You should see my About page. It makes sense to me, since this is a bit which describes my blog’s website. When I get famous enough that I don’t have time to talk to you, I’ll have an intern write everything in 3rd person. Until then, you get to talk to me.

Like blogs of old, this one is a personal document of the comings and goings of me. Articles I’ve written, links I’ve posted, videos I liked, etc. Here, a first-person perspective is the way to go, at least for now. So, this is my site. I’m D. H. McKee, a sometimes artist, sometimes writer. Mostly just a guy on the internet.