So, you’ve finished your manuscript and polished until it shines.  Now it’s time to submit.  More and more agencies are now accepting online submissions.  Generally speaking when you email a submission you are going to paste your query letter and your sample pages into the body of an email, because most places will not accept attachments.

However, always, always, always, check the agency’s submission guidelines.  Follow those guidelines and do not stray from them.  Often, the simple mistake of not checking and following guidelines will automatically lead to a rejection.

If you are mailing, then make sure that it, again follows the guidelines, and two looks presentable.  Do not hand write query letters, type them.  Never send your only copy because chances are you will not get it back.

Now, as for the mailing itself, well it’s funny, everybody has their own opinion.  Some agents I’ve listened to at conferences have said a basic #10 envelope is all you need.  Others like the large, cardboard, letter mailers because of the easy open pull tab.  It’s totally up to you.

Personally, I use the priority mail letter mailers, send it priority mail, and add a delivery confirmation on it, but that’s just me and my personal tastes.

Ok, you’ve written your book, edited until your brain turned to mush, created a stunning synopsis, have the basic query letter, and now you need to send out a submission.

Before you start emailing agents or snail mailing them, you need to do your research.  Make sure that the agency and the agent and/or editor represent your genre and is looking to add clients to their list.

Have names and addresses and look up their credentials.  Have they sold any books lately?  Who else do they represent? What percentage do they make?  Do they charge you postage for mailing out submissions?

It boils down to know who you are submitting to and know if they are a good fit for your work.

These are my favorite sites for agent research:

www.writersmarket.com – This site is well worth the subscription fee.  You can buy the book, but the site is updated more often and the search features are great.  You can also save your searches and organize them.  If you don’t already know this site has listings of agents, editors, publishers, magazines, etc.  It also has useful articles and advice.

www.agentquery.com – This has a database of agents.  They have very specific standards and as far as I can tell they are all legitimate agents with sales.  It’s a free database and the search features are great.  A very good place to start to figure out who to submit your work to.

http://www.querytracker.net/ – This is another database of agents.  They have a lot of extra information, like recent sales, and whether they’ve responded based on the information submitted by users.  There is a free version (which is what I have) and a paid version.

Editors and Preditors – This site has agent listings with reviews and information.  They help you know if someone is trying to pull scams or if they went out of business.  A great site.

I really hated writing synopsis up until last year.  The idea of condensing my entire book down to one page single spaced seemed impossible, but I finally managed it. Thinking of synopsis as an essay about a book I read, helped me write it.  How would I, essentially, write a book report on my own book?  What would I include?  How does the plot make me feel?  What does the main character go through?  How does it change them?  You may want to brainstorm on those questions before writing the synopsis.

Okay, moving on.

A few quick formatting suggestions.  Synopsis can be about 2-3 pages double spaced or 1 page single spaced–always check any submission guidelines and adjust accordingly.  If using the single space method do not indent your paragraphs.  Put a return line between them instead, this is business letter format.

The first time you mention a character’s name, the name should be capitalized.  After that you can type it normally.  Remember to adjust your margins to 1 inch.  As for font, I don’t remember reading any font rules for the synopsis, so I think you would be safe with Times New Roman or Bookman Old Style.  It’s up to you.

As for the content of a synopsis:

First, introduce your character and give us the central conflict

Example:

AIDEN, a fourteen-year-old foster child, has always longed for a real home, but after he learns his home is in a different world he must choose to be a leader in Pelegra or a modern day hero on Earth.

After that initial paragraph, I have five more paragraphs depicting my plot.  Things to remember when writing the main body of a synopsis:

1. Drop all of your subplots, focus only on the plot points of the main character, the main plot, and the character arc.

2. Make the plot points emotional, by describing them with strong verbs and strong adjectives.

For example:  Aiden is ecstatic to discover he has a father…a desperate fight for peace begins…Aiden is plagued with dreams…He is triumphant with his success…Outraged, Aiden joins the rescue mission….  Aiden has finally found a sense of home and chooses…

3. By using emotion, show your character development through the story.

4. Yes, you MUST include the ending.

5. Your synopsis needs a header with your contact information and if you plan on using the multiple page, double spaced method, you should also have page numbers.

Well, that’s the basics.  To get a better overview, the best and only book I have found that deals with synopsis in depth, to my liking, is the Sell Your Novel Toolkit by Elizabeth Lyon.  I definitely recommend picking up a copy or at the very least, check it out from your local library.

Never send a generic query letter.  I tend to think of query letters like cover letters that I would send out with my resume, they need to be tailored to a specific company and in the case of agents to a specific agent.  Always address it to a specific person, double check the spelling of their name, and address them properly, for example Ms. Smith.  Mr. Jones.  Your query letter is a business letter, remember that.

The body of your query letter should start with a solid hook.  Now what exactly comprises a hook?  Well, it’s going to vary person to person but the goal is to introduce your character, add in some suspense, and make the reader want more.

My hook is the following:

Aiden was recently suspended from school.  He’s been having strange dreams he doesn’t understand and after his 14^th birthday he will never look at a major appliance the same way again.

This tells you who the character is, how old he is, something about his personality and/or past, and leaves you wondering what exactly happens to change his views about major appliances.  At least, I do hope that you are curious about that.

The next paragraph should clearly state why you are contacting them, what you want them to represent or publish, including title, genre, and word count and then a few sentence summary of your plot.

Example: I am seeking representation for my 50,000 word young adult fantasy novel entitled Pelegra and the Son of Merek where…

Be sure and include the central conflict of the store.  My central conflict is this:

Aiden’s decision to be a leader or a modern day superhero will affect an entire world, the question is which one.

The next paragraph, you may want to explain why you are contacting this particular person. For example, we met at the Willamette Writer’s conference or author xxx recommended that I submit to you, or even, your agency bio says you specialize in…  Now is also a good place to state where your book fits into the current market.  Does it share themes with other books?  What audience do you see it reaching.

The last paragraph should be any credentials and/or platform that you have.

Always be sure and thank the agent , for example:

Thank you for your time and consideration.  I hope to hear from you at your convenience.

End with sincerely, do four returns, type your name, do two more returns, and then type the word Enclosed: followed by a colon and what you have enclosed—if you have not enclosed anything and you are just sending a query letter by itself then ignore the enclosed part.

I hope that helps you and for an in depth look at query letters and submission etiquette try the How to Sell Your Novel Toolkit by Elizabeth Lyon.

Occasionally I will do a series of posts regarding a specific topic.  I’ve decided to discuss some basics, things I wish I had known long before I did.  I’m going to start with a common term: manuscript format.  Essentially, a manuscript should have a title page, the body of the manuscript should have a header, be in a non condensed font, be double spaced, and have 1 inch margins.

Let’s break this down a bit.

The title page should have your contact information in the upper left hand corner and the title should be centered and approximately two thirds of the way down the page.

The header should have your last name, a hyphen and some identifier, such as the title of your book, or a partial title, and the page number.  The page number should start on the first page of your manuscript (in other words there is no page number on your title page) and should be in the upper right hand corner.

The body should be in a non condensed font, such as bookman old style and should be double spaced.  You will want to adjust the margins to be 1 inch.  If you Microsoft word the automatic settings are 1.5 inch margins and Times New Roman font–so you will want to make some adjustments.  Your font size should be 10 or 12, though 12 is often the preferred size.

New chapters should start 2/3 of the way down on a new page.  Also, if you are like me and were taught that you should put two spaces after a period, think again.  The publishing world only wants one.  Don’t despair, just use the edit>find/replace tool to change it.  Type a . space space in the find and type a . space in the replace and there you go, instant fix.

There are other things a beginning writer should be aware of like dialogue is indented and often in a new paragraph, but not always.  When you switch characters you start a new paragraph.  I highly recommend buying a book on formatting.  It will get you started in the right direction and you won’t have as much correcting to do after the fact.

Personally, I suggest  Manuscript Makeover by Elizabeth Lyon, it’s a great book.  Again, if you can’t buy one right now, go to your library and see if they have or can get you a copy through inter library loan.