CL story

due Monday may 13 at noon 

Having reviewed the course text section on the business of writing, specifically, the section on drafting a cover letter, you will draft a cover letter for your story as if you were preparing the story for publication by Monday, May 13, 2013. Make sure that you list the elements required: the hook, the brief synopsis, brief biography, and closing.

As noted, a query letter is designed to pique an agent’s, or a publisher’s, interest. It’s not a resume or rambling epic of your journey as a writer. Ideally, it is a single-page cover letter that introduces you and your book and consists of four paragraphs:

· the hook

· a brief synopsis

· writer’s biography.

· closing

The Hook: A hook is a concise, single-sentence tagline. As implied, it is designed to hook your reader’s interest. A great way to read how a hook is devised is to visit your local bookstore, turn over the cover of a novel and read! Just as the writer and publisher want to snare you in as few, carefully crafted words as possible, so too should you devise this same strategy when trying to snare an agent or publisher.

Here are a few examples of hooks:
With her reputation forever tarnished by a youthful indiscretion, lovely Emily Faringdon is resigned to a life of spinsterhood, until she embarks on an unusual correspondence and finds herself falling head over heels in love.  (Amanda Quick, Scandal)
One night, Matt hunter innocently tried to break up a fight—and ended up a killer. (Harlan Coben, The Innocent)
In a secluded house not far from Washington, D.C., the FBI is interviewing one of the most important witnesses it has ever had, a young woman named Faith Lockhart. For Faith has done too much, knows too much, and she’ll tell too much. (David Baldacci, Saving Faith)

So much captured in so few words!

The brief synopsis. This is where you condense your 400-page novel into a single paragraph. Good luck! But consider this a luxury; following the brevity of the hook, you now get approximately 150 extra words to play with. Basically, you will expound upon the hook by sharing information about your main characters, their problems, and their conflicts. And, like the hook, the synopsis can often be found on the back cover:

In the 1970s in Northern California, a father and his teenage daughters, Anna and Claire, work their farm with the help of Coop, an enigmatic young man who makes his home with them. Theirs is a makeshift family, until it is shattered by an incident of violence that sets fire to the rest of their lives. Divisadero takes us from San Francisco to the raucous backrooms of Nevada’s casinos and eventually to the landscape of Southern France. As the narrative moves back and forth through time and place, we find each of the characters trying to gain some foothold in a present shadowed by the past. (Michael Ondaatje, Divisadero)

Writer’s biography. Keep it short and focused on writing. No one cares about your day job or your philanthropic work at the local animal shelter, unless it directly relates to your book. Education is a plus, but it’s only really important if you’re submitting a nonfiction book that features a subject matter that relies more upon education and experience and accentuates your “platform”–confirmation that you are qualified in this subject area. It looks good if you’ve published in your local newspaper, short stories in a literary magazine, or won writing awards or contests, but, again, not having any of these accolades is not a deal breaker.

Closing: First, thank the agent for his/her time and consideration. Second, indicate that the full manuscript is available upon request. Important: Don’t send a query unless you have finished the story or novel! Agents want to read the entire novel before offering representation.