The Writer's Digest Guide to Query Letters

And the reason is that most query-writing books are heavy and soooooo serious. But in "The Writer's Digest Guide to Query Letters" Wendy Burt-Thomas tackles query writing from all angles--for articles, for nonfiction books, for novels, and for agents--with a sense of humor that is not only refreshing, it's good medicine. TWDGTQL is a reference shelf must for writers of all levels of experience. You won't get half-way through the book before you are putting it down (nearby) so you can jot down that query letter you've been MEANING to write but just hadn't gotten around to. And if you are one of the many writers intimidated by query-writing, all I can say is, read this book first. Yes, Wendy Burt-Thomas has probably written a million queries by now and this may be your very first. But her attitude to just do it and have fun with it is contagious. So have a ball writing queries...I promise you will after you read this book.

I just finished my memoir and went to Barns and Nobel to find a book on how to write query letters. Wendy's book, "Guide to Query Letters," caught my attention immediately. I read part of the book at the bookstore and decided this was the book that I needed. I was right. It has many different types of sample letters that have sold books, including fiction, nonfiction, and short articles. In addition, it gives good advice on proposal writing and tips on publishing. I have marked 19 pages as "important pages" in the book. When I wrote my query letter, I simply went to visit those marked pages for advice. In addition to the query letters, she also posted her own proposal. She also gives information on how to register copyright. I found this book extremely helpful and would recommend it to a good friend.

Burt-Thomas has written an excellent resource for any writer, those that are new to freelance writing and those with years of experience. Her book is informational and yet fun to read. As a beginning freelance writer, I read every book about the industry that I can find; there are very few that I recommend. Burt-Thomas's book is one of the exceptions, the ease in which she breaks down query writing and publication into realistic and accomplishable steps for any author is unmatched in other query writing books. If you are going to buy one book about query writing, make sure this is the one!!

One of the country's most in-demand non-fiction writers has shared her knowledge with the rest of us, and what a gem this book is. I read it in one sitting and found myself both informed and entertained. A non-writer friend picked it up from my coffee table and, after an hour's reading, commented how easy it was to understand, how clearly it was written (even for novices and non-writers), and how the humor made a potentially boring topic come alive. Now that friend wants to buy Wendy Burt's two chick-lit humor books, O Solo Mia and Work It, Girl! This Guide to Query Letters is a dynamite resource book that can help both inexperienced and established writers see where they've sometimes missed the boat, and more importantly, it will help them fix it so they make more sales.

My copy of this book just arrived two days ago. It is so worth the few bucks I spent on it. In a very conversational, easy-to-follow fashion, the author takes readers through the querying process...for magazines, novels and non-fiction. I suppose I could've spent a million hours on the internet and found out some of this stuff myself, but it's much nicer having it all in front of me, with plenty of "in-the-know" examples. It's like I paid a really great researcher about a penny per hour to dig the info up and write an entertaining, useful report for me. Five stars for sure.