From the Query to The Call

By elanajohnson

3.8K 135 3

FROM THE QUERY TO THE CALL outlines what a query letter -- or cover copy -- is, why every author needs to mas... More

Introduction
Section One: About this Book
Cover Copy vs. Query Letters
What Queries Are
What Queries Are Not
Why You Need a Query
Section Two: Writing a Killer Query
The Hook
The Setup
The Conflict
Conflict, Part 2
Conflict, Part 3
Conflict, Part 4
Conflict, Part 5
Conflict, Part 6
Conflict, Part 6
The Consequence
Consequence, Part 2
Consequence, Part 3
Consequence, Part 4
Consequence, Part 5
Everything Else
The Introduction
Marketing Comparison
Author Bio
Author Bio, Part 2
Author Bio, Part 3
Publishing Credentials
Conclusion

Consequence, Part 6

82 3 0
By elanajohnson

Your job: Separate your consequence from the rest of your query letter. Is it concise? Do you even have one? If not, this is a novel problem, not a query letter problem. Is it a cliffhanger? Enough to entice the reader to want to read the entire book? If not, make it so—both in the novel and in the query.

Test Yourself:

Take the first sentence of your query blurb and copy it into a new document. Now copy and paste your last sentence (your consequence sentence) right behind it. Is that your book? It should be—in a nutshell.

Here’s mine, for Possession:

In a world where Thinkers brainwash the population and Rules are not meant to be broken, fifteen-year-old Violet Schoenfeld does a hell of a job shattering them to pieces. When secrets about her “dead” sister and not-so-missing father hit the fan, Vi must make a choice: control or be controlled.

I had three full requests with just those two sentences. It really does sum up my entire book, all in 2 sentences, 51 words. Try it!

 

 

Final Words on the consequence:

Leave the reader on a “cliffhanger”—needing to read more to find out what happens next

Avoid using a question as the consequence

Bring the query full-circle, tying your beginning hook to your cliffhanger consequence

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