Event Description
Seminar
How to Write Query Letters & Proposals
Saturday, May 20, 2017
10:30 am – 1:00 p.m.
How do you get published in “mainstream” publishing? If your story is fiction, get your backside in a chair and write it. If it’s nonfiction, the first and most critical step is creating a proposal. When you have a proposal, when your novel is in final manuscript, you will need an irresistible query letter that will convince an agent to represent you. Only literary agents have the contacts to get your work seen and read by editors in publishing houses. But how to begin?
Nearly all nonfiction books are sold with a proposal that enlists the aid of a literary agent in convincing an acquisitions editor at a publishing entity to advance funds to a writer with an idea, unless you are self-publishing.
Once the final few sentences of your Great American novel have been penned or a non-fiction tale that no one else could scribe, it’s time to get your manuscript in front of an agent. We will give practical advice and savvy tips on how to turn your work into an attractive product ripe for picking by the book-publishing establishment.
Come prepared to learn how you can talk persuasively–i.e., pitch!–your project, whether it’s fiction or nonfiction, and use your pitch to generate great query letters and proposals.
Also, you’ll go home equipped with useful resources like a pitch “blueprint” as well as examples of what agents look for in queries, their pet peeves, and query letters that grabbed them and resulted in sales.
Bring paper and pen (or a laptop or iPad) and your best idea for a nonfiction book, and learn how to write irresistible query letters and book proposals. We will take you through the steps to a successful book query and proposal.
About our presenter — Monica Faulkner
In today’s ever-evolving publishing world, it isn’t just about your book—it’s even more about building your career.
Editor and publishing consultant MONICA FAULKNER, a published author herself, is dedicated to working with authors so their projects reach their full potential both creatively and commercially. Her services include manuscript analyses and evaluations; developmental editing, copyediting, line editing, and proofreading; strategizing for publishing independently or finding a publisher (including submitting client projects to agents and traditional publishers); and managing the editorial, design, and printing phases of independently published projects.
She is a frequent speaker at conferences and organizations such as IWOSC, the Ventura County Writers Club, Author 101 University, and the 805 Writers’ Conference. Learn more about her and check out some of her blog posts at MonicaFaulkner.com.