On Writing : Ask Me Anything (AMA) Wednesday 2/21 to Thursday 2/22- Nailing Your Book Proposals & Query Letters by Suzanne Corso

Suzanne is the best!

Hi, Suzanne Corso. Hope you're doing great. Thanks for hosting another AMA. What goes in a book proposal?

Hi Suzanne Corso - thanks a ton for hosting this AMA and spending your day with us. Question: How would you advise getting connected to an agent that will read your query when most don't accept unsolicited material? Thanks so much in advance!

You're AMA is chalk full of: i.e. find out what all I did!

Hello Suzanne.. Thank you for joining us, and for sharing your knowledge and expertise.

I am looking for a literary agent, and even though I have self published five books with Amazon.. a query letter is definitely difficult to write. How can I pitch a book that is already published to a literary agency? Also, how can I make my query letter stand out?

Thank you for any help that you may provide. I wish you the very best with your continued success!

Roberta Wilson

Let me address a few of you above.

This def goes into a book proposal::

● The perfect query letter to publishers

● The best 2-to-4-page synopsis of your book

● A chapter by chapter outline of your book

● Your one page, authors, bio, which explains who you are and what you’re writing about and why should a publisher and audience will care.

Maurice Vaughan Let me know how it goes!!!!

Leonardo Ramirez Agents are funny that way. Its truly luck of the drawer. Even when you know someone its up to the agent to decide if your book is marketable enough. A query letter is always great it explains exactly what you have in detail. Let me think of s few agents!!

Query letters.. Yes standing out in a world filled with such flavor is hard, but know that you have your own style and I am sure you are very gifted as a writer... Roberta Wilson

Start with a bold statement, a surprising fact, or an intriguing premise, among other things. Get them at the first sentence ,,,without cursing ha!! Let me know>>>>

Dear Suzanne Corso

Thank you for your sincerity! I will be bold right out of the gate.. I never thought I’d be writing books at this point in my life. I am a pastry chef, with a passion for desserts.. and coupled with my overworked imagination, my books aren’t just about short tempered people who cook food..

Thank you for taking the time to answer the questions. I am still creating desserts. I made a lovely cherry almond bread this afternoon.

Roberta

Great info and feedback Suzanne Corso. And you’re right. It is so true that it’s a combination of the right agent and the right query. This is already a great AMA. Thank you!

suzanne .. my friend you Future film your screen play you are ready

Thanks for the answer, Suzanne Corso. I'm not writing a book, but it's great to know this information in case I write one.

My next question's your question: How do I identify the "why me and why now"? More so the "why now"?

Dear Suzanne Corso

Thank you for responding and I will be bolder in my approach. I became a writer in the middle of my career as a pastry chef for nearly 3 decades. I have a passion for desserts, and my ideas seemed to fill my thoughts while I worked and after the work day.

I’ve written a screenplay about my first serious baking job. it was quite an experience, as the husband and wife chef team were insanely arrogant.. Looking back, I can’t believe I worked there.

But I have a very sharp memory, and I made a few good friends on that job.

Thank you again for your insight, and continued best wishes for your successes.

Roberta Wilson

Def Now and Def You!! Do it!! Maurice Vaughan

Wow!! I love this Roberta Wilson I went to Italy to ghost write a cookbook in Jan was amazing.. Nothing like it Please incorporate stories and before and after pictures with the recipes, amongst other things when you can. We all love a good story especially when it comes to food and the origins... #blessed

Thank you much Sameer Ansari

Thank you so Kenneth Adrian Ellis

Just thought of a follow up question Suzanne Corso - what's your take on sending multiple simultaneous queries even if each is personalized?

And I love this: "We all love a good story especially when it comes to food and the origins." I love learning about where different foods originated from. Food is a big deal in Puerto Rico. But right now, I'm hungry for cherry almond bread by Roberta Wilson . That sounds amazing!

Thank you Leonardo Ramirez

And thank you Suzanne Corso

Thanks, Suzanne Corso. I definitely have some script ideas that can be books.

Suzanne Corso I love that this AMA is happening here. Sooooo needed, and this is a space I'm currently learning about myself. Would love your take on bio placement for fiction vs. nonfiction in the query. I see different schools of thought on this...bio first so agent knows who you are up front vs. book hook first so you can pull them into the story/premise. Do you think bio first is more suited for nonfiction than fiction? Or does it really matter at all in your opininon?

Thank you for sharing your time with us today, Suzanne Corso! How detailed should a chapter-by-chapter book outline be?

(Suzanne) You are very very very welcome!

Hi Suzanne Corso! Thank you so much for doing this AMA! How would you recommend writers determine which publishers to submit their query to?

Emily J definitely picking the right publisher for your genre of your book is very important. Always research the publisher. However, try and find an agent first. always the best way to go. Thanks.

Ashley Renee Smith Great question. Make every chapter by chapter detailed although a book proposal should only be 15 to 30 pages long. Do you want to keep as much detail as you can in those number of pages so if you choose three or four chapters to write about make sure they detailed so the agent and publisher get a feel of what your looking to say.

Is it possible to pitch an already published book to an agent.. and if you’ve sold less than 1,000 books, does that automatically mean they will reject you? Suzanne Corso

Roberta Wilson You can def show an agent a published book so they can get an idea of your writing.

i.e. Literary Agency acceptance letter after my query to their organization. This was in September of '08.

Suzanne Corso Suzanne Corso Hi Suzanne, thanks for bring here for the AMA. My question is with regards to the content of the query letter and is it similar in tone to say investors in a film, that you should/could show what value you will bring to a publisher? Or does the analogy not work for printed media?

great stuff Kenneth Adrian Ellis

Geoff Hall You are most welcome. We know the golden rule is to write from the heart and from what One knows. So, don't worry about investors at this moment. Write a great query letter filled with substance about your subject matter. A good agent and publisher will def know if this is commercial and great and can sell to the masses!!!

Thanks again for hosting this AMA, Suzanne Corso! Congratulations on all your success! Glad to hear "Brooklyn Story" is being made into a feature and you wrote the script!

Here's the link to the lab that Suzanne Corso taught: "Write your Book Proposal: Query, Synopsis & Outline" : https://www.stage32.com/education?p=8948626817331 Great AMA!

thank you D.E. White

Thanks, Suzanne, for all the helpful information. One thing we've been included in most of our query in a sentence or two and in our proposals with a paragraph a more, some with links -- Market Appeal. Especially if your story addresses Social Justice, the Environment, or other Global Challenges. It can help decision-makers who may not be familiar with your topic to learn more about it and see that there maybe lots of potential viewers/readers interested in your topic.