The Great Query Contest of 2013

Dear Ms. Agent,

Have you ever wondered why query letters should NOT start with rhetorical questions? 

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Dear Mr. Spencer Hill, 

I has wrote a book. 

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Dear Editor, 

If you ever want to see your guinea pig alive again, leave a publishing contract in a briefcase at...

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 Spencer Hill Press has "open subs" coming up, so it's time to get those queries in shape with...

THE GREAT QUERY CONTEST OF 2013! 

How to participate:

Paste your query into the comments section on the Ganzfield website contact form.

Please submit your query by Friday, November 8th. All genres are acceptable, however, I reserve the right not to post queries that contain material that people might find offensive (e.g., graphic language and/or explicit sex). Depending on the volume received, I'll probably have to pick and choose for query critiques, so not everyone will get a critique (I didn't cap it the last time, and I was critiquing for WEEKS).

I'll go through the entries and do several critiques throughout the next two weeks, which I'll post here at Disgruntled Bear. People who get critiques can then revise and resubmit their queries (revisions must be received by November 15th). I'll select the queries that I feel are the best-of-the-best from all received (including resubmitted ones) and then give the blogosphere a chance to vote during the week of November 18th. All queries received will be considered for the finals, even if they do not receive the online query critique.

The winner will get a $25 gift card to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, 

Book Depository, or the indie bookstore of her/his choice. 

Please spread the word!

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Back in the days before I was an editor, I wrote a post about writing compelling query letters that still holds up--feel free to check it out:
http://thedisgruntledbear.blogspot.com/2010/09/writing-query-letters-101.html