Monday, December 1, 2014

Holiday Query Blog Hop

The link is now closed. People at the beginning and end of the list can now critique each other!



It's time for the Holiday Query Blog Hop! Everyone is welcome to join if you have a blog and a query letter. Your manuscript does not have to be finished or polished in order to join. The query can be for a work in progress, but please note that status in the query letter where the word count would go. 




Here's how it will work:

Post your query letter onto your blog. It can be any genre or age category, but please list this crucial information somewhere in the query letter. Keep your query to 250 - 350 words, give or take a few. No indents and put line space between paragraphs. Include everything you would send an agent: bio, greeting, closing. 

Example:

Dear Brilliant Agent:


Tom, the classroom hamster, wants to escape from the h-e double hockey sticks otherwise known as school. His old military pet shop days didn't include playing house or being sentenced to a boot camp of never-ending show ‘n tell, math facts rap, and story time. But he’s learned a lot behind the bars of his cage. For example, if you want to keep breathing, never trust a pygmy who has earned the nickname Squeezer. Somehow he has to get away before the pygmies dress him as Strawberry Shortcake again or worse.

When a “subspatoot” fills in, Tom sees his chance to put Operation Escape the Pygmies into action. He makes a run for the border, hamster style. Bad news. The principal says Tom is a distraction to learning and better off flushed. The way out is turned into a battlefield of snapping mousetraps, sticky snares, and poisoned pellets.

Tom seems doomed until the friendless Squeezer lends an over-excited hand. She quickly goes from supervillain to super sidekick. Now, the greatest obstacle to his freedom may be Tom’s soft spot for this lonely pygmy.

PYGMY HAZARDS is a MG fantasy complete at 34,000 words. I've worked with special needs children at an elementary school for ten years, giving me lots of experience with pygmies. My epic fantasy Kindar's Cure is published by Divertir Publishing. My short stories Frost and Fog and The Unfinished Task is published by Elephants Bookshelf Press.  

Thanks for your consideration.

Take the url link from your post and add it to the linky list below. (Click on the button in the post, not in the comments.) Use the list to critique the five people above and below your listing. If you are number 6 then you would feedback numbers 1,2,3,4,5,7,8,9,10,11 on the list. Please leave constructive criticism, but also say what you like about the query. Don't worry if it's not your genre, just do your best to give your thoughts. 

If your entry falls at the beginning or ending of the linky list, wait for the list to close and then give feedback to the other end of the list. For example if you are number 1, you would critique 2 through 6 then the last five links at the very end of the list once the hop closes. 




Of course you may also get super enthused and critique more than ten queries. Feel free to jump around and help out as much as you can!

Bonus: I will randomly choose entries from the linky list to feedback on my blog. (A few a week.)  Please watch for these entries and leave additional feedback here. 

And special treat! For the Holiday Query Blog Hop I'll be bringing in surprise guests to critique. This can be anyone from a published author to an agent. 

You are welcome to update your query letter with revisions. The linky list will remain open through December 14th. After that time, you may not join. The bonus critiques will not include everyone. I will do as many as I can while still having time for my own writing.

If you fail to critique the five entries above and below your spot, well... that's sad and I'm sure karma will know.

Need more critiques? Advertise your willingness to give to get feedback on twitter under the hashtag #HolidayQuery

The fun starts immediately!

57 comments:

  1. Thanks so much, Michelle, for hosting these low-pressure ways to get help and exposure!

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  2. This is really wonderful of you to host this!!! My query has been critiqued over 70+ times, and yet, no one ever seems to like it at 100% (including me) and I'm always paranoid that this is why I'm getting rejections...that or it's just my manuscript that's bad *shifty eyes* but at least I'll know soon enough ;)

    Thank you again so much! ^_^

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    1. Hitting 100% is tough. Janet Reid says if you're getting rejections on the query without requests for pages, it's the query. If you're getting requests for pages and get rejections it's the pages. If you get requests for fulls there's something wrong with the story, be it writing, plot, characters.

      However, you also have to have an intriguing story to query. Not long ago on Query Shark she said she'd stop reading when it got to human trafficking. It might be a great book, but she wasn't interested in reading about this horrific act for entertainment. Sometimes it's personal preference.

      Angela James says she can't sell stories with ghosts. Another agent is looking for them.

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    2. That Query Shark is the smartest.

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  3. Who's entry #9? I can't get to your blog. I think you've posted your link in the wrong field. I copied and pasted into browser, but I was sent to a blog with lots of pies...lol

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    1. I had that one in my critique list as well. I think the link should be this: http://tiffaniereginalynn.blogspot.ca/2014/12/holiday-query-blog-hop.html
      Hope that helps!

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  4. Great idea! I put the query for my WIP into the hat.

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  5. whoever posted the #9 query - the link doesn't work (just gives a lot of % marks)

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  6. looks fun! I joined in, hope my link works (as a few seem to not?) ...partially because I'm hopped up on cold pills at the moment, so it's entirely possible I made a mistake along the way :) Will check out everyone else's links in the morning after I sleep off the Acetaminophen.

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    1. Thanks of fixing all the broken links, including mine :)

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  7. Thanks Michelle! It was really helpful for me to read so many queries and provide feedback! I know we all appreciate the opportunity for multiple eyes on our work.
    Happy Holidays!

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  8. Well, this is scarey, but I'm in.

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  9. Hopefully #23 you'll read this. I can't find where to leave a comment & as no one else has left a comment I'd guess I may not be the only one. If you do read this, can you let us know when it's fixed & also, your QL is a synopsis (which you say so yourself), it might be worth editing and putting up the QL so as to get the feedback you're looking for :)

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    1. Just checked and I found the Comments - and left mine :)

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  10. Also #26 & #28 I've tried to open your links several times but they are not working. Hopefully you'll see this and check it out :)

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    1. I'm #26 =) try aightball.wordpress.com and the click on Query: Rescue Me at the top set of links

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    2. Hi Kel,
      that worked & I've left a comment :)

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    3. #28 - the link is working now & I've left my comment :)

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    4. I saw your comments =). I've posted a revision if you're interested. I think I nixed the pedo problem...

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  11. I "could not access" number 32. Might want to check the link?

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  12. #32 is mine. I couldn't fix it and I couldn't delete it so #33 is mine too. Sorry.

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  13. Link for 34 doesn't work for me.

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    1. It still doesn't work for me, but I just realized this is the same blog as 35 so it might be the same issue as chelle had above.

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  14. Disregard #37. #38 is the correct link.

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  15. I wanted to add my link to the hop, but the linky list isn't working for me - I keep getting an error message that says the page is unavailable. I can't see any of the other links at all, so I don't know who to go critique. Since I can't access the linky list, here's the link to my query: http://suddenlytheyalldied.com/2014/12/06/holiday-query-blog-hop/.

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    1. The linky link site may have been down last night. It seems to be working now.

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  16. I can't find where to comment on link no. 35, so I'm going to leave my comment here and hope Janelle sees it!

    I found the first paragraph confusing. It started off okay, but is George Chase's roommate? If so, maybe the line about George's bike could be tweaked a little. Something like, "But then someone steals his roommate George’s bicycle, ruining his science fair project and knocking him out of the competition." That way George's relationship to Chase is clearly established. Otherwise, I thought this was a nice query.

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    1. Link 35 is not mine, but to comment on it, you've gotta use the Reach Me tab up top to contact the author.

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    2. Thanks for the tip! I'll do that. :)

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  17. Can't add my link so posting it here.

    http://tnicolepayne.blogspot.com/2014/12/holiday-query-blog-hop_8.html

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  18. I can't seem to post my link either.

    - kate

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  19. The linky link is working. It's the button with the frog up in the post. The first blank is where you paste your link. The second blank is for your name.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Michelle, but there are no blanks when I get to the page :(

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  20. #37 has been revised. I would love to have feedback and I will return the favor just mention your link number in the comments. :)

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  21. As we head toward the end of this wonderful QL blog-hop that Michelle has run for us, I'd like to remind everyone to 'do the right thing' and comment on the 5 before and 5 after your QL link. There are several I've noticed who have 3,4,5 or 6 comments & it'd be lovely if everyone played by the rules.

    #31 for example (not mine) has 3 comments, of which one is mine & I'm not even in her 10-cycle, so only 2 people of her 10 have commented.

    I know links 1-5 have to wait until the end, so they know the last & can count backwards, but for those who have submitted above the no#5 and below the current last few (currently up to no#39 I think), don't forget to pop by and do your bit.

    OK, I'll get off my soapbox now :)

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  22. I've done the first five on the list and the five above me, but if I missed anyone, let me know and I'll stop back (I'm #39). :)

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  23. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  24. I've deleted my query to work on it. Thanks for the comments and help.

    Julie

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  25. Is there an ADD LINK button anywhere I am missing once you get on the page listing all the links? HELP!

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    1. It took me three visits to find it. It might have been removed somehow. But it's at the bottom under the links. It says 'Add your link.'

      I swear this is the last time I use this linky link. It's been terrible.

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  26. I've commented on eleven, but as I said, I'm dropping out.

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  27. My link in #41 is a NO GO. Did not work for some reason. Please go to #42 - Thanks!

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  28. I've edited both the 2 versions of my query, but I would greatly appreciate feedback on which is better since it seems to be very half-half - even just commenting on which you prefer/sounds better helps me a lot! :)

    I'm #5, but here's the link anyways: http://stormowl7.wordpress.com/2014/12/02/holiday-query-blog-hop-my-soul-to-give/

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  29. Okay so I'm #41 again, there's no 42 now. I'm still waiting for any critiques of my query - I haven't received any as of yet. Thanks! :)

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    1. I'll be stopping by over the weekend (I'm #39), but I'm in the hospital at the moment. I hope to hit everyone's queries after mine tomorrow sometime. :)

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  30. Hi J.R.,

    I am jumping in late, but see I am #43 so I will be critting your entry very shortly!

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  31. for #34 - how do we comment?

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  32. Better late than never... I decided to play along. Thanks for the opportunity... I'll start my critiques later on today.

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  33. Is there a way to edit or delete our link? Somehow mine became my email.

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