Please welcome the ever entertaining Kate Schafer Testerman who founded kt literary in early 2008, after nearly ten years with industry powerhouse agency Janklow & Nesbit Associates. She concentrates on middle grade and YA fiction as well as handling some select adult commercial fiction and narrative nonfiction.
She’s here to share the Do’s and Don’t's of Querying. Enjoy!
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The emphasis is on community.
Thanks! That’s really helpful.
When you said to mention writing classes, does that include writing workshops at Writer’s Conferences?
Excellent information here, thank you Kate!
Really liked this. Thanks Kate!
You mean you don’t care that my dog is a window licker with a black spot on his tongue. Thanks for the tips.
Great stuff, Kate. Thanks for your time and wisdom.
I loved this, thank you – and without a face to go with your voice, you sound a LOT like Jane Krakowski!
Thank you for the great advice and the fun presentation.
No querying for the gerbil . . . so I guess my geckos are out too . . .
This was fun and informative. Thanks!
Thanks for sharing your tips about querying.
I really enjoyed your fun presentation and gleaned a lot of useful information.
Thank you…
from another Colorado Kate
That was absolutely great! Love the presentation, and there were two advices in there I wasn’t sure about before. Thanks for clearing them up for me.
Thank you for taking time out of your busy day to join us at WriteOnCon. Fun presentation and very informative,
Thank you again Kate! This information is absolutely fabulous. Can’t wait for your panel!
What a great way to do an online presentation. I love hearing it rather than reading it, too. Thanks for the info.
You said no gerbils, but you didn’t mention Wombies, so that got my Binky thinking he might like to query you.
Thank you. I got a lot out of that.
I had a question. You said to mention degrees, does that only include english or lit degrees? I have a bachelors in EL Ed, would you mention that or would it be detracting?
Thanks again!
THANKS!!!
Common sense!!!
Darn! I I wrote my entire query from the POV of my gerbil.
Back to the computer I go…
X K8
Cool!
I’ve reached the querying stage for the first time, so this was really helpful to me!
…And I definitely just investigated your website and bookmarked your blog. Because I’m a huge geek and you are clearly fluent in Dungeons and Dragons. I’ve never based a novel on a campaign, but I have written poems describing adventures because I was playing a bard.
Great vlog. I promise to never send you a query mentioning my urban paranormal comedy, even though my gerbil kids REALLY loved it!
Thanks for your comments, guys! To answer some of your questions…
Kathryn – yes, if you’ve done more than just sit in on a panel discussion, but actually participated in a workshop, I think that’s a credit worth mentioning.
Tara – unfortunately, pictures of cute dogs fall into the category of attachments, and keep me from seeing any tongue spots whatsoever. Save it for when we’re officially working together!
Jason – I SING just like Jane Krakowski too — in my dreams, at least!
Chris – if you think your BA in El Ed is useful or important info for the agent to know, then mention it, especially if it helped with your writing. So long as it’s not an “unrelated accomplishment”!
If you have more questions, I’ll keep checking back!
This is brilliant. Thank you! And, how did you not chuckle from time to time as you recorded this?
Kate, a question about experience: Do you want to see non-fiction stuff, like journalism degree, awards, etc. or does that fall into the same category as gardener/doctor? I’m never sure, because it is writing experience, after all.
Thanks for this great presentation!
Thanks! That was really helpful and informative.
This information was EXCELLENT!!!
So it’s just up to us to connect the dots now…
You put this presentation succinctly and your pronunciation was so clear that even my Greek hubby was able to understand everything!!! I’m sure that people following from abroad REALLY appreciate that Kate!
Just one question:
When are the most/least convenient times of the year to query you?
THANK YOU for making the querying process much less complicated!!!
Thanks for sharing your tips! Very helpful!
Jen – I think a journalism degree is absolutely the kind of experience you mention in a query letter — it most likely helped teach you to be a better writer, and that’s what agents are looking for!
Ann Marie – There’s no periods of the year that are specifically better or worse, usually, although I will say here what I mentioned previously on my blog — I’m going to be closed to queries from January 2011 until probably April or so. More details on my site!
Creative! The humorous pictures and giggle-worthy bits in your advice were even funnier with your serious tone and perfect articulation. Win! Thank you very much, Kate!