Getting back In There

I was reading some of the blogs of my fellow writers and was happy to see that Corrine Jackson landed an agent: Laura Bradford of the Laura Bradford Literary Agency.  Today is also my birthday.  So I am celebrating both of those things.

I submitted an ms to Ms. Bradford before and she requested a partial.  She passed on it but I am pleased to see her offer representation to a fellow writer, and a fellow YA writer at that.

Cory Jackson's blog is really fun to read and she passed on some great tips about writing the dreaded query letter.  I am going to try it with my most recent novel, The Ghost and the Guys, which I am considering renaming The Girl, The Ghost and The Guys.  I don't know who she got her tips from but they are worth passing on, so here goes:

1. Make your query about your protag and her/his problem.
2. What they are going to do about their problem.
3. What conflicts keep them from reaching their goal.
4. What are the stakes?  What happens if they don't succeed and why the reader should care.
5. Talk about the characters and their struggles, not the plot.

I am re-writing my query as we speak and hope to get some requests based on a new query letter.  Wish me luck!