How to Write Irresistible Query Letters: An easy-to-follow guide to writing professional queries that produce sales--for articles and nonfiction books [Paperback]

Lisa Collier Cool (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0898793912 | ISBN-13: 978-0898793918 | Publication Date: February 27, 1990

This popular book shows writers how to increase their chances of a sale by preselling the idea via a query letter. Sample query letters are analyzed to show what works and why.

Product Details

• Paperback: 136 pages
• Publisher: Writer's Digest Books (February 27, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0898793912
• ISBN-13: 978-0898793918
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #976,364 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very general book about query letters ....., July 14, 2002

By 

Mary Chrapliwy (NJ, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How to Write Irresistible Query Letters: An easy-to-follow guide to writing professional queries that produce sales--for articles and nonfiction books (Paperback)

.... with instruction and a different slant for so many different mediums. The beginning of the book serves up a valuable lesson on how to develop an idea that may sell, how to slant for different markets, hooking the editor and selling yourself. Then there is a short section on research and interviews. This dynamite little book not only tells you how to write and slant your query to different markets, but give concrete examples by using sample letters. This is a nice little introductory book with a concrete process that'll help you write a great query letter.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Resource for All Writers, July 7, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: How to Write Irresistible Query Letters: An easy-to-follow guide to writing professional queries that produce sales--for articles and nonfiction books (Paperback)

When I began my writing career fourteen years ago, I needed to know the basics. Thanks to this book, I learned how to write a focused, relevant query letter. Lisa Collier Cool's writing and examples do more than show you an effective way of writing the query letter--they show you how to develop a confident way of presenting your ideas.

For those who found no value in the book, I'm shocked. Thanks to Ms. Cool's no-nonsense approach, I became a successful published author hundreds of times over. If you're just starting out, get this book. While it could be updated to include Internet-based querying, it's a terrific primer just the way it is.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Better than most, September 19, 2005

By 

Pastorio - See all my reviews

This review is from: How to write irresistible query letters (Writer's basic bookshelf) (Library Binding)

It's a good, basic text on magazine and non-fiction book queries and covers the ground well. The writing is straightforward, clean and informative. I was looking for a book on fiction queries and this one isn't it. I wish there had been a subtitle that said what the book actually covered.