Query Letter Bootcamp with Haley Swanson— Jan.11

It's hard to find an agent who's the right fit. But querying agents can be easy--once you understand the makings of a strong and successful query letter.

Drafting a query letter is intimidating, and for some of us, it might be the first time we condense our book project into less than 500 words (hint: much less). Not to mention there's a lot of conflicting information out there on the best tone to take in your letter, how to choose comp titles, exactly how many paragraphs constitute a "succinct" summary, the list goes on.

In this class, you'll take a close look at a few different types of query letters--nonfiction proposal, memoir, novel and short story collection--before breaking them down into digestible (and replicable) sections.

Next, you'll either draft or revise your own letter for workshop with the instructor and the class.

What you will learn

The nitty-gritty of how to best query an agent. This means:

• Best practices for email subject lines

• Best practices for tone when addressing an agent you haven't met before

• Best practices for when to schedule/send the email

• How to strengthen and hone your author bio

• And, of course, how to write a successful query letter!

Workshop takeaways

• Confidence in your project summary

• Confidence in your author bio

• Confidence in your ability to quickly pull together a query for any agent

Additional info

If you can't attend this class live, it will be recorded! Students will receive a recording the day after the class, and it will be available for 30 days.

About the Instructor

Haley Swanson is a writer and co-editor of Sex and the Single Woman: 24 Writers Reimagine Helen Gurley Brown's Cult Classic (Harper Perennial, 2022). Her work has appeared in The Rumpus, Glamour, Electric Literature, Bustle, Creative Nonfiction, and elsewhere. She's received support from Disquiet International, an NES Artist Residency, and taught writing at Catapult. Before receiving her MFA from Sarah Lawrence College, she worked in editorial at both Viking/Penguin Random House and HarperCollins. She lives in New York.