REGISTRATION COMING SOON
About Query Letter Critiques:
During the MWW Agent Fest Online, our Query Letter Critique Team offers, for an additional fee of $50, the opportunity to meet for a 10-minute one-on-one consultation with an agent to discuss your query letter AND the first page of your manuscript.
The query letter is the time-honored tool for writers seeking publication. A query letter is a sales letter that attempts to persuade an editor or agent to request a full manuscript or proposal.
It’s your all-important first contact with an agent. It’s a one-page letter that explains who you are and what your book is about. Your query must be exceptional to get agents to request sample chapters for review. If your query letter is not up to snuff, agents will send a rejection rather than a request for more material.
PLEASE NOTE: The Query Letter Critique sessions are *not* the same as the AfterHours First Page Reads, a nightly, informal panel in which we read submitted first pages at random.
Query Critique Team will be announced soon.
Instructions:
- Email midwestwritersworkshop@gmail.com
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- Subject line: “Query Letter Critique, [Name of Agent/Editor you’ve signed up with]”
- Attach: IN ONE DOCUMENT your one-page query letter (single-spaced) + the first page of your manuscript (double-spaced)
- Please do not include your materials in the body of the email.
Materials for your critique session (query letter & first page) must be received by October 22, 2025.
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For tips on queries, click on these links
- Janet Reid’s QueryShark blog
- See my favorite how-to post on novel queries by Marcus Sakey.
- You can also read my 10-part series on writing novel queries. (Jane Friedman)
- For special considerations on memoir, reference this post. (Jane Friedman)