<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: Lots of promises but contradictory substance
Review: First the author promises you the moon amidst reminders that your chances of succeeding as a freelance writer are virtually nil. He follows with 10 unbreakable commandments for a query letter, which are repeatedly and obviously broken in the subsequent examples of letters he recieved as an editor. No rules are unbendable, but his examples are so far from his recommendations in some cases that I wonder what he was thinking. For example, the author admonishes us to use provocative, snappy leads that grab the reader, then presents several queries that begin with wordy, boring personal introductions or whose leads are buried for several paragarphs. He warns us to concise, then shows a three-page query that he calls one of the best he ever received as an editor and which doesn't specify the topic clearly until the very end. Contradictions like this abound throughout the book. Make up your mind Mr. Wood. Overall, mostly a waste of my time.
Rating: 
Summary: Good reference, although mostly for non-fiction writers
Review: I've rated this book based on it's value overall, not just it's value for me. In other words, I'm trying to be objective. This book would be a valuable resource for me if I were a non-fiction writer. The sections on non-fiction book and article proposals took up most of the book, with the section on the novel proposals, query letters and synopses taking up about a quarter of the book. On a positive note, the book does include good examples of things writers shouldn't do when writing and submitting these documents. Many books on the subject describe your formats, but don't show you an example of a well-written document. One thing I noticed immediately upon opening the book, was the large typeface. I liked this, as it made the book easier to look at. I've read entirely too many books with miniscule typefaces, only to come away with a headache from squinting at it once I'm done reading. I liked this, but then, the large typeface also made the book longer and made it look as though it contained more material than it actually did. I couldn't give it 5 stars for reasons mentioned by other reviewers, but if you are a non-fiction writer or a fiction writer in need of additional references, this is a good book.
Rating: 
Summary: Mostly for non-fiction writers
Review: My three star rating is the average of two stars if you're a novelist, and perhaps four if you're not. As a novelist beginning to accumulate those unimaginative rejection form letters, Mr. Wood convinced me that, regardless of the guidelines, send at least a synopsis along with the query letter. The two pages he devotes to writing the novel synopsis are worthless, however, and according to Writer's Digest, perhaps dangerously outdated. As indicated by WD, for today's agents and editors, the novel synopsis should never exceed five double-spaced pages. (See "format Your Novel Proposal" by the editors of Writer's Digest in the August 2002 issue to get the scoop on cover letters, synopses and chapter-by-chapter outlines.) The WD article is not helpful for novel query letters though. Mr. Wood devotes 11 pages (out of 185) to the novel query, including his model sample and one successful query. You might get as much by surfing the web. Still, I don't regret buying this book. The majority of "Attention Grabbing..." discusses query letters and correspondence relating to non- fiction. Although non-fiction isn't by cup of tea, Mr. Wood's plentiful advice appears to be useful.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Helpful.
Review: Now we can know why writers receive rejection letters. John Wood has been there--on both sides. As an editor he reviewed over 25,000 query letters, seeing all the mistakes repeated over and over--and the occasional gem, which always followed a few simple rules. As a writer he has lived through the frustrating write/rejection cycle firsthand. He is as qualified as anyone to write this tutorial. The quality of his writing proves it. His book is dead-on, with easily understood descriptions. After homilizing on the general decay of "The Art of Correspondence," Wood presents an interesting chapter on how the editor/writer relationship--and each respective role--is viewed from both the writer's and the editor's perspectives, including the myths and misconceptions. This lays the groundwork for the meat of the manual: the list of ten query "commandments" and ten query "sins." These are made particularly instructive by the inclusion of actual samples letters, both good and bad, and his own created "ideal" letter. While the book focuses mainly on magazine article queries, there are chapters for fiction and non-fiction book writers too. Most of the rules seem to apply to all types of submissions, although he does a good job of delineating the subtle differences. The book goes on to cover various other types of correspondence a writer might send to editors and publishers. The one flaw (relating only to my personal needs) was his short treatment of the fiction novel synopsis, which he convinces is fundamentally important, but then devotes only two pages to, and fails to include any samples. Overall, the book is excellent. You may have written the greatest article or book in history, but without Wood's help, it may never see the florescent light of the bookstore. --Christopher Bonn Jonnes, author of Wake Up Dead.
Rating: 
Summary: Promise not kept
Review: This guy presents a query format I've never seen, and it certainly is evey-catching. He proposes that you start out your query letter with a 3 line blurb, kind of like what you might see on the back of an already-published novel, which is a technique no one else has ever suggested in the dozens of other "how to write query letters" books I've read. He covers how to write queries for just about every type of writing you an imagine, even magazine articles. Very thorough and helpful.
<< 1 >>
| 
