Lane Heymont

Spamming agents and editors on Facebook, let alone their personal pages, is a big NO-NO! #querytip

Keep complaining about agents/editors off social media, at least about respectable ones. People talk and nothing is private. #querytip

Your life story doesn't belong in a query. Congrats on being a track star in high school (however long ago), but get to the pitch. #querytip

For the love of bumblebees, please state your word count, title, and genre! #querytip

A great tool to help structure your novel is Blake Synder's beat sheet. Use it. #querytip #writingtips storyfix.com/beat-sheet-bas…

Urban Fantasies are a hard sell right now. The market is cyclical, so they'll come back around, but write/query with this in mind. #querytip

Actions speak louder than any explanation. Show us your story, don’t explain it. #querytip #writetip

A good ending has a hint of failure to it, except the HEA or HFN in romances. #querytip #writetip

Times New Roman or Courier: the only two fonts you should use in your manuscript and query. #querytip #writetip

I should clarify. Your uncle’s childhood in the suburbs of Boston would most likely be of interest to your family and no one else. #querytip

Memoirs should be reserved for those who have lived through “interesting” events: fame, Hurricane Katrina, war, mental illness. #querytip

After querying, only nudge through the appropriate channels (not Facebook, LinkedIn, etc), and at the appropriate time. #querytip

Don’t lie in your query. The truth always come out, eventually. Also, we do our homework. #querytip

Treat your query like a job interview. That’s what it is. You’re trying to convince us to ask for more material. #querytip

In the name of all that’s holy, do not send attachments. #querytip #WhenInDoubtDontDoIt

Ur bio shouldn't include info about ur children unless it's relevant, which it likely isn't. We want publishing credentials, etc. #querytip

Your bio shouldn't be longer than your pitch. At all. #querytip

Don't explain what happens in your book, show us character, goal, and conflict. Show, don't tell. #querytip

Start querying agents from the top: members of the AAR (Association of Authors' Representatives). #querytip aaronline.org

Use a spreadsheet to keep track of the agents you have queried and when. #querytip #RevisedUponRequest