Michelle Witte
Literary Agent
Mansion Street Literary Management
Publishing professional and mental health advocate. I write craptastic books. Some people think I'm funny. You should probably be worried about those people.
Literary Agent
#querytip If you're querying & change your email address for some reason, let agents know. Every once in awhile I get emails bouncing back.
Literary Agent
+You have no idea how helpful it is to open a ms and remember which one it is immediately w/out having to search query inbox. #querytip
Literary Agent
Another formatting #querytip (kinda): When I request ms (full or partial) I ask for author to include query letter as first page of ms. +
Literary Agent
These might seem like obvious #querytip's that everyone already knows, but you'd be surprised by how many writers don't do these things.
Literary Agent
And make sure to include your contact info in the manuscript document itself. Not just author name and book title. #querytip
Literary Agent
Although I just upload a ms to my ereader instead of printing it out, I still need that info easily accessible. #querytip
Literary Agent
Also, make sure to put page numbers, author name, manuscript title on every page (in header, footer, whatevs). #querytip
Literary Agent
All of this is to say—make it easy for an agent to read your manuscript. Annoyances do not make for ideal submission reading. #querytip
Literary Agent
More ms formatting fun: only ONE (1) space after a period. That's another holdover from typewriter/early word processor days. #querytip
Literary Agent
Those formatting issues, btw, come from antiquated (i.e., pre-2000) advice, but word processing has evolved greatly since then. #querytip
Literary Agent
For the love of commas, use italics instead of underlining. That's one I can't easily search & replace, and it drives me BATTY. #querytip
Literary Agent
Standard manuscript formatting: 12-point Times New Roman, double-spaced. JUST SAY NO TO COURIER. (It's annoying to read.) #querytip
Literary Agent
I like it when writers mention social media accounts and author websites in a query. Makes google-stalking easier. #notkidding #querytip
Literary Agent
Strong verbs can make a blah query extraordinary—but don't go overboard to where it looks like a thesaurus barfed on your query. #querytip
Literary Agent
Part 2 of 4 in my series on Magical Realism is up on the blog now. What Magical Realism ISN'T: michellewittebooks.com/2015/08/what-m… #MSWL #querytip
Literary Agent
The phrase I most dread seeing in query letters is "I wrote this book to teach children..." Unless it's like a how-to, just NO. #querytip