Everything you need to put together your query with awesome support!
Claire Wade
Publishing 101: The Query
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£20 a month as part of the WHQ membership
First month half price!
First month half price!
Part of the Writers’ HQ membership
One week course - or take as long as you need
Join our kickass community
course home
curriculum
how it works
what you get
course home
You think you’ve done the hard part by writing a book, but landing an agent is the next big hurdle to leap over. Writers’ HQ’s online query writing course will help you prepare to send your manuscript out into the big wide world of publishing.
First impressions count, and your query letter is usually the very first thing an agent will look at. So you’d better make it a good ‘un.
But how do you summarise a 70,000+ novel in the space of just a few paragraphs? How do you grab the attention of the literary agent of your dreams? How do you make sure your submission doesn’t end up at the bottom of the slush pile?
Well, that’s what we’re gonna teach you. Learn how to write a killer query letter and give yourself the best chance of an agent saying “Yes, yes, yes! Send me your book RIGHT NOW!’
curriculum
PART 1
What is a query letter, what does it do, and what should it contain?
PART 2
How to sum up your novel in a paragraph and leave an agent wanting more.
PART 3
What to avoid when writing to an agent.
PART 4
The Spot Check Checklist for when your objectivity has gone out the window
PART 5
How to sell yourself (ooer)
PART 6
What do agents really want?
PART 7
Resources and research
how it works
1. Enrol
Sign up for a fully-fledged WHQ membership and get access to this and ALL our online courses direct from your member dashboard. Super simple.
2. Read, watch, do
The lessons are a mix of text, images, videos and exercises. To get the most out of the course, try to give yourself at least an hour a day to read or watch the material and do the exercises. We’ve made them as bite-size as possible but also if you wanna do the thing you gotta do the work.
3. No rush
This course is written to be done over a week but if you miss a day or something comes up, don’t panic! Go at your own pace. We’ll be waiting for you in the community forums when you’re ready to catch up.
4. No money? No problem
If you’re unable to afford WHQ membership please get in touch via our our bursary scheme!
5. Milk no sugar
Drink plenty of tea, stock up on biscuits, gin for later. Enjoy it. It’s supposed to be fun. Love you. Mwa.
what you get
Seven days of exercises, advice and resources to help you build the best possible query.
Help and advice from award-winning authors and literary agents.
A step-by-step guide to crafting a query letter that suits your unique story.
Access to our private forum full of super cool people to help and support you along the way.
Top Notch
This painless little course helped trim my query into something far more digestible. Here’s to hoping it makes all the difference to my submissions. Thanks a gazillion!
It’s my editing blueprint for good, for now, forever! I could write a song about this course .. but instead I’ll sing your praises and say how you’ve taken the huge job of drafting a novel and made it simple .. well, simpler, because you have the knack of getting right to the heart of what a novel is, what it’s for, how it works as an entity, who inhabits it. About midway through the course I had a personal business crash that required my total attention to fix, and it’s a shame because I was enjoying the forum and taking part in it. BUT I was safe in the knowledge that if I could get back to reality and my life quick enough, I could continue and I have – and completed! I have a deadline to fulfil with my writing group and if I can manage it, I will return to the Forum too before the course ends in a few days. I will undoubtedly be returning for the course on Submission to an Agent but I’m nowhere near ready. Can I just say how helpful it was knowing the course materials would continue to be up on the site as I’ve desperately needed this time.
My only crit would be, and I mean it in a positive way, is that I felt the whole course could have been double the length anyway – as in 3 months, and then another 6 weeks for the materials to be up on the site. Many exercises of ’60 mins’ or ’45 mins’ took days or a whole week! By the way, more expensive courses I’ve taken (e.g. for thousands!) were NOTHING compared to this!! Bless you, and though I wish you EVERY SUCCESS with your own writing, I hope you DON’T STOP DOING THIS!!! A THOUSAND THANKS.
Eva Cheek
Publishing 101: The Query
Short and sweet!
Yet another course that makes the magic seem less intimidating and more manageable. Looking forward to the next one!
It’s my editing blueprint for good, for now, forever! I could write a song about this course .. but instead I’ll sing your praises and say how you’ve taken the huge job of drafting a novel and made it simple .. well, simpler, because you have the knack of getting right to the heart of what a novel is, what it’s for, how it works as an entity, who inhabits it. About midway through the course I had a personal business crash that required my total attention to fix, and it’s a shame because I was enjoying the forum and taking part in it. BUT I was safe in the knowledge that if I could get back to reality and my life quick enough, I could continue and I have – and completed! I have a deadline to fulfil with my writing group and if I can manage it, I will return to the Forum too before the course ends in a few days. I will undoubtedly be returning for the course on Submission to an Agent but I’m nowhere near ready. Can I just say how helpful it was knowing the course materials would continue to be up on the site as I’ve desperately needed this time.
My only crit would be, and I mean it in a positive way, is that I felt the whole course could have been double the length anyway – as in 3 months, and then another 6 weeks for the materials to be up on the site. Many exercises of ’60 mins’ or ’45 mins’ took days or a whole week! By the way, more expensive courses I’ve taken (e.g. for thousands!) were NOTHING compared to this!! Bless you, and though I wish you EVERY SUCCESS with your own writing, I hope you DON’T STOP DOING THIS!!! A THOUSAND THANKS.
Cindy Kessler
Publishing 101: The Query
Excellent, thorough course
This course is an excellent, thorough run-down of everything you might want to think about when writing and sending your query letter. Written with Writers’ HQ’s trademark snarky charm, and filled with links to even more information about what agents are looking for and what to do/not do, it’s a really enjoyable, detailed look at this topic. Thank you!
It’s my editing blueprint for good, for now, forever! I could write a song about this course .. but instead I’ll sing your praises and say how you’ve taken the huge job of drafting a novel and made it simple .. well, simpler, because you have the knack of getting right to the heart of what a novel is, what it’s for, how it works as an entity, who inhabits it. About midway through the course I had a personal business crash that required my total attention to fix, and it’s a shame because I was enjoying the forum and taking part in it. BUT I was safe in the knowledge that if I could get back to reality and my life quick enough, I could continue and I have – and completed! I have a deadline to fulfil with my writing group and if I can manage it, I will return to the Forum too before the course ends in a few days. I will undoubtedly be returning for the course on Submission to an Agent but I’m nowhere near ready. Can I just say how helpful it was knowing the course materials would continue to be up on the site as I’ve desperately needed this time.
My only crit would be, and I mean it in a positive way, is that I felt the whole course could have been double the length anyway – as in 3 months, and then another 6 weeks for the materials to be up on the site. Many exercises of ’60 mins’ or ’45 mins’ took days or a whole week! By the way, more expensive courses I’ve taken (e.g. for thousands!) were NOTHING compared to this!! Bless you, and though I wish you EVERY SUCCESS with your own writing, I hope you DON’T STOP DOING THIS!!! A THOUSAND THANKS.
Elizabeth Ottosson
Publishing 101: The Query
Discover the dos and don’ts of query writing, fine-tune your cover letter to perfection, and summarise the living heck out of your story.
Finish the course with an intriguing, snappy, polished query letter that you can tailor to suit each agent you send it to.
Join our lovely little online community to support you through the entire querying process.
tutors
Sarah Lewis
Half of Writers’ HQ
Procrastinator Level: Set up WHQ and had a baby to avoid writing her novel
jo gatford
Half of Writers’ HQ
Procrastinator Level: Set up WHQ and did an MA to avoid writing her novel
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THE QUERY
Nail your query letter and get the literary agent of your dreams
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row height=”small”][vc_column width=”2/3″ css=”%7B%22default%22%3A%7B%22margin-bottom%22%3A%220px%22%2C%22padding-bottom%22%3A%220px%22%7D%7D”][interactive_banner_2 heading_tag=”h1″ banner_desc=”This course is an excellent, thorough run-down of everything you might want to think about when writing and sending your query letter. Written with Writers’ HQ’s trademark snarky charm, and filled with links to even more information about what agents are looking for and what to do/not do, it’s a really enjoyable, detailed look at this topic. Thank you! – Elizabeth Ottosson” banner_image=”id^27956|url^https://writershq.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/pub-101-the-query-thinkific-card.png|caption^null|alt^null|title^pub-101-the-query-thinkific-card|description^null” banner_style=”style6″ banner_color_title=”#ffffff” banner_color_desc=”#ffffff” banner_color_bg=”#9fa3a7″ image_opacity=”1″ image_opacity_on_hover=”0.2″ css_ib2=”.vc_custom_1571157202667{margin-bottom: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;}”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″ css=”%7B%22default%22%3A%7B%22margin-top%22%3A%220px%22%2C%22border-top-width%22%3A%221px%22%2C%22border-right-width%22%3A%221px%22%2C%22border-bottom-width%22%3A%221px%22%2C%22border-left-width%22%3A%221px%22%2C%22border-color%22%3A%22%23dedede%22%2C%22border-style%22%3A%22solid%22%7D%7D”][us_btn label=”TAKE THIS COURSE” link=”url:%3Fadd-to-cart%3D192|||” width_type=”full”][vc_column_text]£20/month. Access all WHQ membership courses First month half price!
[/vc_column_text][us_separator size=”small” show_line=”1″ css=”%7B%22default%22%3A%7B%22color%22%3A%22%23efefef%22%7D%7D”][us_iconbox icon=”fas|check-circle” size=”15px” iconpos=”left” alignment=”left”]Part of the WHQ membership
[/us_iconbox][us_separator size=”small”][us_iconbox icon=”fas|clock” size=”15px” iconpos=”left” alignment=”left”]Seven part course, rolling access
[/us_iconbox][us_separator size=”small”][us_iconbox icon=”fas|users” size=”15px” iconpos=”left” alignment=”left”]Join our kickass community
[/us_iconbox][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_tta_tabs][vc_tta_section tab_id=”1570293069335-6de171b6-a2c0cafd-c8fe” title=”COURSE HOME”][vc_column_text]You think you’ve done the hard part by writing a book, but landing an agent is the next big hurdle to leap over. Writers’ HQ’s online query writing course will help you prepare to send your manuscript out into the big wide world of publishing. First impressions count, and your query letter is the first part of a book submission an agent will look at. How do you summarise a 70,000+ novel in the space of just a few paragraphs? How do you grab the attention of the literary agent of your dreams? How do you make sure your submission doesn’t end up at the bottom of the slush pile? Well, that’s what we’re gonna teach you. Learn how to write a killer query letter and give yourself the best chance of an agent saying “Yes, yes, yes! Send me your book!”[/vc_column_text][/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section tab_id=”1570293069387-b07b8985-01f7cafd-c8fe” title=”CURRICULUM”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]- What is a query letter, what does it do, and what should it contain?
- How to sum up your novel in a paragraph and leave an agent wanting more
- What to avoid when writing to an agent
- The Spot Check Checklist for when your objectivity has gone out the window
- How to sell yourself (ooer)
- What do agents really want?
- Resources and research
- Help and advice from award-winning authors and literary agents
- Daily inspiration, whip-cracking, writing exercises and prompts
- Access to our private forum full of super cool people to help and support you along the way, including Team WHQ, our specially-picked and hand-baked gang of badass writers.
- Seven days of exercises, advice and resources to help you build the best possible query package
Discover the dos and don’ts of query writing, fine-tune your cover letter to perfection, and summarise the living heck out of your story.
[/us_iconbox][us_separator][us_iconbox icon=”far|hand-peace” style=”outlined” iconpos=”left” alignment=”left”]Finish the course with an intriguing, snappy, polished query letter that you can tailor to suit each agent you send it to.
[/us_iconbox][us_separator][us_iconbox icon=”far|thumbs-up” style=”outlined” iconpos=”left” alignment=”left”]Join our lovely little online community to support you through starting, middling, finishing and beyond.
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