Announcing A New YouTube Channel: Agent Brain / Writer Brain

Hey there #amwriting crew, you may have noticed things have been a bit sleepy on the blog lately, but that’s not because we haven’t been busy!

The past few months have been a whirlwind both personally and professionally (lots of exciting announcements to come).  But you may have noticed I’ve been a bit lax on the craft and business posts lately. Well there’s a good reason, I swear.

The past few weeks my wife (former lit agent and all-around publishing maven Molly Cusick) and I have been working on a video series. We want to take the same advice, feedback, and how-tos you’ve found on this site and via our conference visits and webinars, and offer them in a new way. Now you can start watching our new YouTube channel all about the craft and business of writing. We call it: Agent Brain / Writer Brain.

Why not check out this video on querying? We’ve posted a few so far, on topics like raising the stakes, writing with scenes, and crafting your query letter, and if you like what you see, please give us a like and subscribe. That way you’ll always know when we’ve posted a new vid, and it will also help more writers find us through YouTube’s search algorithm (which is pretty cool).

We’ll be posting new videos pretty much every week, so check back in for more. And in the meantime– keep writing!

– John & Molly

11/19 Webinar: How to Be a Writer Without Losing Your Mind

Hi all! If you’ve enjoyed some of the craft-focused and inspirational posts I’ve done on this blog, you should check out my November 19th webinar with Writers Digest, HOW TO BE A WRITER WITHOUT LOSING YOUR MIND: Balancing Work, Life, and Craft. There will be a Q and A as well as query critiques for all attendees. You should check it out!

ABOUT THE WEBINAR

Being a writer can make you crazy. The writer’s life is at once invigorating and exhausting, it can be isolating and wonderfully social, inspiring as well as demeaning. As writers we bring our deepest, most sensitive selves to the page, and often the world can feel like a hyper-critical and uncaring receiver, where competition, criticism, and even the success of others can make writing feel like a chore, or worse-utterly terrifying. And yet, we’re driven to return to the page and express ourselves despite the uncertainty and the demands of day-to-day life.

How do we deal with all these contradictions, the isolation, the rejection, the irrational joys and sorrows of being a writer? In this live webinar you’ll learn many ways to kill the fear, or, as Robert Leckie said, shoot that old bear under your desk between the eyes.

With practical tips and tricks, examples from dozens of famous writers, and inspiration culled from years of experience as both an author and agent, instructor John Cusick provides the tools for tackling the writing life with gusto, enthusiasm, and balance. Learn healthy, productive techniques for combating the inner critic, utilize envy envy, and summon motivation. With humor and insight, this webinar will give attendees the skills to conquer the maddening uncertainties of writing and publishing, and to create a space for one’s writer self in the world.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN:

• Techniques for balancing writing time and your day-to-day life
• Tips for staying focused when distractions demand your attention
• How to set up a mental and physical space for your writing
• Tricks for staying motivated and inspired
• Techniques for coping with insecurity, uncertainty, and rejection
• How to deal with your internal critic
• Daily practices and meditations specifically designed for the writing life
• How to take the measure of yourself as a writer, and keep writing!

WHO SHOULD ATTEND?

• Anyone looking or inspiration and motivation to KEEP GOING
• Writers feeling hounded by their inner critic
• Sufferers of “writer’s block”
• Long time authors in a rut
• New writers looking to form strong writing habits
• Writers with day jobs and families, in school
• Writers who feel distracted
• Anyone who feels they “don’t have time to write”
• Writers who feel they’re on the verge of “giving up”
• Writers who find it difficult to get started
• Book lovers who want to pursue writing seriously
• Any writer seeking an agent, a publisher, a first book deal, that break out novel, or feel they are ready for their craft and career to take the next big step

ABOUT THE CRITIQUE

All registrants are invited to submit a query letter to be critiqued. All submitted queries are guaranteed a written critique by Literary Agent John Cusick.

If you’re busy November 19th, no worries– the webinar will be recorded, and you can re-watch it for up to a year. So sign up today!

Courtesy of Alex Thayer Stewart, who took these notes during a live version of this talk 🙂

A Pretty Much Foolproof, Never-Fail, Silver-Bullet Query Opening

Like this post? Then check out my November 19th webinar HOW TO BE A WRITER WITHOUT LOSING YOUR MIND: Balancing Work, Life, and Craft. There will be a Q and A as well as query critiques for all attendees. You should check it out!

Hello there.

A few days ago I posted about my move to Folio Literary, and what I’ll be seeking.

As I rev up the ol’ query inbox (which is already rumbling with submissions), I figured I’d take a moment to talk a bit about the query letter.

How— I mean, for serious, how on earth— does anyone write a query letter?

It seems so difficult. Not only are you trying to put your best foot forward and stand out from the dozens— no, HUNDREDS UPON HUNDREDS— of other queriers, you’ve got to summarize your manuscript (impossible), make it sound exciting (huh?), comp it to other titles (um), talk a bit about yourself (embarrassing), and keep it all under half-a-page (yeah okay no).

As if writing the book wasn’t hard enough in the first place.

A lot has been written on strategies for great query letters. There are templates and forms online, webinars, talks, and even whole conferences dedicated to the subtle art of the pitch. I myself have gabbed on for hours about this subject without taking a breath. So how best to break down all this information, to actually put it to use?

Where, John (you might be heard to ask), does one *start*?

Though there are many paths up the mountain, for the sake of expediency, allow me to offer a…

Firstly, and I can’t stress this enough (and believe me I’ve tried)— open your query:

Dear [Actual Name of Agent],

That is, the name of the agent you are querying, spelled correctly, as opposed to…

Dear Agent,

Dear Sirs,

Dear Ms. Cusick,

Dear Mr. Quetip,

Or just…

JOHN:

…which makes me feel like I’m being pursued by a creditor.

Some agents prefer last names, others are less formal. Me, I don’t mind “Dear John,” despite the connotations of heartbreak. But it’s hard to go wrong with a Mr. or Ms. followed by the agent’s surname.

Next, I recommend following a little formula. Ready? Don’t panic because it kind of sounds like math.

Here it is:

Where…

So, X (your main character or protagonist) is Y (in the general place, time, circumstances of the protagonist’s every day life when the novel begins) until Z (the thing that makes the story a story happens).

Here are some examples.

Harry is the main character. At the beginning of the novel he’s a sad British boy (as opposed to an awkward pale girl or rambunctious mouse). That is, until Z: the thing that makes the story a story (and not just a boring portrait of a sad British boy’s life) happens.

Reading the above, I already have a sense of the genre, style, and even the market for the manuscript proposed, and the querier has only written a *single line*. Now, the writer has room to go into more detail, offer comp titles, and give a short bio. He or she has hooked me right out of the gate, without preamble. And if this first line sounds good, I’ll be much more interested to read whatever comes next.

Here are a few more examples:

Get the idea?

So, if you find yourself stuck with your query letter, try this formula.

If you know any other query tips or techniques, or of useful online resources for query letter templates, etc., please post them in the comments!