Expert Guidance: Janet Reid

“I cannot emphasize strongly enough how important it is to be PLAINSPOKEN in a query letter. I’ll be happy if you never use more than one adjective, adverb or metaphor…

"I cannot emphasize strongly enough how important it is to be PLAINSPOKEN in a query letter. I'll be happy if you never use more than one adjective, adverb or metaphor in a paragraph. Tell me who the characters are, what happens to them, and why I should care."

- Agent Janet Reid of New Leaf Literary (formerly of FinePrint Literary Management), on her Query Shark blog.

Chuck Sambuchino is a former editor with the Writer's Digest writing community and author of several books, including How to Survive a Garden Gnome Attack and Create Your Writer Platform.