You need this skill to get published

And no, it’s not writing

I don’t need to tell you that getting published isn’t easy. There’s a stat I read that said less than one percent of writers secure an agent. I’d imagine that number diminishes when it gets to who actually gets published.

But while it’s hard, it’s not impossible. And to increase your chances of getting published, you need to learn this one skill: how to write a query.

Learning to write a query (or proposal) is the second most important factor to getting published, the first being the actual quality of the book.

That sounds dramatic but it’s true. Agents don’t read your full manuscript. They can’t. And when they send it to publishers, they also send a query to set the story up.

If you do not know how to write a query, your chances of getting published dwindle. That’s just the reality of how the industry currently works.

Writing queries is one of the topics we’ll be covering in our workshop series. If you’re not already on the email list for those workshops, sign up here.