Monday, December 18, 2006

Happy Hooker Crap-o'meter

Miss Snark, the literary agent's blog, is hosting the results of one of her infrequent crap-o'meters. This one invited aspiring authors to send in a 250 word (or less) hook for their unpublished novel.

The idea is to give her the query that you would send to an agent -- a brief statement of what your book is about. As she writes in one of her critiques, you have about 8 seconds to get the agent's interest, then your letter gets thrown on the crap pile.

Very informative for any prospective author. Fun reading for those of you who aren't. After you read enough of these -- and the responses they engender -- you may just find yourself writing for clarity, even in your notes to the paper boy or baby sitter.

Oh, and my reading material? I'm starting it tomorrow. With very low expectations. The scariest monsters keep lurking in dark places. Not trotted out as children with all their psychoses plopped on the page.

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