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Blogs by Neil D Ostroff Ye Old Query 3/27/2012 11:43:32 AMContinuing my series on effective query letters that got interest in my books by industry professionals, I’m posting the original query letter for DEGENERATES that drew huge interest several years ago before anyone had heard of Kindle and ebooks. I had several agents request the entire manuscript from this query and it is this query that got my first power agent Gary Heidt really interested in my work. As I’ve posted before, Gary eventually signed me after reading the query for SILENT INVASION, but he always believed in DEGENERATES as a good story that needed to find its niche. Although Gary was unable to sell the novel, my subsequent indie published version has had many sales and those sales continue to increase. And just today I got the direct deposit into my bank account of my latest royalties. They are half as much as what my royalties will be this month so things are definitely heading in the right direction. I’ve got a couple of big sponsorships coming up in the next two weeks so this should boost sales even more. I have DROP OUT scheduled for a sponsorship on Kindlefire.com for April 4th and the one I’m really excited about is a whole week on Kindle Nation Daily’s new YA site starting on April 6th. This one is for SILENT INVASION, and I got the sponsorship for half its normal cost because of a promotion they were running. If all goes well, this could be the first sponsorship that may make the sales worth the price. I’ll post the results of both promotions when they are complete. Here’s the long ago, days of handwritten query letters and telephone calls, version of the DEGENERATES query. Just reading it brings back memories of those horribly long, wasted hours addressing these pleading bits of self-promotion.
http://www.neilostroff.blogspot.com
Post a Comment More Blogs by Neil D Ostroff • Beginning and end of everything! - Thursday, April 16, 2015 • Distractions - Friday, April 3, 2015 • Time is flying! - Tuesday, March 17, 2015 • Writing and writing - Tuesday, February 24, 2015 • On Sale Now! - Thursday, February 12, 2015 • Everyone loves results! - Monday, February 2, 2015 • Blitz day two! - Wednesday, January 28, 2015 • Blitz starts today! - Tuesday, January 27, 2015 • To pay or not? - Monday, January 26, 2015 • What is God? - Sunday, January 18, 2015 • To my friends. - Monday, December 29, 2014 • Birth of a Book - Monday, December 15, 2014 • The Final Read - Tuesday, December 2, 2014 • State of Writing Today! - Sunday, November 23, 2014 • Winter Reads! - Thursday, November 20, 2014 • Hmmm… who is this Ostross she speaks of? - Sunday, November 16, 2014 • Emotion, emotion! - Wednesday, November 12, 2014 • Retrospective - Thursday, November 6, 2014 • Great review!! - Friday, October 24, 2014 • Results!! - Monday, October 20, 2014 • Promotion!! - Thursday, October 16, 2014 • Winter writing - Monday, October 6, 2014 • Author’s Legacy - Monday, September 29, 2014 • I just want to write! - Thursday, September 25, 2014 • Always Writing! - Wednesday, September 17, 2014 • More exposure and gaining momentum - Thursday, September 11, 2014 • Book of the week! Yeah! - Monday, September 8, 2014 • Great reviews! - Wednesday, August 27, 2014 • Last Chance! - Sunday, August 24, 2014 • Interesting Week! - Thursday, August 21, 2014 • FREE TODAY!! - Tuesday, August 12, 2014 • Cheap promo - Wednesday, August 6, 2014 • Getting it done! - Tuesday, August 5, 2014 • Define Novel Length - Monday, July 28, 2014 • Big Feature Today! - Wednesday, July 16, 2014 • Being a writer - Tuesday, July 15, 2014 • Stand out! - Thursday, July 10, 2014 • The marketing secret! - Monday, July 7, 2014 • Five Books! - Thursday, July 3, 2014 • Origins of a novel - Monday, June 30, 2014 • Reviews are personal - Monday, June 23, 2014 • The future! - Thursday, June 19, 2014 • Still up there in rank - Thursday, June 12, 2014 • HAPPY! - Tuesday, June 10, 2014 • Good things come… - Monday, June 9, 2014 • Very Excited! - Monday, June 2, 2014 • Reviews for sale! - Wednesday, May 28, 2014 • Writing withdrawal - Thursday, May 22, 2014 • More marketing advice - Wednesday, May 14, 2014 • Is marketing worth it? - Wednesday, May 7, 2014 • What a great day! - Thursday, May 1, 2014 • Birthing - Thursday, April 24, 2014 • Never pay for a review - Friday, April 18, 2014 • Does blogging sell books? - Tuesday, April 15, 2014 • Creating characters from scratch - Friday, April 11, 2014 • Book 13 complete! - Monday, March 31, 2014 • The miracle way to sell more books - Wednesday, March 26, 2014 • Looking for feedback - Friday, March 14, 2014 • Getting on the bestseller list - Saturday, March 8, 2014 • Websites all writers should be on. - Wednesday, February 26, 2014 • Great book selling results! - Sunday, February 23, 2014 • Hitting the best seller list - Friday, February 21, 2014 • Don’t make these mistakes. - Thursday, February 20, 2014 • Little surprises! - Monday, February 10, 2014 • Bearing the writing soul - Monday, February 3, 2014 • Kickstarter - Friday, January 31, 2014 • A thousand thank you’s - Thursday, January 30, 2014 • My KDP story - Wednesday, January 29, 2014 • Will people still read? - Monday, January 13, 2014 • Write and get rich! - Thursday, January 2, 2014 • The new informed writer - Sunday, December 29, 2013 • Thank You, Anne Rice! - Monday, December 23, 2013 • No longer indie - Thursday, December 19, 2013 • The results part #3 - Tuesday, December 10, 2013 • The High’s - Wednesday, December 4, 2013 • Just proud, that’s all. - Tuesday, November 26, 2013 • It will affect you! - Monday, November 25, 2013 • What may work part # 2 - Saturday, November 23, 2013 • What may or may not work - Wednesday, November 20, 2013 • Weather and writing - Tuesday, November 12, 2013 • The end time - Friday, November 8, 2013 • Does blogging sell books? - Wednesday, November 6, 2013 • Top selling author - Friday, October 25, 2013 • Hitting Ereader News Today - Wednesday, October 23, 2013 • Exciting news! - Monday, October 21, 2013 • I don’t want to be famous… anymore - Thursday, October 17, 2013 • An author’s path - Monday, October 14, 2013 • A letter to all indie writers and readers - Monday, October 7, 2013 • Why I will never pay for a review - Wednesday, October 2, 2013 • My nineteenth five-star review - Monday, September 30, 2013 • The new future - Thursday, September 26, 2013 • Knowing your death - Wednesday, September 25, 2013 • Every day can be exciting - Thursday, September 19, 2013 • Deep Thoughts - Monday, September 16, 2013 • Please read! - Thursday, September 12, 2013 • Enjoying life! - Wednesday, September 11, 2013 • Twelve years later! - Tuesday, September 10, 2013 • Reviews speak for themselves - Tuesday, September 3, 2013 • Freddie - Monday, August 26, 2013 • Understanding it all - Thursday, August 22, 2013 • Yes, marketing works! - Wednesday, August 21, 2013 • Wow! - Tuesday, August 20, 2013 • Even more powerful read - Sunday, August 18, 2013 • To be or not to be… a writer - Tuesday, August 13, 2013 • Making it happen - Friday, August 9, 2013 • Making it! - Thursday, August 8, 2013 • To catch a book - Sunday, August 4, 2013 • My own reward - Saturday, August 3, 2013 • Never compromise or give up! - Thursday, August 1, 2013 • Keep selling books! - Wednesday, July 31, 2013 • Affecting readers! - Tuesday, July 30, 2013 • Best book promotion ever! - Friday, July 26, 2013 • Buy it now! - Wednesday, July 24, 2013 • On sale now!! - Tuesday, July 23, 2013 • Selling books and getting noticed! - Monday, July 22, 2013 • You will be touched - Sunday, July 21, 2013 • Beat the heat! - Friday, July 19, 2013 • Great new review! - Thursday, July 18, 2013 • The big time… maybe? - Wednesday, July 17, 2013 • Wow, an agent! - Monday, July 15, 2013 • 10 – 5 star reviews! - Friday, July 12, 2013 • No normal morning - Wednesday, July 10, 2013 • Seize the day! - Monday, July 8, 2013 • Greatest reward - Tuesday, July 2, 2013 • Will the author go extinct? - Sunday, June 30, 2013 • No promises - Wednesday, June 26, 2013 • Crazed serial killer - Monday, June 24, 2013 • The magic of imagination - Sunday, June 23, 2013 • Summer read! - Thursday, June 20, 2013 • Writer’s zone - Wednesday, June 19, 2013 • Writers are transport machines - Monday, June 17, 2013 • Why even write? - Thursday, June 13, 2013 • Why even write? - Thursday, June 13, 2013 • Strange writer! - Tuesday, June 11, 2013 • You will be touched - Monday, June 10, 2013 • Give me patience! - Friday, June 7, 2013 • Fame and Riches - Thursday, June 6, 2013 • Not all glory and riches - Wednesday, June 5, 2013 • A writer’s warning! - Monday, June 3, 2013 • Drop Out - Friday, May 31, 2013 • Writing can be easy - Thursday, May 30, 2013 • What would really happen if you hit it big as a writer? 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Beware! - Thursday, May 9, 2013 • Define success - Monday, April 29, 2013 • Okay results - Wednesday, April 24, 2013 • Writing is easy - Sunday, April 21, 2013 • DEGENERATES - Friday, April 19, 2013 • To not write - Wednesday, April 17, 2013 • 20 books an hour! - Friday, April 5, 2013 • Book Gorilla is working - Thursday, April 4, 2013 • Promotions - Monday, April 1, 2013 • Sleep well manuscript - Sunday, March 24, 2013 • Writing a novel - Friday, March 22, 2013 • Taking pause - Thursday, March 21, 2013 • The virtual bookshelf - Friday, March 8, 2013 • Worse feeling ever! - Monday, March 4, 2013 • This will help you - Thursday, February 28, 2013 • Get read! - Thursday, February 28, 2013 • Best interview ever! - Friday, February 22, 2013 • Millions will see this! - Tuesday, February 19, 2013 • So fun to read! - Monday, February 18, 2013 • So exciting! - Friday, February 15, 2013 • Become a classic - Wednesday, February 13, 2013 • To all indie authors - Tuesday, February 12, 2013 • This sponsorship worked! - Thursday, February 7, 2013 • Awesome! - Tuesday, February 5, 2013 • So, you married a writer? - Sunday, February 3, 2013 • Calling all authors! - Friday, February 1, 2013 • Back to writing - Tuesday, January 29, 2013 • Take a mind trip - Monday, January 28, 2013 • Keeping up with the world - Friday, January 25, 2013 • Novels may die - Sunday, January 20, 2013 • What if? - Wednesday, January 16, 2013 • What makes a writer better? - Sunday, January 13, 2013 • Just a reminder - Wednesday, January 9, 2013 • How to sell books! - Tuesday, January 8, 2013 • Magical idea drawer - Saturday, January 5, 2013 • A writer’s year - Wednesday, January 2, 2013 • This is it! 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