: Re: Given how much self-promotion modern writers need to do, are Query Letters still worth writing? I have struggled with this for a while because of how much the market has changed over the past

@Moriarity138

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Self-publishing is viable for all and only the people who are willing and able to personally sell every copy of their own book (or eBook). It's great for public speakers, relentless self-promoters, and people who love book tours and author's events. For everyone else, traditional publishing is still a better option. While even traditional publishers these days do expect you to put in a lot of your own work on promotions and platform-building, they have networks, relationships (with buyers, libraries, stores, other authors, reviewers, etc.), reputations and resources most self-publishers can't begin to match.

For people pursuing traditional publishing, query letters are a huge asset, because they're a big gatekeeping tool, but they're also a learnable skill. If you can write a great, compelling, typo-free query letter, your chances go from 1 in a million to 1 in a thousand.* I've personally gotten multiple reads and one actual sale from big-name publishers on the strength of good query writing. In terms of effort versus impact, it's one of the all-time best values for a type of writing.

Also, the questions you need to answer to write a good query letter are actually very helpful, (to the point that some people even draft a query before writing a manuscript!) Who is your audience? What are your qualifications to write this book? What is the book's main idea? Why should anyone want to read it? At this point, it's worth noting that whatever work you've already done towards self-promotion or platform-building are GREAT (and increasingly essential) bullet points to put in the bio section of your query.

*stats are not accurate

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