Making Structural Choices to Best Serve a Particular Story

In today's Books with Hooks , Carly and CeCe are joined by Kim and Jessica who submitted their queries for critique. They discuss how to elevate a query so that it matches the quality of the pages, reminding us that the goal of the query letter is to get an agent to read those pages; how to lean into specificity to elevate a query; toeing the line between giving away too much and too little in your query; how to successfully write a multi POV query; and how to balance discussing theme and plot in a query. After which, Bianca chats with Dolen Perkins-Valdez, author of Take My Hand , about how not to not ‘hit’ readers over the head with your moral themes; how to make characters who might traditionally be considered to be 'bad' sympathetic; inner and outer conflict; how to conduct extensive research; and defending your structural choices. Find us on our socials: Twitter: @TSNOTYAW @BiancaM_author @carlywatters @ceciliaclyra Instagram: @biancamarais_author @carlywatters @cece_lyra_agent @ the_shit_about_writing Facebook: @tsnotyaw Website: www.biancamarais.com Dolen can be found at @dolenperkinsvaldez on Instagram, and at www.dolenperkinsvaldez.com Our Sponsors: * Check out Quince: https://quince.com/tsnotyaw * Check out Rosetta Stone and use my code TODAY for a great deal: https://www.rosettastone.com * Check out Wayfair: https://www.wayfair.com Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands