LIVE WRITING WORKSHOPÂ WITH REBECCA W. MARTIN
Crafting a Convincing Query Letter
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A Workshop for Authors Interested in Traditional PublishingÂ
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Saturday, April 27, 9 AM CST
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Cost to attend is $27.
PraiseWriter Members: This workshop is included as part of your PraiseWriter Membership!
Do you know the quickest way to an editor’s desk? It’s the query letter: the first step on your traditional publishing journey—and the one where many authors fall short. That first glimpse of your writing is a make-or-break moment. In just a few paragraphs, you can inspire an editor to look closer at the manuscript into which you’ve put so much time and love.
In this workshop, editor Rebecca W. Martin will guide you through the essentials of a strong query letter from a publisher’s point of view, and common mistakes to avoid. We’ll discuss:
- Target length and key elements
- Your book’s elevator pitch
- The “write” audience
- The case for you as an author
- Tailoring your query letter to the publisher’s needs
- Phrases and approaches to avoid
- The importance of tiny details
And last but not least, we’ll walk through how to actually submit a query letter to a publisher using Submittable or email.
BONUS: Participants will receive a sample query letter and a worksheet for writing your own.
ABOUTÂ REBECCA W. MARTIN
Rebecca W. Martin is a Lay Dominican and lifelong Catholic with too many cats, a deep affection for semicolons, and very few hobbies besides publishing. Full-time, she works as Acquisitions Editor for Our Sunday Visitor. On the side, she is Assistant Editor for Chrism Press, and Editor for the Lay Dominicans of the Province of St. Albert the Great.
When she’s not working and freelancing, Rebecca writes children’s books, novels, essays, and poetry, and reads just about anything. Her first children’s book — Meet Sister Mary Margaret (OSV Kids, 2023) — is a vibrant look at the joy-filled life of religious sisters, and her debut novel Love in the Eternal City: A Swiss Guard Romance releases from Chrism Press in August, 2024. Rebecca is also an active member of the Catholic Writers Guild, and lives in Michigan with her husband and feline assistants.
