Here’s my first query letter:

Dear (Esteemed Publisher, Editor, or Agent),

“Come Play With Us!” invites the Vancouver Olympic Committee; “Can we come early?” is the reply. Almost 9 million tourists visited Vancouver in 2004, and every year an average of 15,000 people relocate to the Lower Mainland. From now until 2010 our city will be even more saturated with newcomers, and their needs include information and insider tidbits. According to an article in the September 2005 edition of Publisher’s Weekly (“Keeping Pace” by Suzanne Mantell), tourists are demanding more than the standard travel guide and want “sophisticated insider information.” The book I offer you fits and seals the gap left by other Vancouver guides because it provides practical insider information that simplifies and enriches daily life in the Lower Mainland.

Unveiling Vancouver: An Insider’s Guide to the Jewel of the Pacific (or From Newcomer to Old-Timer: Being in Vancouver) is a non-fiction guidebook to living in the Lower Mainland. This book will ease transitions for both travelers and new residents by providing information basic to the city and answering questions current travel books don’t address, such as “Where is the most reasonable place to buy smoked salmon, authentic Native Indian art, or fresh local blueberries?” and “Fly fishing is something I’ve always been curious about. Can I try it in Vancouver?”

About the Author: Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen writes weekly for the Bowen Island newspaper, the Undercurrent. She has taught Journalism, Language Arts, and Writing classes, and has degrees in Secondary Education and Psychology. Born in Vancouver, she has the unique experience of also being a newcomer as she spent most of her childhood in Saskatchewan and relocated to Vancouver as an adult – twice! She lived in Kenya for three years, visited many countries in Africa, the Middle East and Europe, and has a real sense of what newcomers need to know when settling in to a new city – and what old-timers think they know about the city in which they’ve lived for years.

Enclosed is a proposal including clips, two sample chapters and a SASE.

Thank you for your consideration; I look forward to your response. No need to return the materials. This is a simultaneous submission.

Sincerely,

Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen

If you have any thoughts or questions about this query letter for Unveiling Vancouver, please fire away below! And if you want to write your own query letter, you might benefit from reading Tips for Improving Your Query Letters.

I created Unveiling Vancouver while living in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1997. This book was supposed to help newcomers adjust to living in the Lower Mainland, and included everything from doggie daycares (which were new back then) to where to reclaim your car after it’s been towed. 

A BC-based publisher offered me a contract (yay!); I instructed him to send it to Edmonton – I was moving there to go back to the University of Alberta, to get my Education degree. The publisher hesitated…but agreed.

Six weeks later, I received The Letter. “We regret to inform you that the nature of this book requires the writer to live in Vancouver for research and marketing purposes blah blah blah blah blah BLAH.”

How I burned the bridge to that publisher: Instead of being a wise young writer, I sent him a letter criticizing his decision, his editors, the city in which he lived, and his dog. I may also have mentioned the fact that he was going bald. It wasn’t until the nanosecond after I popped that baby in the mailbox that I realized the immaturity, short-sightedness, and stupidity of my action…and by then it was too late.

That’s one writing disaster I’ll never forget.

Anyway, back to Unveiling Vancouver: I self-published a couple dozen copies, forced my friends and family to buy copies, and sold several in bookstores around Vancouver. My single remaining copy (and that whole experience) is the root of my writing career today – even though it was never published!

That book was the foundation of another new book idea: Living Green in Vancouver. Also not published.

If you’re interested in a writing career, remember that when your book proposal or article pitch is rejected (and they will be), don’t take it personally – and don’t lash out in frustration, anger, or bitterness! Rejection in the publishing world is a business decision. It stings, but it’s a fundamental aspect of an active writing career. The reasons book manuscripts are rejected may have little to do with you as a writer, and more to do with the publisher’s mandate, book list, and future plans.

Don’t let writing rejection deaden your creativity or spirit! Keep creating new ideas to develop and pitch (or even pitch in the garbage). The more ideas you have, the more likely you’ll hit the Big One.

Be an adventurous writer – and don’t fear failure.