In addition to my Recruiting career, I am also an aspiring author. I’ve been writing a novel for the last few years and I’m getting ready to submit a book on Resume Construction.
Last night I was at a talk given by the Pacific Northwest Writer’s Association on the topic of Query Letters.
Query Letters are short documents an author sends to Editors and Agents trying to interest them in purchasing the book. Each publishing house/literary agency has different guidelines for what they want included in a query letter.
I’ve always thought of the Query Letter as being the equivalent of a resume. But last night, my viewpoint completely changed. Now, I see it as the equivalent of a resume. This makes sense, because as a recruiter, I rarely have time to read a cover letter; I usually go straight to the resume itself.
The purpose of the Query is the same as the Resume: get the reader’s attention enough in the first few lines to make them want to read more.
We all have filters in our lives that we use to compartmentalize our experiences. For me, those filters will be completely unique to anyone else. Seeing the Query as a Resume really makes a huge difference for me when it comes time to write them.