I was a judge in a special events competition a few times. None of us had been at the actual events. All we had to go on were the photos and descriptions in the submission. So, basically, we weren’t judging the event at all, we were judging the entry, which hardly seems fair. I say this, despite the fact that I won an award three times in the same competition.**

What’s your point, Carol? A great query letter shows you are great at writing queries. A lousy one, well you get it. Unless your novel is called The Man Who Wrote Great Query Letters (or lousy ones, if you want to write a really depressing book) it’s basically the same deal as the events competition.

I would still like to learn how to write a great query letter.

*Yes, I know there’s more than one. I’m big on oversimplification.

**This is either shameless self-promotion or self-deprecation. Your call