QueryTest

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Why QueryTest? Aren't there other query review websites out there?

Why, yes! There are. But they're different from QueryTest. Most of them are blogs or message boards. You post your query and you receive detailed feedback, either from an agent/editor or from other writers. These sites are very useful, but they give you just one person's opinion, or the opinions of maybe a dozen people, many of whom may not read your genre.

QueryTest is about quantity of feedback. You won't get the long, detailed comments here that those other sites provide, but you'll get a large quantity of reader feedback on the concept of your novel, and whether your concept is coming across well in the query letter. That feedback will be presented in the form of a number--the percentage of readers who would request pages for your novel based on the query. QueryTest is probably the only place where you can test two query letters at once and see which one performs better.

What are these other query review sites you speak of?

Here are a few:

• Query Shark
• Evil Editor
• The Public Query Slushpile
• Jodi Meadows' Query Project

There's also a message board for query letter feedback at the Absolute Write water cooler. To use it, you will need to register on the site, then look for the Show Your Work subforum, and then Query Letter SYW.

Got a favorite site I haven't mentioned? Email it to me, and I will considering adding it to this list.

How do I write a successful query letter?

Click here for some information.

Who created QueryTest?

QueryTest is my creation. I'm a writer who's also a professional software developer. I was frustrated by the difficulty of comparing two query letters to see which one is the best. Reviewers invariably prefer the second one they see, perhaps because its content builds on the content of the first query letter they saw, and thus makes the novel appear larger and richer. But you only get to send one query letter to an agent.

As an engineer, I'm frustrated by systems that provide inadequate or inaccurate feedback. How can I write better query letters when the feedback is so scattershot? I created QueryTest as a way to get better feedback on my own query letters. This is how engineers think. Got a problem? Write some code to solve it.

Who pays for QueryTest? Does it ever cost money?

I pay for it out of my own pocket. The site never attempts to solicit money from you, nor does it run any ads. It is 100% noncommercial. What I get out of it is feedback on my own queries. Also, I just like building things. Once the site accumulates enough queries and reviews, I might be able to run some pretty interesting statstical analyses on the data.

You're a writer. Are you published?

No, I am not published yet. If I were, I wouldn't have built this site! I've completed two fantasy novels. One is called In the Company of Finneas Trapp, and the other is Soldier, Sage, and Vagabond. I have a third novel in progress. I haven't decided on a title yet, but it's about evil sex assassins.

If you're curious, you can read the opening pages to each of my novels:

• In the Company of Finneas Trapp
• Soldier, Sage, and Vagabond
• evil! sex! assassins! (WARNING--explicit content)

What if I have a question, or I need to report a problem with the site?

You can contact me at amyraby@gmail.com, or find me at my LiveJournal blog.

Thank you for using QueryTest!