Do query letters still work?

The odds are long, but query letters can work if you make it part of a holistic strategy of which the single most important part is this: Focus on writing a great story.

The short answer is yes, query letters can work. However, you have to look at the query letter as part of an entire approach and that has to be grounded in this: Your scripts. A person can write the greatest query letter in the world, but if their story concept and execution on the page isn’t stellar, that’s a pass.

So, first and foremost, come up with strong story concepts. Write scripts based on those strong story concepts. Get feedback and rewrite those scripts until they are in the best shape possible. Then do one more pass just to be sure.

One way to maximize the power of your query letter is to write more than one script. Indeed as I’ve have written about here and here, I recommend writing three scripts. And to create the path of least resistance, here is my advice:

• Write 3 scripts: Not just one. Not two. But three scripts. Written, rewritten, reviewed by pro readers and/or a strong writers group, revised again, and brought to the best level of readability and marketability possible.

Rationale: If you have three scripts in hand, this demonstrates to someone in the business you are not a one-hit wonder, you are prolific, you are persistent, and you have an effective approach to mapping a story and getting it from FADE IN to FADE OUT. Also three scripts triples the chances you can find a set of eyeballs which responds to at least one of your stories.

• Write 3 scripts in 1 genre: Not three scripts in three different genres, but a single genre.

Rationale: It is easier to sell you to the town if you are known as an Action writer, a Comedy writer, a Drama writer, and so on. The fact is, people will put you on lists based on whatever script first gets their attention. Like it or not, this is your brand. And having a brand makes the life of managers and agents a whole lot easier to sell you and your writing services.

• Write 3 scripts in 1 genre which is mainstream: Action, Comedy, Drama, Family, Horror, Science Fiction, Thriller.

Rationale: Scripts in mainstream genres as opposed to those that are not (e.g., Western Musical, Animated Horror) are easier sells because they are more likely to represent what studios, production companies, and financiers are actively developing. So much of it is about their comfort level and if you’re up for a writing assignment in a certain genre, and you have credibility in that genre, again path of least resistance.

• Write 3 scripts in the $5–20M budget range: Write at least one on the low end and no more than two at the upper end.

Rationale: If you write a script with a budget of $100M or more, there are only 6 potential buyers. If you write a script with a budget of $50–100M, there are virtually no buyers. However if you write a script in the $5–20M range, there are literally dozens of buyers. Even if they don’t acquire your script, your reps can paper the town with it and get you meetings. With a $100M script and severely limited number of buyers… not so much.

• Write 3 treatments: In addition to your 3 spec scripts.

Rationale: Assuming you go on the bottled water tour, the first thing they’ll say is, “Love your script.” The second thing: “What else you got?” Having three stories worked out in your back pocket makes you that much more marketable.

• Write 3 treatments based on your strongest story concepts: And this goes for your spec scripts, too.

Rationale: Along with execution and voice, story concept is one of the most important sales elements of your script. Moreover if you can demonstrate you can generate great story ideas, that makes you all that much more desirable for representation.

If you do this, you can write a query letter which — if your story concepts are strong enough — should get the attention of a manager. Why?

• With three scripts and three treatments, you are giving them a lot of script and story material they can use to sell and position you in Hollywood. Indeed any one of them could translate into a sale or option, and at the very least, if they are well written, serve as a writing sample to get you meetings with producers and execs around town.
• With three scripts and three treatments, you are saying to a potential rep, “I am not a fly-by-night writer, I am persistent, productive, and motivated. Moreover, because I have created so much content, I have developed an approach to story prep and writing which has prepared me to work well under deadlines and pressure.” That’s the subtext your productivity will convey to a manager.
• Because your stories are all within one genre, that makes it easy for a rep to “brand” you and put you up for open writing assignments in that narrative space.

Note: I’m not saying this is the right or only way to go about things, just that it’s the path of least resistance.

What to do after you’ve done the work and created the content? Sign up for Done Deal Pro ($30) and IMDb Pro ($150). Pick your strongest script and research 10–15 movies of the same type, genre, or arena from the last ten years or so. Hopefully at least some of them have done well at the box office, but even if they have not, if they have solid critic ratings, that’s fine. Go through IMDb Pro and find the producers who are managers (this is one big difference between managers and agents, the latter cannot produce movies, managers can). Once you have a list of manager-producers for ten movies or so which are similar in some key respects to your script, go to Done Deal Pro and check out the Management database there. You’ll likely find email addresses for most of the managers. If not, Google them and with some mental elbow grease, you’ll probably surface their email.

Note: Forget agents. Unless you know someone who is related to someone who slept with someone who is someone in Hollywood and they will personally recommend your scripts to an agent, you have little to no shot. Managers, on the other hand are often open to unsolicited material. Once you get a manager, THEN you can talk about the possibility of finding an agent (if you choose to go that route, some writers only have a manager OR an agent).

Now it’s time — finally! — to write your query letter. For your email subject line write: “Have 3 spec scripts, 3 treatments, all same genre”.

In your email, lead with the logline for your best script. Keep it short. A logline isn’t supposed to tell the story, rather it’s supposed to sell the story. Hook their attention.

Note you have 2 other specs and 3 treatments, each has been thoroughly written, vetted, and revised.

“Interested?”

And out.

Don’t mention how you were a quarter-dfinalist in some obscure script contest.
Don’t fulminate over how excited you are at the prospect of becoming a Hollywood screenwriter.

Let the strength of the writing you’ve done speak for itself. Blow them out of the water with your creativity and productivity, and a brief query. That’s a nice, neat package.

Using this approach makes you an attractive candidate for a manager to at least read your material.

As I said, query letters can work, but they are best served by being part of a holistic approach whereby you lean on your creative passion to generate content in a smart way. And one approach is what I’ve outlined above.