So in preparing an email, would the title be the subject line or an abbreviated logline? Do you address the agent/manager/etc by their first name or a Mr/Ms salutation or do you just skip it and get right to the logline/query? I'm not trying to be dense, but what is the standard protocol? What makes them even open the email if the sender is not familiar?

As a secondary question, do query letters often contain one logline, or can they contain several? If so, how many? Thanks.

I suppose it goes without saying that the goal should be to have a snappy, short sentence logline, as opposed to the usual something that's really a mini-synopsis?

No pro but I would suggest only the title in the subject heading -- some folks delete when they see "query." Early on I received a ton of auto-replies because my heading contained "query." Guess they have a filter of some sort. Tried the logline in the subject heading as well -- no dice. I've received a few read requests over the last two weeks and this is how it worked... for me. Your mileage may vary. ----------------------------------------- Subject -- Saw 50 Body -- Date John Doe GITS Agency Good morning John, (I don't use Mr. or Mrs. -- I have no clue in some cases if "Kelly" is a lady or gent... I'm Courtney -- which am I?) Logline here May I send a freshly polished copy of "Saw 50" for your consideration? Best, Courtney Phone email ------------------------------------------ Then get the hell out of there. Scott's right. Less is more these days and you wouldn't want to give them more information than they really want. Or even more reasons to pass. If you don't get any bites -- tweak your logline. Be patient and keep at it. The first "not for us" will sting but keep going -- eventually you'll get a "send." Keep at it long enough and you will receive a nice little note from legal -- but that's another story for another day. Good luck!

Oops! GITS Agency goes underneath John Doe.

On a somewhat similar, but different note: As practice-- Try to imagine the logline a reader is going to give your story and not the logline you want the story to be. Ideally, they should be the same. But often they aren't. It's a good reality check. And a good way to find problems going into a rewrite -- why are they different? Generally, loglines (that help you sell a script) aren't self generated. They're generated from coverage by 18 year old interns with very little experience doing anything. Most of the time, there will be variation between prod cos and agencies as to what your script "really" is about. But the general gist of better screenplays are usually close in their varying loglines. In a query, you want to give the logline with the greatest hook -- but you also want the execution of the script be able to generate a similar (and ideally identical) logline in coverage. I know this sounds like a "duh" thing. But I've read a lot of scripts that have a great logline and hook -- that only represent the first five pages of their script and then the rest of the script seems to have totally forgotten that awesome logline from the query, which is why I'm reading it in the first place. Just food for thought.

On a related note, how have you all obtained email addresses for managers, agents, producers, etc? Everyone talks about what they write in their emails and whatnot, I want to know how you got their emails in the first place?! Thanks in advance!

As I've said before, you will probably have more luck with an unsolicited query to managers than agents. For email addresses, contact information and in many cases info on whether they will accept unsolicited read requests, I suggest you sign up for Done Deal Pro. I do not get a cent for that endorsement, it's just an outfit I have used for many years and it's really affordable: $23.95 per year. That gives you access to all of their listings for agencies and managers. My advice: Do NOT put any of your logline in the subject line. If recipients require you to sign a waiver release form, they will simply delete your email. In the subject line, you can put the title of the project (if you have a good title) or something to the effect "Request script read". Courtney (see below) seems to have had some luck with the approach he's used below. Alternatively you could just have the body of your text as this: Title: Logline Script ready to read. And you're out. I would not address any person in particular as you can pretty much figure it's going to go through an assistant.

I would recommend one logline per query.

Yes. A logline is 1-2 lines summing up your story. I know there are many theories about this, but I say less is more. A logline should cover three narrative elements: Protagonist. Goal. Nemesis. Here's a logline for K-9: Pursuing a powerful drug lord, a stubborn policeman gets a new partner – an equally stubborn K-9 cop.

Can't emphasize Courtney's point enough: You have to be persistent. All you're trying to do is get your foot in the door. You can read this post to see how even getting a name of an assistant provides you an opportunity to work your way into the system.

Thanks, James. That's another excellent point re the value of a strong logline: If it's good, if it's simple, if it's memorable, you are much more likely to have the people in the script acquisition food chain parrot your logline instead of them coming up with their own bastardized version of your story.

Marc, see above note about Done Deal Pro.

Kinda off this tangent on how strong loglines filter through a process of other people: ---------SPOILERS--------------- So Taylor Lautner's ABDUCTION -- the hook of the script really is -- this high school student sees his picture on a Missing Persons website and begins to suspect his parents aren't who they claim to be. A little digging and he discovers he was ABDUCTED... To me, that is really what's cool and unique about this idea. There's more... Couple plot twists and turns. But it's pretty standard stuff. So my question is -- Why isn't that at the heart of the TV commercials? Figuring out who his real parents are is pretty much the entire plot of the movie. Of the 7 or so iterations, I've only seen 1 commercial that takes this tact. The majority of commercials simply show Taylor Lautner jumping over some non-descript railing and sliding down something. The whole thing is REALLY GENERIC action. Gun fire. Glass exploding. Maybe a car. And a train. Why not play up the suspense of this high school kid not knowing who his parents are in the ads? I mean, that's a theme the tween demo eats up like drips of sweat off Taylor Lautner's oversized brow. I don't understand the logic behind these choices to exclude the reasons the script was bought in the first place from the movie trailers. Sigh. That's literally the selling point of the film.

[...] Reader Questions: What are some tips for writing an effective query letter? (gointothestory.blcklst.com) LD_AddCustomAttr("AdOpt", "1"); LD_AddCustomAttr("Origin", "other"); LD_AddCustomAttr("theme_bg", "ffffff"); LD_AddCustomAttr("theme_text", "333333"); LD_AddCustomAttr("theme_link", "772124"); LD_AddCustomAttr("theme_border", "eeeeee"); LD_AddCustomAttr("theme_url", "58181b"); LD_AddCustomAttr("LangId", "1"); LD_AddCustomAttr("Autotag", "books"); LD_AddCustomAttr("Tag", "business-of-writing"); LD_AddCustomAttr("Tag", "screenwriting"); LD_AddCustomAttr("Tag", "austin-film-festival"); LD_AddCustomAttr("Tag", "logline"); LD_AddCustomAttr("Tag", "michael-hauge"); LD_AddCustomAttr("Tag", "screenplay"); LD_AddCustomAttr("Tag", "screenwriting"); LD_AddCustomAttr("Tag", "writers-resources"); LD_AddSlot("LD_ROS_300-WEB"); LD_GetBids(); Share this:ShareEmailFacebookTwitterRedditDiggStumbleUponLinkedInPrintLike this:LikeBe the first to like this post. from → Business of Writing, Screenwriting ← Structure and Being in TRAIN DREAMS by Denis Johnson No comments yet [...]