ABOUT THIS WEBINAR

You finished your manuscript. You revised it. You possibly whispered,

“Please don’t ruin my life,”

into the file name before saving it for the 900th time.

Now comes the part no one adequately prepares writers for: the query letter.

In this live, high-value webinar, author and publishing guide Melissa Bond will walk you through the 15 most common query-letter red flags that can make an agent stop reading before they ever get to your pages. Warmly. Clearly. Without making you feel like you need to hide under a desk with a sleeve of crackers.

You’ll learn how agents actually read queries, why strong manuscripts often get buried under weak positioning, and how to spot the subtle problems that make a pitch feel confusing, flat, vague, overstuffed, or just not ready yet. Think of it as a compassionate diagnostic for your query letter: part craft class, part publishing strategy, part “please step away from the 14-paragraph plot summary.”

Melissa brings both lived experience and professional perspective to this work.

She took her own manuscript from finished draft to publication with Simon & Schuster, and her memoir, Blood Orange Night, was later selected by The New York Times as one of the best audiobooks of 2022. She knows what it feels like to stand on the writer’s side of the gate, and she knows how much the right submission materials can change the conversation.

By the end of the webinar, you’ll be able to assess your own query against 15 clear red flags and identify exactly where your pitch is working, where it’s wobbling, and what needs revision before you send it into the agent wild.

This is for writers with a finished or nearly finished manuscript who want more than vague encouragement. You’ll leave with practical insight, sharper instincts, and a much clearer sense of what makes a query feel professional, compelling, and agent-ready.

Bring your query. Bring your questions.

Bring the tiny inner goblin who keeps refreshing your inbox.

We’ll give her a clipboard and a job.