Found this morning via Miss Snark, who introduces this blogger, Evil Editor, as “[a]n editor, an honest to dog editor, [who] is critiquing query letters on his blog.”

I jumped over to check it out and this guy’s advice is worth it’s weight. Double worth it’s weight. Well. It would be double worth it’s weight if it were printed on something heavy, like, say, corrugated tin.

He takes query letters people have sent him, and prints them, once with his comments inserted and then once revised to accommodate his critique.

His comments are basically real-time “huhs?” that an editor/agent would experience each time the query writer blunders. They’re always illuminating and often funny. Here’s an example, from a suspense novel titled Coiled Revenge. Evil Editor’s comments are in brackets:

She escapes death when Tony barges in, using the key he stole from her apartment to save her. [He uses a key to save her? Who is this guy, MacGyver?]

It’s hard, because in a query letter, we’re trying to condense an entire novel down to a few paragraphs. So the inane can creep in. But we have to realize how off-putting it can be.

Evil Editor is a wonder resource. I’m adding it to my blogroll right now.