That good ol' query letter

If you're a writer and you aspire to being published, at some point you're going to have to master that query letter. There's been a lot of blogs this week on do's and don't's and lists of what agents/editors have seen come through their in box - every bit of information is fairy dust to those of us trying to catch someone's eye to take a look at our masterpiece.
My bit of fairy dust this week was Nathan Bransford's post of specificity - check this out, not only if you need a good giggle (he has the best sense of humour) but because there's often conflicting advice out there that can spin us in circles. I've read a lot of recommendations that you're query should read a little like a blurb, BUT in a true blurb you don't want to give anything away. In a query, however, you don't want to make the agent/editor work at guessing what your real hook is. Not easy getting the balance right, which is what makes those query letters so much fun - or not!