22 Incredible Photos of Faraway Places Thailand Chances are you already know Steve McCurry as the man who took one of the most iconic photos of our time. It was of a 12-year-old Afghan refugee girl who's piercing green eyes told us her harrowing story. The image itself was named "the most recognized photograph" in the history of the National Geographic magazine and her face became famous as the cover photograph on their June 1985 issue. Beyond just that one photo, McCurry has shot over a million images spanning 35 years. More than anything, he is one of a few that has that amazing ability to capture stories of our shared human experience. Looking through his large body of work, we get to experience fantastic faraway places we can only dream about visiting. Afghanistan Sri Lanka Yemen Tibet Cambodia India Burma Eastman Kodak let McCurry shoot the last ever produced roll of Kodachrome transparency film. Steve McCurry
Find the Agent Who Will Find You a Publisher Query letters? Do literary agents really read them? Agents take queries very seriously, and yes, they really do read them. So write a professional, intelligent, concise, intriguing query and not only will you entice an agent to ask for more, but you’ll move yourself one step closer to a book sale. Query Letter Basics A query letter is a single page cover letter, introducing you and your book. A query letter has three concise paragraphs: the hook, the mini-synopsis, and your writer’s biography. Paragraph One—The Hook: A hook is a concise, one-sentence tagline for your book. Here are a few examples of hooks for well-known novels: House of Sand and Fog When Massoud Amir Behrani, a former colonel in the Iranian military, sinks his remaining funds into a house he buys at auction, he unwittingly puts himself and his family on a trajectory to disaster; the house once belonged to Kathy Nicolo, a self-destructive alcoholic, who engages in legal, then personal confrontation to get it back.