Newberry County, SC

How to Write a Query


Here are some helpful hints to assist you in writing a good query that people will respond to. The main key to a good query is INFORMATION, provide as much information as possible. To little information means you likely have not done any or much preliminary research! Keep it brief, around 500 words or less will encourage people to read the whole query. Be specific with names, date and locations. ALWAYS include your E-MAIL address in the query, you want people to respond to you!

How to write an effective query...

  • Write surname in bold letters or in all CAPITAL letters.
  • Give dates or approximate dates of events, along with locations.
  • Use upper and lower case letters in your query. Using all CAPS distracts from the     important parts you want people to read and screams at you!
  • Keep your query brief! No one wants to read the entire family tree, they just want to see     the part that interests them.

    • Title your Query!

    A good title is a key feature.. it can mean the difference between your query getting passed over or read!

    "Looking for family" is NOT a good title, everyone is looking for family/ancestors, etc.; nor is "Help!!", people that look through queries don't usually have the time (or inclination) to look at "Help" queries. Personally, I never look at either of the types of queries above.

    "James Holley 1877 IN" or "Holley 1850 NY>OH>IN" are a good titles: it gives name, time frame and location.

    "Death Records - 1820" Is another example of a good title. It gives what you are looking for and the time frame.

    If you have any suggestions... please let me know, I'll add them here!

    Other Suggestions

  • Give links to your family tree that you may have posted on your own Personal     Genealogy page.
  • Post the tree on the Laurens GenWeb and refer your researchers to "Genealogy" (not     to the specific page, when I change the web's look, sometimes I change the location of     the page)
  • Tell researchers to email you personally.
  • Make sure your email address or snail address are at the bottom of the query. This     way people will not have to click to two or three places to find your address.

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