After weeks and weeks of revisions (yes, weeks), I’ve finally sent off my first ever query letter. I thought it might be helpful to those of you in the same boat if I listed some of the resources I used to get this far.
Of course, it wouldn’t be me if I didn’t have a quick go at offering my own opinion and advice first (I do try to help), but if you’d rather skip that, you can go straight to the resources (I won’t mind *sniff sniff*).
What I’ve Learned
Still reading? So like I say, for weeks I’ve been deep in the throws of writing this darn query letter… and when I say deep, I mean Mariana Trench deep. Like everything else on this epic journey of writing, I didn’t believe the folks who said this letter (along with the synopsis) was harder to write than the book itself. And once again I’m left red-faced, on my knees and begging for forgiveness and help at the same time.
As this is the first time I’ve written a query letter, I am the furthest thing from an expert you could find. However, I have done a hell of a lot of research and reading on the subject. As usual it seems with anything related to writing, conflict of opinion is rife on the matter of the query letter. Two things are for sure though: first, you have to write one if you’re going to seek representation; second, it has to be just as good, if not more-so, than your novel.
The most common format I’ve seen is the 3 paragraph letter.
- One’s for you to wrap your entire book up in about 100 words and basically sell your book;
- one’s for you to get in the necessary facts about your book like who it will appeal to and what other books it can be compared to (not forgetting the all-important word-count, of course);
- and the third’s for any relevant details about you, or basically to sell yourself.
- “Four?” I hear you ask. Like the lump of rock known as Pluto, mystery surrounds the last sentence of the letter, which is a closing statement thanking the agent for their time. Consider this a fourth paragraph if you like.
The kick, is that different agents like these paragraphs in different orders. I read a book that was about nothing other than writing a query letter, which said the details about the book should be first, then your blurb to sell the book, and then the blurb to sell you. Since then, most examples I’ve seen lead in with the book blurb, then the details and facts, before ending with you.
But the one thing that you must do is hook the agent with the first line; it doesn’t matter how good the rest of the letter is if you don’t get the agent to read past that first sentence.
One rule that always seems up for dispute is how you format your titles. A common rule here is to use CAPS for your title, while the names of other works you may reference should be in italics. Others say the name of your book should be in italics while others should be surrounded by quote marks. I reckon as long as your title sticks out, what you do with the others is up to you. It’s worth bearing in mind how it will look in an email though (some agents are up with the times), and it may be that you format email queries differently to snail mail queries.
Length/word-count is a tricky one. Most “how to” sites will tell you it has to be no more than one page. Then you go off and find examples of letters that have been successful and find few under a page. Yes, at times I have wanted to pull my hair out. Bearing in the mind the letter will have your address, the agents address, the date and space for signature, if your going to keep it under a page the body of it will have to be around 300 words, maybe a tad more (assuming single-spacing).
Speaking of the format, it seems relatively unanimous that 1-inch margins all the way around is the minimum, and the font size should be the usual 12 point. Font face is up to you, as long is it’s plain and not fancy and, most importantly, is easy on the eyes.
How I Did Mine
I’m not saying this is right or wrong. My letter has a 1 inch margin all the way around, and is written in Times New Roman for snail mail, Helvetica for email. Both are 12 point. My lines a single-spaced, although one blank line is between all paragraphs. Paragraphs are not indented, and are left justified.
My name, address and contact details are on the top right, while the agent’s name and address is below that on the left. Then I have the date, and below that is my opening salutation, addressed to a real person and not the agency in general, and definitely not “To whom it may concern”.
Then it’s my hook line. One single, quick sentence which is designed to draw the agent in. It’s like the log line on a film poster.
Next is my first paragraph, and this the blurb, the one-paragraph synopsis. It’s like the back cover blurb except it gives far more away. I managed to do it in 140 words.
My second paragraph contains the details of my book. Namely, what it’s called, what other books (or films) are similar, what genre it is and what audience it’s aimed for. I even managed to get what the main focus of the book is in there, and got all into 106 words.
The third paragraph is a bit of a cheat. I don’t have many writing credentials to my name (save for this awesome blog, of course), so I wrote what I could about me which was relevant, and which wasn’t much, and fleshed it out with the word count for the book and other relevant details. 61 words.
Then my closing. All in all, from “Dear…” to “Sincerely yours,” total word count is 340 words and fits perfectly on one page (one more line and it would be two).
From all the different advice that’s given from all the different sources, it’s clear that there is no one formula for creating the perfect query letter, just like there’s no one formula for writing the book. It’s just got to be good. Just like your book should grab its readers, your query letter should grab the agent–no matter what order you put the paragraphs.
The one question I see successful authors being asked more than any other is “What’s the trick to getting published?” The answer they give is always the same: “There is no trick, you’ve just got to write a damn good book.” Clearly, same goes for your query, too.
Now on to the resources, and be sure to look out for a similar post coming soon about the 1-page synopsis.
- How to Write a Query (by AgentQuery): A wealth of info here, and concentrates on that “hook”. Be sure to read all the way to the end to find a good list of DOs and DON’Ts.
- How to Write a Cover Letter (by eHow): Yeah, there’s some points here I don’t agree with, but it’s got some good advice too.
- Cover Letter for Manuscript Submission: This is a good post, but be sure to read the comments too for extra advice.
- How to Write a Query Letter (by Nathan Bransford): Where would any list be without something from Mr. Bransford’s blog And while you’re there, check out this example he posted of a real-life, perfect letter.
- The Complete Nobody’s Guide to Query Letters: This post includes an actual letter that made it, and it’s interesting to see the different advice given on formatting. It’s a long letter, longer than I’d write, but is for a fantasy book which are usually door-stoppers anyway.
- Preditors & Editors Sample Query: Short post with a few more tips.
- How to Write a Query Letter (by Judith Kelman): More tips, but has some good examples.
- Guide to Getting Published: Preparing Your Novel’s Query Letter: Another one with plenty of info.
- How I Got My Agent (by Susan Dennard): This link takes you to the first of four parts, and all are worth reading.
- Query Shark: A whole blog, devoted to the subject.
- QueryTracker.net & AgentQuery are two very informative sites about the agencies.
- The Biggest Mistakes Writers Make When Querying Agents (on JM Tohline): It’s a long one, but full of the big DON’Ts from the agents themselves. Worth the time.
- If you want nothing but examples that have been successful, check out Carolyn Jewel, Alex Keegan, Julie Wright and Karen MacInerney.
There are of course plenty more resources, and I dare say ones better than these, you’ve just got to find them. Intelligent searching is the key. Don’t just search for “query letter”, because your results will be useless. If it’s for a novel, you gotta have that word in there. So try things like “perfect novel query letter”, “novel query letters that work” and so on.
I hope I’ve been at least a little useful to someone, and as always, comments are more than welcome. Happy querying.
UPDATE 05/Aug/2011: Since writing this article I’ve learnt a few more things about query letters that I feel responsible to inform you about. First, in case it didn’t come across in the article, each agent is different and the type of letter one agent wants might be completely different to another’s expectations. It makes the process even harder to the point of ridiculousness. On top of this, it appears that over the last few years in particular, the query letter has changed. While all the resources listed here are current at time of writing, they seem to ignore a format of letter that has emerged as a firm favourite.
This format is of the synopsis kind, where the bulk of the letter is actually your synopsis, with a sentence at the end giving all the other essential information. It makes little sense to me, for it seems to make the need of a separate synopsis (which so many agents request) redundant.
See my question over on Nathan Bransford’s Forum for a little more insight, and be sure to check my own Query Letter section, where you can compare my new attempt at this new format, with my old attempts at the traditional letter.
Thanks for sharing all of your research. I’ll definitely flag thes sites for future use.
My pleasure.
Thought it would be a waste to find all these sites and not pass it on.
If I find more I’ll keep adding to the list.