Query letters? Do literary agents really read them?
Agents take queries very seriously, and yes, they really do read them. It’s not
some universal rumor that agents have perpetuated because they all have a
secret fetish for being bombarded with mail. Sure, agents make it sound like
digging through the slush pile is the last priority of their day. Some
agents even relegate the ambivalent task of reading unsolicited queries to an
assistant or intern. But the fact of the matter is that most agents do read
queries. Even more importantly, agents actually respond to ones that spark
their interest.
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.
The Basics
A query letter is a single page cover letter, introducing you and your book.
That’s it. Nothing more, nothing less. It’s not a resume. It’s not rambling
saga of your life as an aspiring writer. It’s not a friendly, “Hey, what’s up,
buddy. I’m the next John Grisham. Got the next best selling thriller for ya,”
kind of letter. And for the love of god, it is NOT more than one-page. Trust us
on this.
A query letter has three concise paragraphs: the hook, the mini-synopsis, and
your writer’s biography. Don’t stray from this format. You won’t catch an
agent’s attention by inventing a creative new query format. You’ll just
alienate your chances of being taken seriously as a professional writer. A
query letter is meant to elicit an invitation to send sample chapters or even
the whole manuscript to the agent. It’s not meant to show off how cute and
snazzy you can be by breaking formatting rules and going against the grain.
Keep it simple. Stick to three paragraphs. The goal is to get the agent to read
your book, not to blow you off because you screwed up the introduction.
Paragraph One—The Hook: A hook is a concise, one-sentence tagline for
your book. It’s meant to hook your reader’s interest, and wind them in. The
best way to understand how to write a hook is to read the loglines of the
titles sold by agents in our database.
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.
Bridges of Madison County
When Robert Kincaid drives through the heat and dust of an Iowa summer and
turns into Francesca Johnson's farm lane looking for directions, the
world-class photographer and the Iowa farm wife are joined in an experience
that will haunt them forever.
The Corrections
When family patriarch, Alfred Lambert, enters his final decline, his wife and
three adult children must face the failures, secrets, and long-buried hurts
that haunt them as a family if they are to make the corrections that each
desperately needs.
The "When" Formula: As you can see, we’re a fan of the when formula: “When such and such
event happens, your main character—a descriptive adjective, age, professional
occupation—must confront further conflict and triumph in his or her own
special way. Sure, it’s a formula, but it’s a formula that works.
However, be warned...everyone and their grandmother who reads this site will try using our "when" formula,
so we recommend simply using it as a starting point. Write your basic hook, then try spicing things up
as you get more and more into the groove of "hooking." And don't worry, it's legal in every state, not just Nevada.
Check out these very simple, yet very non-"formulatic" fiction hooks:
The Kite Runner
An epic tale of fathers and sons, of friendship and betrayal,
that takes us from Afghanistan in the final days of the monarchy to the
atrocities of the present.
The Da Vinci Code
A murder in the silent after-hour halls of the Louvre museum reveals
a sinister plot to uncover a secret that has been protected by a clandestine society
since the days of Christ.
Everything Is Illuminated
With only a yellowing photograph in hand, Jonathan Safran Foer—both author and meta fictional protagonist—sets out to find the woman
who might or might not have saved his grandfather from the Nazis.
Here are some non-"formulatic" hooks for a few nonfiction books:
Into Thin Air
On assignment for Outside Magazine to report on the growing
commercialization of the mountain, Krakauer, an accomplished climber, went to
the Himalayas as a client of Rob Hall, the most respected high-altitude guide
in the world, and barely made it back alive from the deadliest season in the
history of Everest.
The Perfect Storm
The true story of the meteorological conditions that created the "Storm of the
Century" and the impact the Perfect Storm had on many of the people caught in its path;
chiefly, among these are the six crew members of the swordfish boat the Andrea
Gail, all of whom were lost 500 miles from home beneath rolling seas.
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
The memoir of Dave Eggers, who at the age of 22, became both an orphan and a
"single mother" when his parents died within five months of one another of
unrelated cancers, leaving Eggers the appointed unofficial guardian of his
8-year-old brother, Christopher.
Other Great Ways to Start Your Hook:
Give era and location: Three Different Examples:
- Set in modern-day Jerusalem...
- During the summer of 1889 in a rural Texas town...
- Taking place in turn-of-the-century New York City...
Set up your main character: Three Different Examples:
- The tale of Una Spencer, wife of Melville's legendary fictional whale harpooner Captain Ahab...
- A chatty cozy mystery starring 50-something college professor Bell Barrett...
- Narrated by Cot Daley, an Irish peasant girl kidnapped from Galway and sent to Barbados...
Variations on the "when" formula: Three Different Examples:
- Following a botched circumcision...
- While defending a drug-addicted prostitute accused of murder....
- After years of abuse at the hands of her alcoholic mother and step-father...
There are literally scores and scores of hooks listed in our database,
specifically in the past & present clients section of our agents’ profiles.
We encourage you to read as many as possible, and learn what captures your
attention in a single sentence. Then try to emulate a similar hook for your
query letter.
Paragraph Two—Mini-synopsis: This is where you get to distill your entire
300 page novel into one paragraph. Lucky you. We’d like to offer advice on how
to do this, but really, it just takes practice, hard work and lots of patience.
Then, like we said before, get your friends to read it and if their heads hurt
afterwards, go back to the drawing board. We don’t envy you. We really don’t.
Summing up your entire book in an intriguing single paragraph is worse than a
root canal.
So think of it this way. You had trouble writing the gist of your book in one
sentence, right? Now, you get a whole paragraph. About 150 extra words. Here’s
your chance to expand on your hook. Give a little bit more information about
your main characters, their problems and conflicts, and the way in which
adversity changes their lives. Read the back flaps of your favorite novels and
try to copy how the conflict of the book is described in a single, juicy
paragraph. You can do this. You really can. You just have to sit down,
brainstorm, then vomit it all out onto the page. Afterwards, cut, paste, trim,
revise, and reshape.
Paragraph Three—Writer’s bio: This should be the easiest part of your
query. After all, it’s about you, the writer. Okay, so it’s a bit daunting,
especially if you’ve never been published, never won any awards, hold no
degrees from MFA writing schools, and possess no credentials to write your
book. No problem. The less you have to say, the more space you have for your
mini-synopsis. Always a plus.
If you do choose to construct a writer’s bio (and you should), keep it short
and related to writing. Agents don’t care what your day job is unless it
directly relates to your book. Got a main character who’s a firefighter, and
that’s your day job? Be sure to say that. Otherwise, scrap it. Education is
helpful because it sounds good, but it’s only really important if you’re
offering a nonfiction book about A.D.D. children and you hold a PhD in
pediatric behavioral science. If you’ve published a few stories in your local
newspaper, or a short story in a few literary magazines, or won any writing awards or contests,
now’s the time to list the details. Don’t go hog wild, but don’t be too modest
either.
Your Closing: Congratulations! You’ve finished your query letter. As a
formal closing, be sure to do two things. First, thank the agent for her time
and consideration. Second, if it’s nonfiction, tell them that you’ve included
an outline, table of contents, and sample chapters for their review. If it’s
fiction, alert the agent that the full manuscript is available upon request.
And in case you still don’t believe us, we want to reiterate: don’t query
agents until you’ve finished your full fiction manuscript. Agents will want to
read the whole novel before they offer representation to you and your book.
Other Random Tips:
The Do’s:
-
Do address your query specifically to an agent. There are lots of greetings
from which to choose. Here are your options in order of best to worst:
Attn. Ms. Shermanstein:
Dear Adrian Shermanstein:
Dear Ms. Shermanstein:
Dear Ms. Shermanstein,
Dear Adrian,
Yo Adrian,
-
Do state the title of your book.
-
Do mention the word count and genre of your book. Novels should be 80,000 to
100,00 words. Young adult novels can be significantly less: 40,000-60,000
words. Suavely insert word count and genre at the end of your first “hook”
paragraph.
-
Do mention exactly why you’re approaching Ms. Agent. Try to compare your book
with other books that Ms. Agent has represented in the past.
-
Do adopt a professional, serious tone.
- Do keep your query to one-page only.
-
Do format your query using standard business letter alignment and spacing. That means: Single spaced. 12 point font.
Everything aligned along the left margin. No paragraph indentations, but a space between each paragraph. One-page only!
- Do list your phone number, mailing address, and email address
- Do include a self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE) with all snail mail submissions.
-
Do have a pair of "fresh eyes" proofread for typos and grammar mistakes.
The Do NOT’s:
- Do NOT start off your query by saying, "I am querying you because I found your name
in 'such and such' writing guide or internet agent database" (like AQ!). Not only does this take up valuable
query letter space, but it's also the sign of an amateur.
-
Do NOT refer to your novel as a fictional novel. That’s redundant. Just call it
a novel.
-
Do NOT sing the praises of your book or compare it with other best selling
books.
-
Do NOT send gifts or other bribes with your query.
-
Do NOT print your query on perfumed or colored paper. Use plain business
stationery.
-
Do NOT shrink your font down to 9 point so it all fits on one page. 12 point is
standard. 11 point if you’re really desperate.
-
Do NOT Fedex or mail your query in a lavish, signature-required fashion in order to make your query stand out. It will stand out, but
in a very "annoying, over-zealous, bad first impression" kind of way. Not to mention, it's a friggin' waste of money.
-
Do NOT apologize in your query for being a newbie writer with zero publishing credits and experience.
Your goal is to write a tight, alluring, eye-catching query and sound like a professional. If you're worried about your lack of writing credentials,
just keep quiet and let the writing speak for itself.
-
Do NOT include sample chapters of your novel with your query UNLESS an agent's submission guidelines
specifically SAY to include sample pages with your snail mail query. If you really feel compelled to show an agent your writing style along with your query letter,
include only the first 5 pages of your novel. Never send more than the first 5 pages with your query unless the guidelines say, "A-Okay!"
-
Do NOT forget to list your email address or contact phone number on your query.
-
Do NOT forget to enclose a self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE)
Need to see an ACTUAL query letter before you'll know how to write one?
We've been getting a lot of email from some AQ users who believe that they must see a query letter before they can write one. And you've been relentless in your requests for examples of REAL, L-I-V-E query letters.
Some of you have even offered us shiny trinkets in exchange for a glimpse at the elusive QL beast. Well, it ain't the ivory-billed wood pecker, but here
you go: examples from agents and writers with agents. You can't get a better view than that.
JUST FOR NON-FICTION WRITERS: Truth be told, much of our AQ advice is geared towards
fiction writers, which is kind of silly considering that there's a bigger market for non-fiction than fiction these days. And non-fiction writers have the added
benefit of not having to finish the whole manuscript before seeking representation from an agent. So we've trolled the web and asked our non-fiction friends to recommend books, web links, and tips for writers
seeking information on how to write a stellar non-fiction proposal. Here's what we came up with:
Still need more advice about how to write a stellar query letter? We recommend buying the following books:
For Fiction:
Your Novel Proposal: From Creation to Contract
by Blythe
Camenson and Marshall J. Cook
This is a great resource for writing queries for novels as well as how to write
a synopsis and how to format your manuscript submission, including your novel’s
title page. Handy. Informative. Great general reference regarding the
submission process.
For Non-Fiction:
How to Sell, Then Write Your Nonfiction Book
by Blythe Camenson
This book describes how to put together a non-fiction proposal and the process
of selling your non-fiction book before finishing it.
And no, we don’t have any affiliation with the author. She’s not paying us to
promote her books. We just happen to believe that she knows what she’s talking about.
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