Query letter

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A query letter is a formal letter sent to magazine editors, literary agents and sometimes publishing houses or companies. Writers write query letters to propose writing ideas. In theory, a query letter should be contained to one page and adhere to a set of guidelines (below).

1 Suggested Format of a Book Proposal Query Letter
2 The DO's and DO NOT's
3 Submitting to a Literary Agent
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Suggested Format of a Book Proposal Query Letter

Your query letter should be a one page introduction to your story. Generally your query letter should contain - at minimum - the following information:

The name and length and type (genre) of manuscript or book you are sending.
What your story or book is about.
Your qualifications, if any, to write the book.
Thank you note to the editor/agent for her/his time and sign off.
Your name, address, telephone number, and e-mail (note: some agents or publishers do not use e-mail, so your e-mail may not be needed).

Depending on how you are sending off your query letter - through snail-mail or e-mail - there are certain rules that apply to what you send with it.

Snail-mail queries should only contain the one-page query letter and a self-addressed-stamped-envelope (SASE). Never should you send portions of your manuscript unless directed otherwise.

E-mail queries should only include the one-page query letter that is pasted onto the e-mail directly. Never should you "attach" the query letter. Some agents and publishers immediately throw out e-mails sent to them with attachments. As with snail-mail, never send portions of your manuscript unless directed otherwise.

Your basic query letter would consist of three different sections, or paragraphs: the hook, synopsis, and biography. Your query letter should also be no longer than one page, single-space (if using a computer), and be 12 point font (again, if using the computer).

The hook: The hook is basically your entire book compacted into one sentence. This sentence needs to give just the right amount of information, but not too much. It should also be intriguing and catch the reader's attention.

A good example of a hook is something like this: When Tim - a married man living in present-day Ohio - discovers a family secret deep in his parent's attic, he is launched on a cross-country trip to reveal its true meaning, and in doing so finds something that could haunt him for the remainder of his life.

The synopsis: This paragraph is much easier to write than the hook, because now you can describe your book in a whole paragraph instead of just one sentence. Take this space to expand slightly on some things mentioned in the previous part, giving away enough information to get the reader "hooked" but not giving away the entire story.

The biography: This is the easiest of the three sections, because it is about you. Any awards, achievements, et cetera, dealing with writing and publishing should be mentioned here. If you've been published before, now is the time to tell that. Sometimes, though, this could be your first book, and you have no fancy awards or recent publishing deals to talk about. That just gives you more space for your synopsis and hook.

This format is a basic format, and if you happen to be writing your first query letter, it would be fairly wise to stick closely to this format. Most literary agents or publishers do not want a query letter that has a new, creative format that differs from anything else they receive. Just stick somewhat to the above format and do not go too wild over your letter.

[edit] The DO's and DO NOT's

The DO's:

Do state your name, address, telephone number, and e-mail, unless told otherwise.
Do keep your query letter to one page. Not two, not three, one.
Do enter the word count of your book after the hook.
Do thank the literary agent and/or publisher for reading your letter.
Do politely ask them to respond if, and only if, they are interested in your story.
Do make sure to state the title of your book and if it is part of a series or trilogy.
Do keep your tone professional.
Do state your book's genre.

The DO NOT's:

Do not keep pestering the agent or publisher if they do not respond to your letter. That will only lower your chances of getting considered by them.
Do not apologize for not having any writing credentials.
Do not try to impress the agent or publisher by printing the letter on fancy paper, mailing it in a colorful envelope, et cetera.
Do not bribe the agent or publisher.
Do not mouth-off at the agent or publisher if they reject your story. Every author gets rejected at least once. Just keep trying different agents or publishers.
Do not forget to include an SASE if sending your query letter through snail-mail.
Do not send you query letter as an attachment on an e-mail.

[edit] Submitting to a Literary Agent

After you have written your one-page query letter, you can send it off to a literary agent. These agents make it far easier to get publishing deals than the average person could. Getting a literary agent could greatly increase your chance of getting published than if you went solo.

The first step is to find what agent(s) you wish to send your query letter to. It is a good idea to send it to agents who specialize in your book's genre.

Once you have your agent(s), gather contact information and then either snail-mail or e-mail your query letter. Remember to include an SASE if using snail-mail. Then it is just a matter of waiting to see if the agent(s) respond. Normally, if an agent is not interested in your manuscript after reading the query letter, they will politely respond and tell you. Do note that some agents might not even respond back, so do not continually try to reach them. Remember that agents can at time be literally swimming in query letters from thousands of hopeful authors. An agent might not respond for long periods of time.

If an agent(s) does respond and wishes to see portions or even the entire manuscript, send if off as soon as possible. If you are sending it over e-mail, remember to copy and paste it into the actual e-mail and not attach it separately. If you send it over snail-mail, do not staple the pages together. Instead, use a rubber band.

If you receive a letter from your agent(s) and they are wishing to represent you, make sure to tell them to give you between a week to two weeks at the maximum to give your answer. Use this time to contact any other agents you might have sent off too and inform them that you have had a deal offered to you. Agents can be very competitive, so a message like this could make them read your entire manuscript in one night. If you do not respond before three weeks, it is likely the agent will not want to represent you anymore. So choose wisely, but do not take a long amount of time to do so.

Once you have accepted a deal with an agent, your job is practically done. The agent will do all the hard work: contacted publishers, sending in your manuscript to publishers, et cetera, et cetera. The time it takes for an agent to strike a deal with a publishing company can vary depending on two things: the credibility of the agent and any deals he/she might have made, and how good of writing your manuscript is.

When your agent has struck a publishing deal with a publisher, you are as good as done. All you have to wait for is the publishing and distributing of your story/novel. Do note that literary agents take a percentage of your earnings for their hard work. Normally this is between 10-20%, which, considering the amount of time and work put into making you a deal, is not that much.