#query letter

A query is the name for what is essentially the application for finding an agent who wants to represent your book, or for a small publisher (who does not require agents) to acquire your book. The verb form is "querying," as in, "jesus fucking christ i hate querying so much."

The most important thing to do is make sure you're researching the submission guidelines for whoever you're submitting to. Almost all submissions will require sample pages and a query letter, which is essentially a cover letter for your book. Some will also require a synopsis and/or other stuff. Make sure you submit exactly what they ask for!

If you're writing a query letter, I would be happy to look at it and give you my (random one lady's) opinion. Just either plop it in my inbox (I'll respond publicly) or tag me in a post with it. This is the hardest part for sure, so it's okay to need help! If I'd gotten help on my first query, wow it would have been SO MUCH better omg.

For fiction: I would NOT query unless the project is not only finished, but edited. Best case, the agent/publisher likes the sample pages and asks you for the full manuscript. You need to be able to provide that instantly. I would say, get the book as close to done as you possibly can on your own. Query after alpha and beta readers, after doing as much editing as you can for free. Don't pay for an editor, but give them as polished a manuscript as you can.

Non-fiction often sells on proposal. Those are quite different and I know less about that!

Sample Pages

Some agents/publishers want the first 10 pages. Some the first 50. Some the first 3 chapters. Some the first 5k words. Send whatever they say they want, and don't get cute with it. When they say x number of pages, they mean double spaced, times new roman or similar standard font, one inch margins. If you're attaching a word document: include a header that has the book title and your name, plus page numbers in the footer. A google doc is not sufficient here, needs to be word. Sometimes they will ask for this to be pasted directly into the body of the email instead of attached. In that case, format your document into being double spaced, and then copy and paste that into the email body. Don't try to fudge their guidelines. They always mean (unless they explicitly say otherwise, which I've never seen) the first 10-50 pages. If you think your sample is better starting from page 70, too bad! If you have a prologue, include it (or cut it from the manuscript).

Query Letter

This is the hardest part of querying or submitting by far. Everyone struggles with these so don't feel bad if your first one or three or nineteen drafts suck. Essentially, the role of the query letter is to make the agent/editor excited about your premise, optimistic about your prose, and confident that you understand your genre and the book publishing marketplace. If you say things like "no one has ever written a book like this!" for example, they will know that you don't actually know a lot about books or publishing, because that's basically never going to be true. You want to sound clear, concise, interesting, talented, and normal to work with.

The basic format looks like this: Salutation, meta data with little hook, plot summary up through the climax, about you, the end. The whole thing should be 400 words or under.

In detail:

Dear Agent/Editor [spell their name correctly omg], I'm pleased to send you THE GILMORE GIRLS [your title is always in all caps], an 80,000 word book club women's fiction novel about a mother and daughter who act more like best friends--for better and for worse--that will appeal to fans of [comparable title, or comps. give 2 that are recent books (last 5 years) in your genre that did well but aren't mega famous. Don't comp Emily Henry or Sally Rooney, think more Ashley Herring Blake, format these book titles in Caps Every Word and Italics]. I am sending this to you due your interest in [something personal about them, like they are seeking stories about complex women in family dynamics or whatever. Do your research on their publicly stated wish list, change this for each place/person, don't be a creep like "based on the pictures of your child i found on your private instagram"]. [this paragraph is where you summarize the book. you can go up to the climax. If the book is in dual POV, introduce both POVs here]. Lorelai Gilmore's life is finally on track. It took a long time to get her feet under her and establish herself in her career, life, and home after having a kid at sixteen, but now at 32, she's finally found her rhythm. Her daughter, Rory, is a brilliant kid, Lorelai runs the inn she used to clean, and she lives in the cutest, oddest town in Connecticut, Stars Hallow. But when Rory gets into a prestigious private school, but isn't offered any financial aid, Lorelai realizes the only way to help Rory have the best life possible is to borrow money from her extremely wealthy and controlling parents--the ones she ran away from when Rory was only a baby. Lorelai will have to decide between her own happiness and autonomy and Rory's future--a future that's put into question when Rory starts caring more about a new guy in town than school, and Lorelai's own boy problems threaten to destabilize everything she's built in Stars Hallow. [about me] I have a degree in creative writing from Tumblr University. I live in California and spend my time walking my dog and gardening. [if you have published anything else, put it here. otherwise, just wrap it up]. GILMORE GIRLS will be my debut novel. Thank you very much for your time, and I hope to hear from you, Your Name

This example is only 270 words, so you can see there's a bit more room for expanding on the plot.

Pardon the random vent. IDK, I'm just frustrated with this. I know most of my followers are here for my art and discussions, but if you didn't know, I also have original stuff I'm working on. If you're an early follower of mine, you might recall me talking briefly about my original novel.

Errr, you don't need to read this if you're not interested, lmao. I just need to talk about it on something, lol.

I'm pretty confident in the novel. It's ready to be sent to literary agents. But there is a blockade: query writing. I hate query writing.

I want to die. /j

I'm workshopping my query with some folks at the moment. I need constructive feedback on my query, because I know I suck at it. I suck balls at writing queries. This is not an excuse for it at all, but I feel like one of the reasons I suck is because I'm neurodivergent and I absolutely do not have a good grasp on squeezing an 85K adult, grimdark, fantasy novel into less than 300 words. Maybe that's not the reason, actually... maybe I do just suck and I'm grasping for excuses.

Novel writing is so, so, SO different from writing a query, I feel like no one gets this. The problem I'm facing is that I cannot for the life of me choose which plot points should go in the query without making it seem cliché and boring. (I have a better semblance of that now thanks to recent feedback, but still...)

My novel does have a simple three-act structure. However, what those three acts entail are NOT simple and contain a lot of action, character development/interactions etc. that all combine together to make the overall story and plot even more enticing.

I know for a fact my novel is not a run-of-the-mill fantasy novel, but my query makes it seem like it is at certain points and I HATE it.

What's worse, the feedback I'm getting is very conflicting. Some people say to focus on this or that, while others say to do the opposite. Last week, I received a good breakdown of what I should do in the query. One of the comments were to make the tone darker and to focus on the 'grimdark' element. So, I did.

But now, I'm being told I shouldn't do that. That it drags the query down and makes them not want to read any longer. *Screams.*

I am very thankful for the people that are helping me, but it's getting to a point where I simply don't know which feedback to take on because they're all different from one another. It feels like my brain is just fizzling out. Is it embarrassing to admit that I actually cried in frustration today over it?

*Sigh.* IDK, man. I've spent a long time on this novel. It's matured and grown and I want to share it with the world. I've sacrificed so much for it, and it's went through drafts and edits that I never imagined it would go through. But they only made it better.

But the fact that a measly query letter is stopping me from getting it out there makes me feel like I'm going to have a heart attack, lmao.

✅ DO Address the literary agent name by name. Personalization is important for queries. You're trying to stand out among thousands of query emails. You have to make yourself memorable. Mention why you're querying a particular agent. Maybe they represent one of your favorite writers—mention that!

✅ DO Research the literary agent. The more you know about them and what they represent, the better you will be able to gauge if they are the right agent to represent your story. Don't just query anyone! Be sure they represent your genre. Be sure they are still seeking those types of books. A quick Google search will go a long way!

❌ DON'T Avoid saying that your book is the nest bestseller, or that you're the next Stephen King or J.K. Rowling. Doing this is your one-way ticket to an agent closing your email and moving on. Be formal. Be professional. Don't brag about yourself or your story. Even in your bio, remain humble.

❌ DON'T Email the literary agent insults or "that they've made a mistake" if you receive a rejection letter. This will get you on a list that will lead to you receiving rejections from every agent within the publishing industry. The book community talks. We love tea (all kinds). You will be put on a "do not represent" list and never be considered after you've crossed this line.

I may have try to something along the lines of, "A fresh take on the fantasy genre that fans of Classical Greece or A Game of Thrones can appreciate." Or, "Imagine Classical Greece with less misogyny and A Game of Thrones without all the sexual assault."