#query letters

As I begin to send out query letters, I wanted to reflect on everywhere I wrote this novel. From my home in Seattle to the library at the University of Tennessee to airports in Finland and Croatia to Airbnbs in Bilbao to so many other places.

Part One of a Two-part series of guest posts by Alec J. Marsh.

Hello, it’s me, Alec. I’m a new editor to Duck Prints Press and the resident corporate shill sellout. I love Duck Prints Press and their ethics (and will write an opinion piece soon on why they rock and you should submit to them). I also…. love traditional publishing. 

I’m sorry! I know this makes me a trend-following sheep. I know it’s a hot take in the indie pub crowd. Traditional publishing absolutely has its flaws, and I could go on at length about them. I’m still aiming to get my novels traditionally published. I want to be able to find my book at a Barnes & Noble and be nominated for a Hugo. Sorry not sorry. 

One of the worst parts of traditional publishing is the arcane hoops you have to jump through to participate. As anyone who has poked querying with a long, tentative stick knows, there are many requirements, and every agent’s website uses slightly different phrasing, and it’s a nightmare to navigate. It’s an extra nightmare if you’re neurodivergent and desperately seeking a clear, simple list of expectations. Unfortunately, the basic requirements are there for a reason. A GOOD reason. Learning the skills required to put together a good query package will serve you well, whether you want a ten-book deal with Tor, to sell hand-stapled zines at the local convention, or anything in between. 

So let’s get into it! 

The first thing you need in any submission process is a query letter. What is a query letter? In short, it’s a 3-5 paragraph essay about your book, yourself, and why a publisher should buy your work (and therefore why an agent should agree to represent you). You need to tell the agent the genre, the plot, and why this book is special. They are excruciating to write, because yes, you need to condense your book down to 300 words, maximum, and sell it at the same time. 

But imagine, for a moment, that you’ve walked into Ye Olde Barnes & Noble. There, on the end cap, is a cool new fantasy book you’ve never heard of. The cover has a sword and a snake on it, and you like swords and snakes. But how is it different from the 20 other books with names like A Court of Swords and Snakes that have come out in the last five years? The first thing you do is pick the book up, turn to the back cover, and read. 

You know what’s on the back cover? 

Paragraph one: In a stunning tour de force, ACOSAS takes you through the glittering world of naga politics… (A teaser sentence)  

Paragraph two: Princess Arya has always wanted to be a dancer. But when the evil northerners attack her kingdom… (A paragraph about the main character and the central conflict of the book) 

Paragraph three: Alec J Marsh lives in the Pacific Northwest and has never seen a snake in the wild. (A biography of the author) 

Guess what you just read? A query letter. In many cases, what’s in the blurb is actually pretty close to the exact query letter the author originally sent to their agent. Yes, really. Sometimes a query letter makes it from agent to editor to publicist to final copy.

They’re that important. 

But Alec, I hear you say, I’m not planning to get trad published! Why do I need to do this? Well, indie and self-published people—you will need to write cover copy for your book. And you’ll almost certainly need to write it yourself. The good and the bad part of self-publishing is that you do everything yourself. Less meddling (good!), but less help (bad!). And here’s the hard truth: absolutely no one will spend a single one of their hard-earned dollars on “sex babes get pounded by space aliens” if the back cover says “lol I suck at summaries, I promise it’s good :)” It’s useless, and it’s disrespectful to the buyer’s time and money. 

And that is why query letters are good, actually, for all writers, and are worth practicing how to create!

So go out there and sell your books, and you’ll accidentally write your query along the way. 

A guide for all writers who want to pitch a book to an agent, but haven't done it before.

All of this comes from my experience and shouldn't be taken a firm rule.

Terminology

Some important query lingo you should know when enterying this stage!

MS = Manuscript

Partial Request = when an agent requests more material about your book, but not the full manuscript. It might be some more chapters.

Full Request = when an agent requests the whole manuscript.

YA/NA/MG/A = Young Adult, New Adult, Middle Grade, Adult. All age target acronyms.

Query Letter = the letter in which you pitch your book to an agent

Synopsis = a summary of all important events happening in the book in a max of 1-2 pages (depending on what the agent requires)

Where to find agents

Finding agents is pretty simple!

You can either use Google (type "[genre] [age target] [country] agents", i.e. "fantasy ya american agents" and you should find some already!

Other tools:

QueryTracker (I have the Pro version where I can see how long agents take to reply and what kind of replies they give) --> here you can find agents, use the filter to find those who take your genre and age target

Manuscript Wish List --> a website where you can see what kind of books agents want to read, from the very specific to the broader

Twitter --> use hashtags like #mswl #amagenting to find more wish lists and agents talking about their job and queries.

Who to query

I'd advise only querying those agents that

fit your filters perfectly.

Choose carefully, and make sure to follow them on Twitter for updates! Sometimes they post about their progress in reading queries, so you might know something about your pitch early.

When to query

- When your book sounds like a published book to you, your beta readers, and/or your Critique Partner.

- When you can't find errors you'd find in a printed book on a shelf.

- When it's as done and perfect as you can get it!

Where to query

"I'm not American, but I want to query an American agent! Can I do it?

Sounds silly doesn’t it? ‘Of course I understand my book’, I hear you say, I would have said the same before. You might be right, but here is a very simple exercise/test to ensure that you do:

One line summaries. 

Previously, these words invoked a feeling of dread in my soul but they don’t need to! It all changed once I started to follow this easy structure:

While struggling with their everyday life, Character finds the catalyst; BUT when the stakes rise they must learn the theme before the consequences ruin their life. 

Let’s take The Hunger Games for example: 

With her family on the brink of starvation, 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen must leave them and take her sister’s place in the Hunger Games, an annual event where 24 teenagers fight to the death until only one survives; But when she is hunted by a pack of elite, highly trained tributes, she must learn who she can trust and form an alliance before they kill her and her family are left to rot.

Well damn, that sounds dramatic and enticing, but it also lays out our characters life, wants and challenges all in a single (albeit rather long) sentence. 

After writing my one line summary, I began to understand my plot in a much clearer light. I understand my theme, my focus and it allows me to ground my plot as I edit my manuscript. I only wish I’d known to do it before!

Whatever stage your at—drafting, editing, querying—I highly recommend you give this a try. Feel free to drop a one sentence summary of your WIP below as getting feedback is always really helpful! I’m there much could be done to improve the one line summary I’ve given above, so feel free to improve on that too. 

We had a great tweet chat on our Twitter account last week with fantastic advice for people who want to pitch and publish their novel. 

Agents Suzie Townsend and Kathleen Ortiz from New Leaf Literary were gracious enough to field questions from eager writers! Do you have any publishing questions or advice?