Every major plot twist, character, and any big turning point or climatic scene should get a mention. Maybe youve been vouched for or referred by an existing client or author. Jan 05, 2016 the appropriate length for a nonfiction query is somewhere between 1 and 1. Tips for writing a query letter for your romance novel and what to do while you wait webcorrectly query letter is a short look into your novel somewhere between the 250 and 350word mark that entices february 5, 2018 at 11. A proper query letter will provide a synopsis of your book, will give a bit of information about the author, and will hopefully pique the interest of agents or publishers enough that theyll want to read more. Successful query letters for literary agents galleycat. Though query letters may sound straightforward, learning the ins and outs of writing a successful query letter is important for anyone hoping to break in as a writer. Actually, its rude to go over one page in a query letter, not to mention unprofessional. Two query letters that worked i would trade all the query letter guides, manuals, and help books for a set of query letters that actually worked. How not to write a darn good query letterdont go beyond one page. I dont care if im ruffling feathers or making agents jobs harder ie, instead of seeing one or two good query letters a day, if a lot of people read and use the instructions in my report, the agents will be asking for a lot more manuscripts. How to write the perfect query letter query letter.
In such cases, the query really ends up being a cover letter and doesnt have to be labored over that much. Its part of our free 15part guidelines on how to write a query letter by mark malatesta, a former literary agent and former marketing. This article is part of a series called get a literary agent. Jun 24, 20 below was the query letter that grabbed her attention. Successful query letters and winning examples writing. Below is a sample cover letter otherwise known as a query letter sent by an aspiring writer to a literary agent. A query letter by karen macinerney ive been asked by readers if i would consider posting the original query letters some of my clients sent and critique themin other words, explain what in the letter attracted me to the work and how that would work for me today, if it would at all. How to write a darn good query letter ny book editors. My novel, saving grace 105,000 words, is a multifaceted story of love, turmoil, and perseverance in which two people give up everything, including each other, for their love and for their child. Not a fullscale plot summary, thats for the synopsis. A query letter is an appeal to publishers or agents in an effort to get them interested in something youve written, usually a book.
This edition includes author gia cribbs successful query letter for the disappearance of sloane sullivan, submitted to steven salpeter, an associate literary agent at curtis brown, ltd. The query letter is so much of a sales piece that its quite possible to write one without having written a word of the manuscript. Sample query letter the query letter sample below will help you create a successful query letter of your own, so you can get a top literary agent, publisher, and book deal. Include the key points, follow these steps, and then mail it out based on the listed requirements of your preferred agent or publisher to receive the best possible results. Jan 17, 2020 the query letter has one purpose, and one purpose only. Writing a query letter can determine whether a literary agent asks to see more or sends you a cordial form letter intended to let you down easy. Before i share the ideal structure for book queries with you, i need to make sure you understand something. I currently run my own small consultancy business, and this is my first novel. Heres one of the many successful query letter examples ive seen online.
Because of this, and because agents are very busy people, the writer kept the letter brief and to the point. Youre about to make a virtual sales call, and your query letter makes the first impression. For me, one of the hardest parts of querying was knowing where to start. The appropriate length for a nonfiction query is somewhere between 1 and 1. And since several of you have asked so nicely, here is my query letter that i sent to caitlenthe one that ultimately led me to representation. Make sure you organize your letter in the right manner. You cant have a strong pitch without a strong novel. A literary agent shares a reallife novel pitch that ultimately led to a book. Note that your pitch is a diagnostic tool that helps you determine the strong and weak points of your novel. Im reading my query for brightly burning, which had about a 70% request rate and landed me my agent elana roth parker.
Make sure you organize your letter in the right manner, and its easy to skim through. Considering our mutual love of magic, harry potter, and kristen. The secret to writing a successful query letter the. You should put your best foot forward, or lead with your strongest selling point. Example of a good query letter nathan bransford writing, book. Jan 02, 2018 tips for writing a query letter for your romance novel and what to do while you wait webcorrectly query letter is a short look into your novel somewhere between the 250 and 350word mark that entices february 5, 2018 at 11. Cover letter example for fiction writers to send to agents. Whether youre writing a fiction novel or nonfiction book, youre going to need to know how to write a query letter. You have one page and 300 words or less to woo a literary agent into falling in love with your story and then requesting your manuscript. Tips for writing a query letter for your romance novel and. Keep the pitch to 150200 words orally or in query letter format.
Query letter sample literary agents and literary agencies. How to write the perfect query letter writers digest. Consider the query letter as a summary of your book novel. I hope these samples take some of the fear and doubt away so you can get that letter finished and put your best foot forward. How to write a novel synopsis with an example jericho writers. Here are some of our favorite query letter basics articles that will help you polish your scifi or fantasy novel query letter to an elvish shine. If you can send the book proposal along with the query, you should. A query letter is a onepage letter sent to literary agents in an effort to get them excited about your book.
Below was the query letter that grabbed her attention. The query letter has one purpose, and one purpose only. All it requires is a firm grasp of your story premise. While query letters vary a little depending on who the agent is and their guidelines and what type of book youre writing novel, nonfiction. It and the manuscript that went along with it generated five offers. And 9 times out of 10, they provide too much information that is the wrong type of information. How to write a query letter an agent will read in 9 steps. Consider the query letter as a summary of your booknovel.
Jan 15, 20 successful query letters and winning examples the goal of query letter is to elicit an invitation from an agent or editor to send in sample chapters or the whole manuscript. Give a very brief 1sentence summary of the book and your purpose in writing it. A query letter is an introductory letter sent to a literary agent to see if theyd be interested in representing your book and. How to write a query letter in order to have a book published by a traditional publisher, you will likely need to know how to write a query letter to find a literary agent. The author shared it during an interview as a tool to help other authors be successful, after she got a good literary agent and book publishing deal. A synopsis is a 500800 word summary of your book that forms part of your agent submission pack. How to write a novel synopsis with an example jericho. Query letters for fiction are worth a bit of angst and extra polishing. Successful query letters and winning examples writing and. Its not rambling saga of your life as an aspiring writer. The novel i describe will be published in october 2015. Query letters that worked before you get started on the first of fifty drafts of your cover letter, i urge you to look at publishers catalogues which are issued about four months before a book is published and are used by sales reps to pitch their companys titles to booksellers. A query letter is a one page letter with three concise paragraphs. A query letter is meant to elicit an invitation to send sample chapters or even the whole manuscript to the agent.
I dont care if im ruffling feathers or making agents jobs harder ie, instead of seeing one or two good query letters a day, if a lot of people read and use the instructions in my. Here at writers relief, weve been helping new writers get published since 1994and were glad to pass along these tips to help you write your first ever query letter for finding a literary agent for your novel or other book. Writing a pitchperfect query letter romance writers on. It was also awarded honorable mention in the smart. Garth stein this query letter example comes from a new york times. Jan 05, 2018 here at writers relief, weve been helping new writers get published since 1994and were glad to pass along these tips to help you write your first ever query letter for finding a literary agent for your novel or other book. Dear pooja menon, dreamcatchers, a young adult urban fantasy completed at 67,000 words, was one of the three finalists for this years amazon breakthrough novel award contest in the young adult category. Please find enclosed the synopsis and first three chapters of my 67 000 word young adult novel yellow. Tips for writing a query letter for your romance novel. It should outline your plot in neutral nonsalesy language and demonstrate a clear story arc. On the road to traditional publication, your query letter plays a central role in getting literary agents and publishers to notice your book. Nothing is better for polishing your query letter than seeing actual letters that made an agent say send it. After all, a query letter is a way to make connections with agents and editors and garner interest in your work.
Heres how to write your first query letter for your novel or book. How to write a query letter with examples of real successful. This query resulted in a full request from my agent, which later turned into an offer of representation. This post focuses on query letters for novels, although the same advice applies to memoirists, because both novelists and memoirists are. Let us guide you through the query letter writing process. Most literary agents will not even consider a query letter with more than one page or front and back. Jane doe at del rey books suggested that i contact you regarding representation for my debut science fiction novel, arbormancer. Reading a novel requires a larger investment of time on the editors part, so the query letter must be targeted very carefully.
The query letter below pretends that this book is a first novel and i have no track record in the industry. How to write a query letter in 7 steps reedsy blog. This letter does something that every successful query letter should doit tells us about the manuscript while simultaneously creating questions in our minds. We recommend the following algonkian writers conference examples as models for a novel pitch session. Set in a small seaside town north of byron bay, yellow is a murder mystery with supernatural elements, but at heart its a coming. Aug 24, 2008 writing a pitchperfect query letter once youve completed your manuscript, gone out to a celebratory dinner, told all your writing friends, and bought a new handbag oops, sorry, that was me its time to get down to the serious business of finding a home for your work.
Writing a memoir query letter can be difficult, but it will generally contain all of the elements of a fictional query letter. Example of a good query letter nathan bransford writing. I would trade all the query letter guides, manuals, and help books for a set of query letters that actually worked. Query letter basics a query letter is a single page cover letter, introducing you and your book. Once youve completed your manuscript, gone out to a celebratory dinner, told all your writing friends, and bought a new handbag oops, sorry, that was me its time to get down to the serious business of finding a home for your work. Dont send a serious issue book to a house that does only series romances. Successful query letters and winning examples the goal of query letter is to elicit an invitation from an agent or editor to send in sample chapters or the whole manuscript. To help inspire you, weve collected 116 examples of successful query letters from famous authors spanning various genres, from crime fiction, to fantasy, to young adult. The tone of the query letter should be similar to the tone of your writing. How to write a query letter that gets manuscript requests. How to write a query letter for a literary agent nathan. Aug 22, 2019 a query letter is an appeal to publishers or agents in an effort to get them interested in something youve written, usually a book. How to write the perfect query letter query letter example. Its basically a stepbystep guide on what how to create the perfect, unrejectable query letter.
If youre hoping to secure a traditional publisher for. Every agent will have different pet peeves, different priorities, and different interests, but most likely every single agent who received this query was compelled to move on to at least read gia cribbss first chapters, which, by the way you can do right now in any book store or online to see why gia had so much immediate. Ive read many query letters over the yearshundreds of thousands of them. Writing a pitchperfect query letter romance writers on the. Im hoping to interest you in my ya contemporary fantasy, keeper. The 67,500 words of my inspirational young adult novel the boy in the basement follow hannahs unique and often humorous journey to the. How to write a query letter that gets manuscript requests jane. Dear at the tender age of twentytwo, lorelie walker is running out of ways to reinvent herself. Query letter sample below reveals how you can double your chances of getting the attention of book agents and publishers. Lets say youve just put the finishing touches on the next great american novel but lack the representation or knowhow to get it published. If youre feeling at a loss and cant find the right agent, it might be time to consider writing a query letter. Jul 29, 2014 i wrote another letter, which was agent catnip. Set in a small seaside town north of byron bay, yellow is a murder mystery with supernatural elements, but at heart its a coming of age tale about the redemptive powers of kindness.
This is just my personal example of how to write a. So yes, writing a query letter for your romance novel totally is possible. Read a sample literary agent query letter with hints. Without further ado, here is emilys very strong query letter. May 31, 2018 here are some of our favorite query letter basics articles that will help you polish your scifi or fantasy novel query letter to an elvish shine. After all, if you dont send out a query, that story is never going to see the light of day. We met most recently at your seminar, pitches and queries at the ccwc in hyannis, which was instrumental in helping to craft this query letter.
How to write a successful query letter example and template. A total of 349 words, not including the salutation or sign off. If you write fiction or narrative nonfiction, a query letter is your first. Publishing agents have to write query letters, too. Today im going to break the query down into three sections to create an easy templateformat you can use to write your own query. In this case, the firsttime author had a connection to the agent. A somewhat longer, 12 paragraph, introduction to the book. Whether youre giving your current query letter a final onceover or are preparing to write a killer book pitch from scratch, youll want to. How to write a query letter that grabs a literary agents. A couple of writer buddies of mine have just heard those two magic words, so. Theres a lot of information about querying available on the internet. Today, for the first time in any venue ever, i will be sharing that query letter, along with commentary in italics. Feb 03, 2020 a query letter is an introductory letter sent to a literary agent to see if theyd be interested in representing your book and helping get it published.
A query letter is part business letter, part creative writing exercise, part introduction, part death defying leap through a flaming hoop. Today im going to break the query down into three sections to create an easy templateformat you can use to write. Kole, 1 according to your agencys website youre actively seeking middlegrade fiction, so im pleased to introduce my novel, a smidgen of sky. Near the bottom of each query youll find a link to the authors website and a link to buy the book the query is for. How to write a successful query letter example and.