How to write a Query Letter

When you want to get published, you have to contact people to help you out. There’s a proper way to do this. First, you need to write a query letter. This query is your pitch, your “please publish/represent my story.” It’s the first thing the editor or agent will ever see from you, so it’s your best chance to make a good impression.

A query letter contains:

A) Your contact information

B) The buyer’s contact information

C) A one-liner

D) A 1-2 paragraph synopsis of your story

E) A short bio, and

F) A closing.

Your query letter has to be flawless. Unique, but not coy. You want it to have the same feel as your novel, and you want it to look professional. Keep in mind that editors look for reasons to throw out your letter. You can’t give them a reason.

Write your query letter like a business proposal. Don’t use a flowery word type or pretty paper. You want standard printing paper and fonts like Times New Roman or Courier. Everything should be block format, meaning don’t use indentations. Don’t bold, underline, or italicize anything but your book title. Put two spaces between paragraphs, but not sentences. No decorating, or adding gifts, or anything else that screams “desperate!”

Just in case you didn’t know, writing query letters takes practice. You can’t just whip one up. I developed this habit where every time I start I project, I write the query letter. Every so often I revise that letter. This way I get the practice without the frustration. My excitement makes it fun. But when I started, I really, really sucked. So. Practice. And watch out for run-on sentences – you may try to cram too much information into your limited space.

How do I write one?

Let’s go though the process step-by-step. Start in the upper left corner. Put your name, address, email and/or telephone number first, followed by one space. Then comes the date, and another space. Now put the publishing house’s name, address, and the editor’s first and last name. Make sure you have the right editor—most places will specify what editor to address, but if you have too large of a list, the acquisitions editor is a good one to try.

Your start should look something like this:

Jane Do

555 Hopeful Rd.

Hopeville, The Moon 55555

(555) 555-5555

www.janedo@example.com

Dec/31/2050

Your Dream Publisher Inc.

PO Box 555 Meanie Av.

Rejectionville, Neverland 55555

John Don’t

OK. After the contact information, you’ll have two spaces, and then the salutation.

Use the editors’ last name, not their first. And none of that “Dear Acquisitions Editor” junk. Use their name.

Dear Mr. Don’t,

Two more spaces. Now here comes your novel info and the one-liner. You want to state vital information like your novel’s word count and genre. Don’t name more than two genres; otherwise, it starts to look strung out.

Please consider publishing my completed 80,000 word YA Thriller, Get Real.

Now, in the same paragraph, type a snappy one-line summary of what your novel is about. That means the theme, or the premise—the core idea or emotional discovery behind your story. Save the plot for later. Try to avoid cliché terms like “struggling with” or “a story of love and fate.” OK, here’s our sample:

This story is about four young, angst-ridden writers liberating themselves through fiction, unleashing a monster they never knew existed: themselves.

Go two spaces. Follow your one-liner with a paragraph or two about the story. You want to explain the main plot, threats, and characters, as well as the characters’ motivations and emotional response. Give a cliffhanger ending. Avoid making vague or overused statements” or “can he find the courage,” or “working together to…” etc.

Jon joins a writers group at his school called “Get Real” in hopes that his parents will take his writing seriously, for once. But the group changes everything. The three other members, Maria, Mark, and Cindy, defiantly use their writing to sound off to the world. And the thing is that people are listening. Get Real makes them listen. Here Jon finds himself liberated. He can be anything he wants to be — and say anything he wants to say.

Not everyone likes the change. The principal bans the club, and everything spirals out of control. Maria publishes her first poem and disappears. Mark is dragged off to a psychiatric hospital. Cindy comes to Jon in the middle of withdrawals, begging him to let her write before it kills her. The world is going crazy just like the club predicted. Or is Jon going crazy, just like the world predicted? He doesn’t know. He can’t know until he writes — because it might just all be in his head.

After your summary comes your bio. This is one short paragraph about yourself. Mention why you have the expertise to write the novel. If you have publishing credits, throw in two or three of your best ones. (If you don’t have any credits, just skip that part. Never state what you haven’t done; only what you have.) Don’t talk about how much your friends liked your work, or that your college teacher told you to publish your term paper. Think of this like a type of résumé.

I’m the foster-parent of three troubled teens as well as a recipient of my own family history with mania, and I use this to give Get Real the edgy feel of personal experience. I got my Major in English, and I’ve been published in the Lucky anthology as well as first-place winner in the Blue Moon short fiction contest. I live in Hopeville, The Moon, with my husband and our foster kids.

OK. Finally we come to the closing paragraph. It’s too late to say anything else about your novel or yourself. All you need to do now is state that you’ve enclosed a Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope (SASE), and whatever else the buyer requested, for example, a partial. Thank the editor for their time.

I’ve enclosed a SASE for your response only, not for the return of any materials. Thank you for your time.

Close with,

Sincerely,

Jane Do.

If you didn’t put your contact information at the top, you would put it right below your closing. Either way is acceptable.

Jane Do

555 Hopeful Rd.

Hopeville, The Moon 55555

(555) 555-5555

www.janedo@example.com

And there you go. You’ve written a query letter. For more help on writing these, just Google the keywords “query letter” or associated terms. And if you want someone to help you polish yours, visit www.absolutewrite.com/forum, and go to the Share Your Work forum. Those people are great. Or check out www.queryshark.blogspot.com

Take a long look at our finished product: not bad, eh?

Jane Do

555 Hopeful Rd.

Hopeville, The Moon 55555

(555) 555-5555

www.janedo@example.com

Dec/31/2050

Your Dream Publisher Inc.

PO Box 555 Meanie Av.

Rejectionville, Neverland 55555

John Don’t

Dear Mr. Don’t,

Please consider publishing my completed 80,000 word YA Thriller, Get Real.This story is about four young, angst-ridden writers liberating themselves through fiction, unleashing a monster they never knew existed: themselves.

Jon joins a writers group called “Get Real” in hopes that his parents will take his writing seriously, for once. But the group changes everything. The three other members, Maria, Mark, and Cindy, defiantly use their writing to sound off to the world. And the thing is that people are listening. Get Real makes them listen. Here Jon finds himself liberated. He can be anything he wants to be — and say anything he wants to say.

Not everyone likes the change. The principal bans the club from writing, and everything spirals out of control. Maria publishes her first poem and disappears. Mark is dragged off to a psychiatric hospital. Cindy comes to Jon in the middle of withdrawals, begging him to let her write before it kills her. The world is going crazy just like the club predicted. Or is Jon going crazy, just like the world predicted? He doesn’t know. He can’t know until he writes — because it might just all be in his head.

I’m the foster-parent of three troubled teens as well as a recipient of my own family history with mania, and I use this to give Get Real the edgy feel of personal experience. I got my Major in English, and I’ve been published in the Lucky anthology as well as first-place winner in the Blue Moon short fiction contest. I live in Hopeville, The Moon, with my husband and our foster kids.

I’ve enclosed a SASE for your response only, not for the return of any materials. Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Jane Do.

-Creative A

The spacing in this example is a little off, thanks to a stubborn Blogger.