Writing the Dreaded Query Letter
Almost everyone hates the thought of sitting down and writing a
query letter, but with knowledge in hand and a little practice, it can be
accomplished with a minimum of terror. ;-)
First and foremost, be professional. Use 8 1/2 by 11 WHITE paper, black ink. No
colored paper, no weird or colored fonts. Now, I'm not saying there isn't an
agent or editor out there somewhere who doesn't enjoy that kind of thing. All
editors have their own opinions and preferences about query letters. The
information here isn't set in stone. It's only a general idea of what is acceptable.
Be sure to check and double check for spelling, typos...ect.
Check out the publisher/agent first, be sure they are interested in the genre
you will be submitting and that they're accepting queries. Otherwise you're
just wasting your time and theirs. Try to submit to the editor that you feel
will be most interested in your work. On some publisher/agent sites, they will
list their editors with the genre they're interested in reading and their
addresses. When you submit to a specific editor, please be sure to spell their
name correctly.
Okay now we'll go through the letter step by step:
Always date your letter, (upper left of letter, in most cases)
Skip down 2 or 3 lines and address it to the the person you're sending it to.
Target the correct editor and make sure to spell their name and address
correctly.
Skip down again and address the person (Dear Ms. Smith)
In the first paragraph introduce yourself and your book/project. If you've met
the editor before, remind them of where and when. Be brief and keep it
professional. At this time they're not interested in anything personal about
you. Simply state who you are, book title, word count and the line or genre
you're targeting. Use all capitals for the TITLE of your book.
In the next paragraph give a brief plot summary. This is your chance to generate
a little excitement about the book, but remember to do so in one or two very
short paragraphs. It even better to keep it to one very brief paragraph. And I
do mean brief. This seems impossible for some writers and I agree it's
difficult. Just practice telling someone about your book in as few words as
possible and at the same time grab their interest.
The next paragraph is for giving your credentials. Writing credits, contests
won...ect. And if you've been published before, when/where. I'm sure editors
differ on what they want to see here, but for newspaper and magazine titles, I'd
use italics, for previous book titles use either italics or as
before ALL CAPITALS. This allows the editor to see with just a glance your
previous publications.
Be sure to thank the editor for their time. Although I know of one editor who
hates being thanked--it's just good manners.
Don't forget to put your name (real name, no pen names) and your contact
information. You want them to be able to get back to you. Believe it or not,
some actually do forget to include this.
If you're including a SASE, synopsis, chapter samples...ect., be sure to say that at
the bottom of the letter. But don't include anything with your query if the
guidelines say not to. Some guidelines say to include a self addresses, stamped
postcard for them to send when they've received your submission and a SASE large
enough for the return of your submission packet or a smaller one for their
reply. Again, read the guidelines and follow them.
Good luck in your quest for a good agent or publisher.
ŠElizabeth Melton Parsons
May Be Reprinted With Proper
Credit Given To The Author