How To Write A Query Letter!

Notice: Previous articles were on how to write a novel and how to get published. The next article on the agenda is how to write a killer first chapter!

It is time! You have spent every ounce of your soul writing that beautifully crafted novel as yours. (And from some of samples people have sent me to look at, they truly are great) Pat yourself on your back because you have just jumped over a large hill that not many have or can do. I am being serious, writing a novel is hard, but exceedingly rewarding. Now you may be saying to yourself, “Psh, I have just written a novel, everything else will be easy.” If you have that kind of attitude, I hope you keep it once you are done reading this. (I hope I didn’t just scare everyone away…) 

            I am going to tell you right here and now, and you may not believe me, but your query letter is more important than the novel itself. I know it is hard to hear, but it is true. You have read many crappy books, right? Chances are, they wrote a fantastic query letter, or they have a rich daddy. (Or a sugga moma) The art of writing a great query letter has basic principles, but it takes a creative writer to further that.  In this article, I will be walking you through the process each step of the way, and showing you how to set up the letter and tips on what to say and what agents like to hear.

            Unlike my previous articles, this one is not “Step 1, step 2, step 3,” type of format, because it doesn’t work that way. Before I discuss anything else, I am going to explain what a query letter is in case you don’t know, if you do know, skip to the next paragraph. Once you are done writing your novel, you begin looking for an agent, but you cannot just knock on their door and be all, “Dude, here is my epic novel; give me my money.” (Actually I wouldn’t be surprised if that worked…ahhh bad advice, moving right along.) So your next step is to write a letter to the agent, and the fancy word for that is “Query Letter.” In this letter you are basically pitching your novel to the agent; reeling them in to ask for your novel to read.

            Chances are you are reading this because you have just came back from reading a dozen replies from agents that went something like this, “We appreciate your time in contacting us, and we ensure you that we read every single letter. However, this type of work isn’t for us. Please keep working towards your goal because a number of agents would love your work.” …You know the reply is bad when it starts with “We appreciate.” Their generic reply is like a slap to the face, but who could blame them? So, without a further ado, let’s get to it.

            Before I start talking about what to have in the query letter, I am going to talk about what not to have, because I think it is more important to steer clear from these mistakes than anything else.

·         Don’t discuss pay rates in the letter. That is discussed when the agent decides to take you on, and if you make a suggestion for a rate that is too high or too low, you will set yourself up for an instant rejection.

·         Never admit that you have been rejected by many agents, because the agent you are contacting wants to feel as if they were your first choice. Also it makes you look bad.

·         Never, and I mean never, mention that it is copyrighter; in addition, don’t add a copyright symbol. The agent will laugh because it makes you appear as a rookie. Whenever you write something, it is instantly copyrighted regardless if you professionally got it copyrighted or not. This is something you instantly learn when you research about writing and agents, so if you add it, it will seem as if you didn’t do any research.

·         Don’t say you can re-write it, and don’t use a lot of flattery. “Oh, I was reading through your so spectacularly crafted website, and noticed that you wrote, How to Eat With A Spoon, it was amazing!!!(try to avoid exclamation marks why you are at it) The agent knows what you are doing, and you know what you are doing, so it makes it awkward. It is kind of like when a waitress tries to be OVERLY helpful, “Would you like me to squeeze a lemon in that glass of water?” –winks- We know you want tips, lady.

·         And finally, don’t appear desperate. Always sound professional. It is true; people get dozens and dozens of rejections before they get accepted. (Trying to block out horrible memories…)

            Well now that we got that out of the way. Time for some simple, yet overlooked tips on what to make sure you HAVE in the letter. Keep in mind, you are allowed to break rules in your novels at your leisure, but this is a professional letter, so that is FORBIDEN. (Too much emphasis?)

·         Font should be Times New Roman, 12 point.

·         KEEP IT ONE PAGE.

·         Include your name, address, and email at the bottom.

·         Address a specific agent. Never “Dear Agent:” Always, “Dear Mr. Picklesworth:” (I am still searching for an agent with that name…I will find one!)

·         If you are mailing a query, include a self addressed envelope.

            Before I get into the examples of a good query letter, I want to stress something. Some agents only like completely professional query letters, why other agents love it when they get a letter that stands out. For example, someone wrote the entire query letter as if they were the main character and they were talking. It is unique, but the reason why it worked for her was because she executed it perfectly, it was creative, and because the agent she sent it to loved that type of thing. Trust me when I said, she sent that letter to many agents and they all rejected her.
            What I am trying to get at—many agents love it when you are creative. They read hundreds of query letters of day, and your mission is for your letter to stand out. However, (There’s that word again) it can work against you. Some agents feel that approach is distracting and non professional. So you need to pick your poison. You are here for my advice, so I will give it to you, I am not going to be like teachers where they are all, “Well I’m a teacher so I can’t tell you what I believe in or who I voted for or anything, cause I could convince you to do something else.” I hate that. When I wrote my query letter (and I wrote many, the last one was perfect) I made it unique. I am a writer and I love being creative, and doing that whole boring professional approach just killed me every time. That was me, you could be different.

            Now for an example of a good query letter. I am going to use Harry Potter as the theme. I have never read the books before, I am only going off of what I have heard, so don’t blame me if the details are wrong. I just know almost everyone knows about Harry Potter so they can relate to the letter.

April 10, 2011

Dear Ms. Everglade:

Harry Potter never received a handbook on how to be an all powerful wizard. If he had, one of the tips may have been something like: [The Hook]

·         Waving your wand inappropriately may cause your best friend to turn into a mouse.

Harry started off as a…[Quick summary of the story. Give away no twist, but leave the agent wanting more. This part is the hardest because it is hard to condense and entire novel into one paragraph. It takes practice and practice and re-writing and re-editing to get it perfect.]

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone is an 80,000-word mixture of fantasy, romance, and action. …[If you have credentials, then here is where you would put it.]

Thank you for your time. The complete manuscript (please make sure your manuscript is complete before sending out query letters…please?) is available upon request.

Warmly,

[Your sexy name]

[Address]

[Email]

            Take notice that there are no indentations for each paragraph. This is the professional way when writing letters. Even if it isn’t a query letter, that is still the way to go. Don’t forget to thank the agent for taking time out of their day to read your proposal. Remember, they are doing you a favor just as much as you could be doing them one.

            If you have any further questions or just comments, then the comment box is below, please don’t hesitate. Thanks for reading. And subscribe!