How To Write A Query Letter

You should be aware of a query letter’s significance in the literary industry. That particular piece of writing works its magic on you to capture the attention of literary agents, editors and publishing houses for your book.

The most difficult aspect of being a writer and obtaining the assistance you need to publish your book, aside from the nearly continual rejection writers experience, is writing the ideal query letter. Failing at this is an issue for writers because it will prevent their novels from being published.

Also, check out How to Write a Loan Application Letter.

But to assist individuals who are having trouble, we have put together helpful information and instructions on how to create a good query letter.

What does a query letter mean?

In the literary world, a query letter is expendable as it is a letter that a writer used to get the attention of a literary agent or publishing house to get interested in their work and going forward to request their manuscripts for publishing. 

In essence, a query letter is a marketing page that talks up your book, without overselling it. You must walk a very fine line between selling your manuscript without coming across like the parent who knows his kid is the best player on the bench. 

How to write a query letter

Let me walk you through the process of writing a query letter. As a writer, having an understanding of how to write a good query letter is a major step for you to land a literary agent of your choice.

Think of it as an opportunity to pitch your talent and expertise to the literary agent. If your pitch goes sideways, that puts you in a tight position irrespective of whether you have a good book at hand. However, if your pitch sounds convincing, you are a step closer to securing a deal for yourself.

Writing a query letter is similar to every other kind of writing in terms of organizing your line of thought in paragraphs. The more reason we are going to look at how to build the paragraphs for a query letter.

The first paragraph should be the introduction. The introduction should speak about the overview of your book. The overview should contain the name of the book, the genre, the word count, the names of co-authors, and other important information. 

Also, in the first paragraph, you can have a story of why you choose the agency. Nothing much of a cliche or an emotional story. The story should be short (two sentences are okay) and portray that you know what the agency stands for and what they love to do.

For example, you may want to give reasons that you admire those people the agency has worked with to publish their book or appreciate the kind of authors they work with. To come up with ideas, you can do a little background work about the literary agents to determine the area that would pique their interest. 

Furthermore, the next section should be about the book. You need to use at most 3 paragraphs for describing your book. Think of this section as giving the reader(literary agent) a tour of the book.

Putting this in mind, you need to give some juicy details about the book. However, do not make the synopsis give away the whole story of the book. The goal is to heighten the interest in the book, not to tell a story. So I advise, keeping it simple, and short, and telling and not talking about the story. 

The next section focuses on your biography as a writer. You need to give the literary agent a description of who you are as a person and a writer. That is your personality, values, and experiences as a person and a professional writer. You do not need to treat this as a resume rather make it brief and include only relevant details only. 

Finally, the closing paragraph is the final of the query letter and it is similar to your signing off. All you need in this part is to appreciate the reader and give a call to action. Keep it simple and resist the urge to exaggerate by showing too much enthusiasm and passion. 

How long should a query letter be? 

A good query letter should be one page and a word count of 300 words or less is okay. Query letters are not necessary essays and should not be treated as one. 

Tips for a successful query letter 

Be professional 

You will not get far with your query letter if you are anything less than professional. There are hundreds of writers fighting for the interest of literary agents and not being professional makes it easy to throw out your application. Follow the right standards when you want to write your query letter. 

Know the marketplace 

To you as a writer, your book is major as a result of your passion and commitment but to the literary agents, your book is a product. When you research and understand the marketplace, you will have an idea of who to write to and what to do to gain their interest. 

Promotion Prowess 

When you write a query letter to a literary agent, they want to understand the powers and the capabilities that you have as a writer to promote your books. Once you can tell and show these, then there is a high chance that your query letter will be successful. 

Also, check out How to Write a Personal Statement.

Check for the availability of the literary agents

It is key to know the availability of the literary agent before sending your query. Querying them when they are not available to take in requests is unproductive and a total waste of effort. 

Proofread your letter 

This advice is as old as the hill and it is worth emphasizing over and over again, especially on matters that involve writing. Proofread your work to check for spelling mistakes and errors and correct them.

Go over the letter like two to three times to check for any mistakes and irrelevant information in the letter. In addition, you can get other people to check it for you and get to hear their suggestions and feedback. 

Avoid references like “my friends love the book”

Query letters may be a way to pitch your book but you will be going too far if you are referencing things such as “my family loves the story” or anything as such. It is a huge turn-off for the reader and irrelevant to the discussion. 

Do not sound overconfident or otherwise 

During the course of the letter, you must not come across as an egoistic person to the reader. Also, you must not sound in a way that shows you have little confidence in your work. 

Final Notes on How To Write A Query Letter

Your prospects of obtaining a publishing house to be interested in your writing can be made or broken by query letters. In order to maximize your chances of gaining their attention, it is crucial to compose a strong query letter.

We’ll talk about the crucial components of a strong query letter in this session. Reading them can assist in the creation of a strong query letter. 

Before you go, check out How to Write a Grant Proposal.