Elements of a Query Letter
One query letter sent to the right agent … and an offer of representation comes your way! Of course we writers stress about our queries. We’ve poured so much into our manuscripts, and we only get a few hundred words to pitch them!
It always helps me to remember that a query is a business document. It needs to do the work of explaining what you’re pitching and who you are. Its goal is to get the agent to read the pages. That’s it! And then the job of the pages is to entice the agent to request more, and so on. Let’s go over the elements of a query letter to improve your chances of getting that wonderful phone call one day.
Be prepared for non-writers to think the phrase “I’m querying” sounds pretentious and odd. Your writer pals get it!
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elements of a query letter: Housekeeping
First, the boring elements of a query letter—the housekeeping details. I am always surprised when I receive (often wonderful!) queries to edit that have an engaging pitch but none of these little pieces of information that an agent really needs.
First of all, age range and book genre. Adult is the default, so if you’re writing a cozy mystery or upmarket women’s fiction, you don’t need to add that it’s for adults. But you do need to specify if you’re targeting another audience, whether that’s young adult, middle grade, or picture book. Sometimes picture book writers specify more precise age ranges, like “for three- to five-year-olds,” but that’s not usually necessary, since that preschool-age range is the default for picture book.
This is more important than you think! Agents are quickly forming impressions as they read, and they don’t want to think you’re pitching a middle grade and then see a picture book manuscript included.
Sometimes writers fret over nailing down the exact genre. Is it historical fantasy or alternate history, urban fantasy or paranormal romance? Do your best to nail it down, but if you can’t, I’d recommend using the wider term. And then don’t worry. I once queried a “Regency romance with magic.” My agent shopped it under the term “fantasy of manners,” and it was no big deal that I’d gotten the genre wrong querying. Part of the value agents bring is knowing how to position your manuscript in the market.
Second, word count. This also helps with setting expectations. If your manuscript is a bit long for a contemporary YA or a bit short for epic fantasy, don’t withhold the number, hoping to skirt the “rules.” Plenty of agents are willing to look at shorter or longer works, but they still want that word count.
Third, comparative titles. This can be a great opportunity to convey information about your tone or style as well as the plot. Make sure they’re recent titles and not blockbusters. No need to provide a long list—a couple of comp titles is great.
I’m going to put the fourth housekeeping element—the personalization—here in housekeeping. If you’ve pitched an agent at a writing conference, listened to a podcast where they talk about their true love for just such a book as yours, or read an interview that connects to your manuscript, by all means, mention it. But don’t come up with something awkward and contorted to explain why you’re reaching out. Remember, this is a business letter. Agents are looking for good work—you have good work. You don’t need to fawn or offer fulsome praise or scrape and bow for the chance to send this query.
The All-Important Element of a Query Letter: The Pitch!
The art of pitching a book deserves its own post, so I’ll keep this brief. The pitch should answer these questions:
Who is the main character?
What do they want?
What stands in their way?
What interesting choice(s) do they make?
The pitch should offer enough specific detail to make it stand out. An orphaned boy learns about his past, trains with experts, and faces a deadly foe in a fantasy world could summarize Star Wars or a myriad of other popular fantasy series—and I wouldn’t particularly want to read those. Give the reader enough specifics that the charm, fun, intensity, horror—whatever tone your manuscript hits—comes through.
A Bit About You
For some reason, of all the elements of a query letter, this one tends to trouble many writers. It can be intimidating to feel like you have to pitch yourself—but you don’t have to, and you’re not. You’ve just pitched an intriguing manuscript with an appropriate word count and solid comps, and the agent just wants to know a bit about you.
Writing credentials, like degrees in creative writing and previous publishing credits, can go here. A sentence or two about your life that connects with your manuscript is also welcome. If you’re a preschool teacher writing a picture book, for instance, or a chemical engineer with a STEM-based middle grade, or a hiker who thought the Appalachian Trail was the perfect setting for a murder. (A murder mystery, okay, no confessions of actual crimes in your bio!)
Stay away from long paragraphs about you, your love of books, your childhood interest in writing, or diatribes about how you wrote this because there’s nothing good in your genre (because there is, I promise, and you’ll find it if you’re reading widely in your genre, and if you say there isn’t to an agent actively selling in that genre—that’s shooting yourself in the foot!). Remember, business letter!
With these elements of a query letter in place, you can be confident that you’re presenting yourself in a professional, business-like manner—and you can start working on your synopsis. (Cue evil laugh.)
Happy writing!
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