The Basics on Query Letters

As you may have noticed, we have a query letter contest going on where you can enter your query letter and potentially have it read and critiqued by Literary Agent Assistant Tracy Marchini from Curtis Brown Ltd.  In the spirit of the contest, I thought today’s post could focus on the query letter and some basics.   So to go through the basics, I’m going to use the query letter that I sent out for my book, SOMETHING ABOUT HER.  It’s certainly not award-winning, but it got me four agent requests and a publisher request (who ultimately bought the book), so it was successful.  It served its purpose – that purpose being to gain attention of the agents/editors.  And for the purpose of this post, we’re focused on the basics.  How to build your letter and what to include in it.  Stay tuned for Tracy Marchini’s visit in March to go over in detail what works and doesn’t work.

Basic Guidelines

Here are some basic guidelines (really basic) to follow when building your query:

DO…

• Do be professional. You are writing a business letter. KISS it – Keep It Simple, Silly.
• Do be sure you did your homework. Know the right editor or agent. Be specific.  Read their guidelines on their site and submit according to what they ask for.
• Do include your contact information, including phone, email, address and website if you have one. (You should.)
• Do follow the basic format. It’s listed on a dozen pages for a reason. It works.
• Do Proofread. Spellcheck. Then do it again.
• Do keep it to one page if at all possible.
• Do thank the agent/editor for their time.

DON’T…

• Don’t oversell yourself. You wouldn’t tell a potential employer that you were brilliant, wonderful, the best thing since sliced bread. Don’t tell the agent or editor.
• Don’t address your letter to “Whom It May Concern.” Agents and Editors want to know you’ve put in effort.
• Don’t use cutesty fonts, odd paper or backgrounds.
• Don’t query multiple works to the same agent/editor at once.
• Don’t query on unfinished books.  Unless you can write 20,000 words a day, it’s unprofessional to send a query for a work you aren’t ready to send upon request.

A Query Breakdown

Here is my letter with the basic query letter format:

Agent
Agency
Address
Address

[Target your query, either to agent or editor, carefully. Do your homework! Be sure that agent represents your type of work, or that editor acquires your genre.]

Dear Ms. Agent, [Be sure you have the name correct. Check and double check. Very important!

Something About Her is about a discarded widow and a duke who learn that loving someone often means forgiving their worst betrayals. My novel is a completed 103,000 word, Regency-set historical romance. The first two chapters were critiqued by author Gaelen Foley, who called it “a charming and emotional read.” [The first paragraph clearly tells the agent where the book would fit into the market. The first line is a ‘tagline’ of sorts – it is the one sentence pitch I would say in an elevator if someone asked about my book. ]

Michael Ashton, the Duke of Ravensdale, is caught in two scandals, neither of which is his own doing. The first involves a woman (don’t they always), and the second…well, it also involves a woman and a large sum of stolen money. To save the reputation Michael has spent his life rebuilding, he must track down the widow of his presumed-dead cousin in order to charm…or seduce her missing husband’s whereabouts from her.

After being abandoned a mere hour after her wedding, Blythe Merewood Ashton wonders how she could have been fooled by such a cad and still feels humiliated and betrayed a year later. Her husband wooed her, married her, took her money and left. When she learns of his death, she decides unceremoniously to go on with her life—without a man. So when Thomas’s cousin—a Duke, no less—shows up uninvited on her doorstep, looking more handsome and irresistible than any man should, Blythe instinctively doesn’t trust him nor does she want to like him. But her traitorous heart doesn’t seem to care. At the same time, Michael’s clear agenda gets quite blurry when the woman he believes an accomplice to his cousin’s schemes turns out to be the woman he can give his heart to…and the only one he can’t have.

[Paragraphs 2 and 3 are the teaser of the story. You DO NOT have to give all the details. In fact, the best advice I’ve seen was offered by agent Kristin Nelson, who said a pitch can successfully be made by focusing on the first 30 to 50 pages of your novel. The pitch (or query blurb) is setting the story, setting the questions to make the agent want to know more. It isn’t telling them everything from beginning to end in two paragaphs. What place does your hero and heroine start? What brings them together? What obstacles do they face immediately to keep them apart? Focus more specifically on the beginning for your pitch.]

Something About Her is the first in an intended series of five single-title novels following the lives of Blythe and her siblings. I have been a marketing and communications writer for ten years. I am a current member of RWA and my local chapter, as well as online critique groups.

[Paragraph 4 is a little about me. It tells the agent that I’m looking for a career, as this book is the first in a series. It tells them (by what I do not say) that I was unpublished when I submitted this. You do NOT need to advertise this. They will assume if you list no publishing credits. It lets them know any history I have that might be relevant to my career as a writer as well as how seriously I take it.]

A partial or full manuscript can be sent upon your request. Thank you for your time, and I look forward to hearing from you.

[Paragraph 5 is letting them know it’s finished, ready to send and to thank them for their time.]

Sincerely,
Jeannie Ruesch
Contact Information Included

A Query is a Selling Tool

Remember that a query letter is a SALES document.  You are selling the agent or editor on the merits of reading more of your book…that’s the focus.   Not giving them a one page synopsis — just piquing their interest.   It shouldn’t tell the ending, it shouldn’t take the reader through the entire plot.  You want them to set down that letter, curious to see more.  There are a lot of elements into making that happen — It’s how you present your plot, how your voice comes across.

For example, Bookends did a pitch contest on their website a few years ago, and I entered a pitch for the above query.  Here is the reply:

My Submitted Historical Romance Tagline:

A discarded widow and a Duke discover if love can survive scandal and betrayal.

My Submitted Pitch Paragraph:

Michael Ashton, the Duke of Ravensdale, is caught in two scandals, neither of which is his own doing. The first involves a woman (don’t they always), and the second…well, it also involves a woman and a large sum of stolen money. In order to save the reputation Michael has spent his life rebuilding, he must track down the widow of his presumed-dead cousin in order to charm…or seduce her missing husband’s whereabouts from her.

Jessica’s Comments:

I like this. I think your tagline, while not all that different from others, has that certain something. To be honest, it’s the word “discarded”—what an interesting choice—and it says a lot about what we can expect from your heroine. And the paragraph is great. I love the tone of this and anticipate fun reading in the book. This is a case where the plot isn’t necessarily all that unique from other historical romances (they usually aren’t), but the author has put some fun twists in her tone, voice, and word choice that make this interesting to the reader. I would definitely request this.

In my pitch, the paragraph covers the initial problem the duke faces…and what his first actions are.  She’s absolutely right, my plot and story aren’t exactly “a story never told” — chances are yours aren’t either.  But it doesn’t have to be.  What it should have is a unique voice and a solid, clean writing style and your query should reflect that.

When you’re looking for what to form your story paragraph(s) around, ask what the first plot point is?  This is where your story really takes off.  It’s a good place to focus your query around.  Most of all, when writing your query, keep your focus.  This is a professional sales tool to gain attention.