The Perfect Query Letter

From pitch to biography - my top tips!

Hi everyone!

Let’s launch straight in. For me, the letter is THE most important part of any query package because it’s what I read first - in fact, probably 85 per cent of the time, I’m likely to pass on the basis of the query letter alone, without reading further material. Brutal, I know - but my numbers of queries are close to 2,000 and I have the capacity for around 12 additional clients this year, max. So, I have to be brutal. Here is my current QM reply history - despite dipping in daily (including most weekends) I haven’t made much of a dent in any queries beyond December!

I am keen to avoid any suggestion of a magic formula for query letters, because the truth is that the successful queries - those for which I’ve requested the fulls - have varied loads in style. However, there are some common features I think are super important.

1. A strong, pithy concept

   Not every agent is the same, but I imagine for most agents the concept (i.e. the central idea of your story) is by far the most important aspect of the query letter. You want to communicate this up front, close to the start of your letter, and you want it to be short, punchy and easy to explain. This is important because a strong concept = easier to sell to editors, which means it’s worth an agent giving extra attention to the rest of your query.
   To me, a great concept can be communicated in several different styles. One example is the x meets x format - e.g. it’s like Sliding Doors but set in the world of The Matrix. Add to this a one liner about your specific story and you have an easily communicable, punchy concept. Or, there might be something intrinsically stand-out about the story - for instance, my author Marvellous Michael Anson wrote an epic fantasy inspired by Yoruba mythology and history. That in itself felt like a big enough hook as it’s something I’ve rarely seen elsewhere in the genre. You can read her full query letter via her website, here - although I don’t think everyone needs to follow this format, it’s a great example!

2. A clear sense of your readership
   One of the most important things to know as a writer who is hoping to get a traditional publishing contract is this: who is the reader for your book? When I read a query, I’m looking for comp (comparison) titles that reflect a strong working knowledge of the market and where a book might sit on the shelves of Barnes & Noble or Waterstones. If an author’s comp titles are all over 10 years old, for instance, that’s going to give me pause.

   I’m also looking for an appropriate word count and content level for the intended readership. Even if a novel has a fantastic concept, when the author says it’s a MG novel but it has a wordcount of 80k, that’s going to give me pause, too.

   None of this is an automatic no, but if you want to write the perfect query letter, do your research on what else is out there and what the demands of the market are.
   Having said all of this, of course it is possible for books to push those boundaries, as long as you do so consciously. You have to know the rules to break them! For instance, if your book has an unusual genre combination, a different format, a unique voice - none of that means you shouldn’t still understand what kinds of readers might like to pick it up. And make sure to signal all of this in your letter!

3. A ‘selling’ explanation of the story

   Your query letter is separate from your synopsis - as such, you should avoid a blow-by-blow account of what happens in your book. That’s important but separate. Some of the successful query letters I’ve read have very sparse explanations of the story that basically only handled set-up, ending on a question speaking to the dilemma of the book (e.g. will she sacrifice herself to save her friends?) - I feel like these letters relied more heavily on concept to carry them through. Others read more like sales copy from a publisher - this copy can be a little longer and more explanatory and might end with a more generalistic, zoomed-out summary (an epic fantasy quest via [this cool thing] and [that cool thing] takes [character] through to [final showdown]). There are other approaches and no firm right or wrong, but the one thing a blurb does need to do is showcase the strength of your novel - whether that’s the voice, how an amazing concept plays out, a shocking twist, a sizzling romance… whatever it is, your blurb is the chance to truly SELL it!

4. A sense of who you are and why you have written this story

   One thing a lot of writers skimp on is the customary ‘about me’ section, or biog, towards the end of the letter. As writers we tend to hate talking about ourselves - our preference is telling stories about other people, real or fictional! But when you think about the fact that any partnership with an agent is between YOU and the agent, not your books but specifically you (and, mostly likely, all of your writing) then you begin to realize this section is pretty important.

   I don’t subscribe to the idea that the industry is just one big personality contest. I’m not the kind of agent to ask you for your favorite Taylor Swift song or your astrological chart. But what I do want to know is: why did you write this book? What are your major interests? What do you do day to day? Is there anything I should know about you or your identity as I dive into your book? You don’t have to spend a lot of time on this - but for me a great cover letter definitely gives me a sense of the person behind the pitch and how we might work together.

There is one other thing people might expect to see here: personalization. As in, should a writer be personalizing their pitch specifically to me, explaining why they think we might be a good fit? Feel free to do this, by all means. However, I have signed clients who didn’t personalize their query letter at all. It’s a nice bonus - particularly if we have some kind of connection! - but it’s not going to be a deciding factor. Don’t feel you have to spend the extra time - querying is hard enough as it is.

In further agenting news, I’ll (very reluctantly) be closing to queries in most genres this Monday, 15 April, at 8am Pacific Time (that’s 11am Eastern and 4pm UK time). The exceptions are non-fiction, middle-grade and women’s/upmarket ‘bookclub’ fiction - more info in my little thread here.

In writing news, I’ve sent YA book 4 to my agent! I’ve been drafting it for 14 months, across my international move, a new job and much general upheaval and although it’s only 55k and definitely needs some structural work in the sketchy last third (bad habit of mine!) I’m really proud of my vampire international school murder mystery set in the Alps. (I went to an international school in Munich in the early 00s but fortunately there weren’t any murders or vampires.) If my agent gives it the thumbs up, it’ll be my first book to go out on submission since 2017 so… that’s going to be weird?! Perhaps a subject for a future newsletter. And now the question is… what do I write next? GULP.

Events-wise, I’m going the Writing Day Workshops conference in Portland and Seattle in early May and I’m SUPER EXCITED to meet authors face-to-face and hear their pitches! If you’re going to be there, let me know - it’ll be lovely to meet you. I have some more possible conferences cooking - I’ll keep you posted…

Until next time!

Kesia