{"id":261041,"date":"2024-01-17T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-01-17T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/electricliterature.com\/?p=261041"},"modified":"2024-01-16T11:28:14","modified_gmt":"2024-01-16T16:28:14","slug":"how-to-write-a-query-letter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/electricliterature.com\/how-to-write-a-query-letter\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Write a Query Letter\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When submitting to an agent or editor, you will need a query letter. The purpose of a query letter is\u00a0to briefly introduce yourself and your work to the editor or agent,\u00a0with the hope they\u2019ll be intrigued enough to want to read more.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is a rather typical method I\u2019ve used. Most query letters contain three or four paragraphs, and you\u2019ll\u00a0want to keep it to no more than a page, single spaced. [Please note: I\u2019ve inserted additional comments in brackets.]\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First Paragraph <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are one of two ways to approach the first paragraph. You can keep it simple by stating the name of your work, the genre,\u00a0and why you are querying this particular agent or editor. For\u00a0example, here is what I used for How to Survive Death and Other\u00a0Inconveniences<\/a><\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Dear _, [and be sure to include the name of a specific editor or agent, spelled correctly]\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank you for taking the time to talk with me about How\u00a0to Survive Death and Other Inconveniences <\/em>at the recent\u00a0AWP conference. My hope is that you\u2019ll find it to be a good\u00a0fit for the University of Nebraska Press\u2019s American Lives\u00a0Series.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Or if you don\u2019t have a personal connection with an agent or\u00a0editor, you can simply begin by saying, \u201cI am querying you\u00a0because_.\u201d [Study the website of each editor or agent.\u00a0Determine what you think they\u2019re looking for and include that here.\u00a0In other words, do they seem interested in books on the same topic\u00a0as yours?]\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other opening paragraphs can have more of what\u2019s called a \u201chook,\u201d or what I call a \u201cseduction.\u201d Here is one I found on the Agent\u00a0Query website for the nonfiction book Into Thin Air: A Personal\u00a0Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster<\/a> <\/em>by Jon Krakauer.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

On assignment for Outside Magazine <\/em>to report on the growing commercialization of the mountain, Krakauer, an\u00a0accomplished climber, went to the Himalayas as a client\u00a0of Rob Hall, the most respected high-altitude guide in the\u00a0world, and barely made it back alive from the deadliest\u00a0season in the history of Everest.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

I could have used more of a hook or a seduction for How to\u00a0Survive Death and Other Inconveniences <\/em>by saying something like\u00a0\u201cDon\u2019t want to die? Read this book!\u201d And I might have used some thing like that if I\u2019d queried an agent since New York publishing is\u00a0more \u201cinto\u201d eye-catching taglines than university presses. Which\u00a0is to say you need to tailor your query to the audience\u2014the agent,\u00a0editor, or publisher\u2014you\u2019re contacting.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Second Paragraph <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second paragraph of your query letter is a mini-synopsis of the\u00a0book and should be under two hundred words. In it you want to\u00a0introduce yourself as narrator (that is, not the \u201creal\u201d you but the\u00a0\u201cyou\u201d on the page) and address the major conflict or the nature of\u00a0the narrator\u2019s journey. You can also include the types of obstacles standing in the way of a successfully completed quest.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is the mini-synopsis I wrote for How to Survive Death and Other Inconveniences<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

In this book of thematically linked essays, the narrator\u00a0explores the taboo subject of death. While several pieces\u00a0use gallows humor as a way to deflect, Silverman also\u00a0directly confronts her fears of the ultimate unknown. Her fear stems in part from a sexual assault she hid for years.\u00a0This experience attests to a fact many women know all\u00a0too well, that death and sex are intimately tied\u2014not in\u00a0some philosophical way but in everyday life. As this baby boomer grows, from childhood to adulthood, she explores other origins surrounding her fear of death\u2014as well as her\u00a0goal of surviving it. Her quest is, by turns, realistic and\u00a0fantastical, worldly and other-worldly. The odyssey begins with the narrator dubbing herself \u201cMiss Route 17,\u201d while\u00a0cruising New Jersey\u2019s industrial-strength landscape. Along\u00a0the way, she survives everything from a piano teacher who\u00a0stifles her natural talent to a faux heart attack to various maladies that afflict us as we age. Her more internal journey to live forever finds the narrator hoarding memories as\u00a0well as archaic words, which she uses as talismans against\u00a0the darkness, overcoming and transforming death through\u00a0language, memory, and metaphor.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

You will be able to find many other examples on the web. See, for example, the Agent Query website<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Third Paragraph <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third paragraph focuses on your biographical information.\u00a0Keep it short and related only to your writing credentials, such as journals in which you\u2019ve published, awards you\u2019ve won, where\u00a0you received a degree, with whom you studied, and such. Here\u00a0you can also mention any expertise in the area in which you\u2019re\u00a0writing, if appropriate.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fourth Paragraph <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the final paragraph, thank the agent or editor for their time and\u00a0consideration. If, on their website, they\u2019ve asked, say, to include\u00a0the first ten pages of your manuscript, mention that you\u2019ve done\u00a0so. Some agents or editors also want to see an attached proposal.\u00a0Be sure to read all the guidelines carefully. Some are even very\u00a0specific about what you should include in the \u201csubject\u201d line of\u00a0the email.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s it. Submit. You can\u2019t get published if you don\u2019t try. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Excerpted from\u00a0<\/em>Acetylene Torch Songs<\/a>. Copyright \u00a9 2024, Sue William Silverman<\/em>. Reproduced by permission of The University of Nebraska Press. All rights reserved.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When submitting to an agent or editor, you will need a query letter. The purpose of a query letter is\u00a0to briefly introduce yourself and your work to the editor or agent,\u00a0with the hope they\u2019ll be intrigued enough to want to read more.\u00a0 Here is a rather typical method I\u2019ve used. Most query letters contain three […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":261044,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[58,85],"tags":[6176,109,264],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Write a Query Letter\u00a0 - Electric Literature<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A practical guide to getting literary agents interested in your book\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/electricliterature.com\/how-to-write-a-query-letter\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Write a Query Letter\u00a0 - 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