How To Become Published – Step 8
Write A Query Letter Second To None
Query Letters
To gain the interest of literary agents and publishers, you must implement a well-founded strategy. Since yearly submission numbers approach seven figures, you need to be creative so your book idea gains the attention of the literary agent or publisher under consideration. This way it won’t be thrown in the dreaded “slush” pile to die a slow death.
As stated, checking literary agent and publisher guidelines is the key. Remember: the material you submit is unsolicited; therefore readers will pay little or no attention unless you follow the guidelines.
Literary agents are more accessible than publishers but regardless, you must learn whether the agent or publishing company will accept only Query Letters, Query Letters and a Synopsis, Query Letters, a Synopsis, and two Sample Chapters, Query Letters accompanied by Book Proposals, or perhaps Query Letters accompanied by exhibits describing important aspects of the book. These may include media clippings describing the material being pitched or background on you.
Despite literary agency and publisher guidelines requesting only a Query Letter, few will dismiss a Query Letter accompanied by a 20-30 page Book Proposal. You will decide the best strategy for you, but it is extremely difficult to capture a literary agent or publisher’s attention with only a one-page Query Letter. Providing them with additional information about the book in a concise proposal provides your best chance of gaining interest in your book.
Mastering the art of creating Query Letters in accordance with Mark’s Step #8- Write A Query Letter Second-To-None, is challenging since most writers are not used to this form of writing. Guidance on the proper form and substance is available through many publications such as Writer’s Market.
Brevity is a key—one page, no more. Literary agents or editors have no interest in leafing through an eight-page letter beginning with announcement of the author’s birth and ending with a sentence touting the book as the best ever written. Several good examples of Query Letters for fiction can be discovered in Your Novel Proposal by authors Blythe Camenson and Marshall J. Cook.
Journalists Don Prues and Cindy Laufenberg provide excellent advice regarding the substance of Query Letters. In Writer’s Market, they state, “The tone of the writing is important. Create a catchy Query with confidence but devoid of cockiness.”
Remember, the Query Letter is a mini-Book Proposal. In Your Novel Proposal, author Cook states, “In Query letters, I look for calm professionalism. I want to know what the book is, who you are—if that’s pertinent—the length and that’s about it.”
Authors Camenson and Cook’s description of the essential elements of the Query Letter for fiction includes: “The Hook, The Handle (Novel Theme), a Mini-Synopsis, Your Credentials, Your Credits, What You Are Offering, and The Closing.” Substitute the word Overview for Synopsis and these elements are applicable to non-fiction or poetry letters as well. Much of this information can be excerpted from a draft of the Book Proposal. This is why I suggest writing it first and then using information from the draft to build the foundation for the Query Letter. Writers have informed me that working on Query Letters and Book Proposals assists them with focusing in on their book content and message. Many times, due to the need to be precise with information about the book, they have revised their manuscripts or collection of poetry.
Mention of the book tagline, a “what if” scenario, or a compelling problem requiring a solution work well in the Query Letter’s opening paragraph to hook readers. Regarding author or poet credentials, it is important to explain why you are the one person in the world to write this book. Include information about the target audience, a built-in audience due to your expertise, and reference the enclosed Book Proposal. Conclude the letter by writing, “Thank you for considering the enclosed Book Proposal. A completed manuscript is available upon request.”
Remember to include a self-addressed, stamped envelope for return correspondence. Literary agents and publishers appreciate saving the cost of the postage necessary to return the Query Letter and/or Book Proposal.
Never mention past rejections of material in a Query Letter. You may or may not inform a literary agent or editor of multiple submissions. Most realize that you are doing so to speed up the process.
If you believe your book fits with the current list represented by an agent or published through a publishing company, mention books that are similar. Writing, “I believe Roots of Evil will appeal to the same audience as My Son, The Tyrant, the book you published last year,” will indicate to the publishing company that you have done your homework. A similar line, “Roots of Evil weaves a similar story to that of John, The Mountain Man, the book you represented in 2002,” shows the agent you have checked their listing in Writer’s Market.
Treat the Query Letter as a prologue to the Book Proposal when they are submitted together. Edit it thoroughly, checking spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Most agents and editors will not consider the Book Proposal if the Query Letter contains multiple mistakes. An editor once told me, “The Query Letter is your three minutes to sell the book. Don’t screw up.”
Laurie Liss, a top agent at New York City’s Harvey Klinger Agency who discovered The Bridges of Madison County, explains that what she seeks is “a really good, interesting Query Letter . . .What is good to me is if a letter is written really well, is grammatically correct, and lists the agent’s name correctly. I need to get the impression that the writer knows what [he or she is] talking about. If you can’t write a letter, how are you going to write a book?”
What makes it uninteresting, Liss states, “Is people who write, ‘my mother thinks this is the best book she has ever read. I swear my mom is really smart and not biased at all.’” Including photographs apparently doesn’t impress Liss. “Pictures make it [Query Letter] really unappealing too. I have never had someone who’s given me a picture of themselves who could write.”
Liss has other pet peeves as well. “When letters begin, ‘You are going to take my book because . . .’ I always turn it down. It’s almost always subpar. And don’t send me a Query Letter saying, ‘I am the next Danielle Steel.’ My reaction is, no you’re not.”
Marie Butler-Knight, former publisher of Alpha Books, offers this warning. “If you submit the same Query Letter to multiple literary agents or publishers and you customize the contents to each recipient, read each letter carefully before you send it out. Make certain the letter isn’t addressed to one agent or publisher but references another agent or publisher in the body of the letter. You’d be amazed at how often this occurs.”
The form for a Query Letter is simple. On letter-sized paper, type the date, the name, and the address of the recipient in twelve font, Times-Roman. After the greeting, (Dear Literary Agent or Editor), begin your letter. Since you only have one page to present your book idea, organize it in the following manner:
A sample Query Letter regarding Code Of Silence, a biography of the famous lawyer who represented Jack Ruby, provides essential information regarding the hook for the book, (use of catchy, well know phrase instead of the tagline), the gist of the text, the source of material, credibility of the author, anticipated promotion, and target audience. It reads:
Dear Literary Agent,
Code of Silence is the first book to examine the infamous Jack Ruby case through the eyes of his attorney, Melvin Belli.
When William Shakespeare said, “The first thing we do is kill all the lawyers,” he must have known that the controversial Belli would drive insurance companies and judges alike batty for more than six decades of the twentieth century.
Armed with the grizzliness of Ernest Hemingway, the wit of Will Rogers, and the legal savvy of Clarence Darrow and Edward Bennett Williams, Belli was a courtroom wizard whose celebrity reached rock star status. Noted attorney Gerry Spence calls Belli, “truly a beacon of light that showed the way.”
In Code Of Silence, Melvin Belli, Jack Ruby, and the Assassination of Lee Harvey Oswald, the San Francisco barrister’s colorful life renders a slice of history from the 1950s through Belli’s controversial death in 1996. The Jack Ruby case, Belli’s most famous, provides the spine for the book, one that chronicles famous clients such as Errol Flynn, Mae West, Martha Mitchell, Muhammad Ali, The Rolling Stones, Jim and Tammy Faye Baker, the Zodiac Killer, and mobster Mickey Cohen.
Authorized by his widow, sixth wife Nancy, Code of Silence is written in the tradition of the author’s eighteen published works, including Miscarriage of Justice, The Jonathan Pollard Story, Down For The Count, an inside look at the Mike Tyson case, and Testament To Courage, a Holocaust memoir. More information about the author, a media analyst for the Mike Tyson, O. J. Simpson, and Kobe Bryant cases, can be learned at www.markshaw.com.
Code of Silence will be appreciated by audiences familiar with the “King of Torts,” Life Magazine’s label for him, and those curious about Belli’s representation of Ruby, who shot Oswald in the only live broadcast of a murder in television history. Probing the question as to whether the great lawyer may have been hired by the Mafia to discredit, and in effect, silence Oswald’s assassin, provides a fresh look at the case.
Numerous promotion opportunities for the book exist through the noted Belli Society, ten thousand strong, and media outlets familiar with the Belli legacy.
Thank you for consideration of the enclosed book proposal. A completed manuscript is available upon request.
Best,
Mark Shaw
For Anika Weiss’ winning entry in the fiction category of the $25,000 John T. Lupton “New Voices In Literature” Books for Life Foundation Award, she chose the following tagline to open her Query Letter: “Lauren Owen, only child of a Maryland family of former plantation owners, has always wanted a big brother, if only so he would carry the brunt of that bothersome heritage. As it is, she has one. Her brother is black, and lives on death row.”
Michael Boxall, the winner in the non-fiction category, utilized a clever strategy in the first line of his Query Letter. It reads, “Driven by Desire: Sex and the Spread of the New Media is the first book to trace the rise of the increasingly intimate relationship between sex and the new forms of communications technology.”
As stated, the Query Letter for a work of fiction will focus on the plot, the characters, the author’s credentials, and the target audience. One written for the novel, Purple Angel, reads as follows:
What if Guy Macker, a disgruntled law professor, is forced to defend his pregnant girlfriend for a murder he knows for certain she did not commit?
This scenario sets the stage for Purple Angel, a mystery set on the Harvard University campus. Macker’s representation of Roxanne Allworth, the vivacious daughter of a Wall Street powerbroker, vaults him into the real world of the criminal justice system. Prosecutors, suspicious of the professor’s involvement, investigate his background discovering a past history of mental illness.
When prosecutors threaten to expose Macker and destroy his career, he must decide whether to save Roxanne, pregnant with his child, or leave campus. Determined to fight, he gains an acquittal for her by acknowledging his participation in the murder.
The author is a former criminal defense attorney whose short stories have been featured in several magazines including Esquire and Gentleman’s Quarterly. One of them is the basis for this novel. Promotional opportunities exist due to the author’s exposure through the lecture circuit and his appearances on CNN as a legal analyst.
The target audience for Purple Angel is anyone who loves a good mystery story. Since you represented Gone Too Far, a bestseller by Harry Reasoner, Purple Angel should be of interest to you.
Thank you for considering the enclosed Book Proposal. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Best,
Dr. Jerry Bales
Reaction to any Query Letter and accompanying Book Proposal will vary, but remember that it only takes one literary agent or publisher to say “yes.” If they do, regardless of a multitude of “no’s,” your long hours of hard work and perseverance will be worthwhile.
The Poetry Query Letter
Poets attempting to excite literary agents or publishing companies (submitting to publishers is more advisable for poets than fiction or non-fiction writers), regarding their work must write a better-than-best Query Letter. Since there are thousands upon thousands of poetry submissions, poets must write outstanding prose to describe the poetry they have written. Again, the letter should be no more than one page written on 8.5 x 11 inch paper.
Begin the letter with a sentence that will captivate the reader. Use a Tagline (the hook for your book) to pinpoint the theme of the poetry and then provide titillating information designed to make readers say, “I must read the collection of poetry.”
Paragraphs two and three of the Query Letter expand upon the theme of the material. Once there is a clear description, offer biographical material that illustrates why, just as with the aspiring author, you are the one best person in the world to write poetry on this theme. Inclusion of publishing credentials is critical as is information on built-in audience for the book. Comparisons to famous poets regarding style and content can be helpful. If you believe your book is similar to one represented by the agency or publisher you are contacting, note the name of the book. This will show the agent or publishing company you have researched their recent books.
As with all writing, clarity, brevity, good word choice, and excellent sentence structure is essential. Any agent or editor questioning the writing ability of a prospective poet will wonder if he or she is a competent wordsmith when writing poetry.
Arrogance must be absent from any competent Query Letter. Lines such as “People say that I am the next Billy Collins or Maya Angelou” will cause instant death to any chances to be published. Be humble while showing the editor that you believe in yourself and possess a fresh voice that must be heard.
Within the letter, provide readers with exact information as to why your poetry is perfect for representation or publication. Once again the goal should be obvious: you want the agent or editor to say, “I must represent or publish this material or someone else will and it will be a huge success and I will be sorry.”
In the final paragraph of the Query Letter, explain that besides the poetry submitted, there is additional material to be read upon request. Then thank the editor for their consideration and close with something akin to “Yours truly.”
Above all, be certain the person you are writing to is still employed at the agency or publishing company. There is nothing more embarrassing than writing a letter to a former employee.
The Query Letter for a collection of poetry titled, Columbus Was Wrong, reads as follows:
The poet’s perspective on these issues has been formed from extensive travel throughout the world. During a recent trip to southern Italy, the current collection was created after intensive investigation of Columbus’ true mission when he assaulted the new world. The poet believes she is the first to offer through her poetry significant evidence that Columbus’ name was actually O’Reilly and that he never set foot on Italian soil.
The audience for Columbus Was Wrong includes those fascinated with Christopher Columbus, as well as the historical significance of the discovery of America. Similar works regarding whether men walked on the moon, why Charles Lindbergh did not cross the Atlantic, and how mankind has been hoodwinked into believing global warming threatens our very existence have been published in Poets Of The Far East, Art Bell’s Collection of Serious Poetry, and Dubsdread’s Odd Poets of the Twentieth Century.
Thank you for considering the enclosed book proposal. Further samples of the poetry are available upon request.
Thank you.
Best,
Olathobal Moffit
Query letters are the key to unlocking the door of the publishing industry. Cleverly written with an eye toward exciting the reader, they operate as your invitation to those you hope will share your passion for the subject matter of the book. Strong words and visual images optimize your chances that a literary agent or editor will say, “I must read the book proposal,” a second step toward gaining a publishing commitment.
Summary
Literary Agents and Publishers will not read manuscripts or extensive poetry collections from an unpublished author or poet.
Literary Agents or Publishers expect to receive professionally written Query Letters and/or Book Proposals.
A Query Letter should be concise and targeted to hook the reader on the book concept.
The essential elements of the query letter are Tagline, Mini-Synopsis or Mini Overview, Mini-Author Biography, Book Audience, and Promotion Ideas
Shon Honeymoons said
Reader.