Gatekeepers and Query Letters
It feels like I’m jumping off the deep end by already discussing the query letter, here. But hey, plopping you in the middle of the writing journey and path to traditional publishing was my idea, so here we are! And I am editing the query letter.
The query letter is the story pitch you send prospective agents to get them interested in reading your book. The agent will go on to find a publisher, editor, and ideally accompany you on your long-term author career. When you’re querying, or pitching, each agent will ask for something slightly different: some may require you to send in the synopsis first thing (more on that in another post), others may just want to see the first two pages of your book pasted into the body of the email—but the one constant is the query letter.
I’ve taken to referring to this in my head as the pitch, because I work in PR and we are always pitching journalists to get them interested in the story behind the product. In the query letter, you’re trying to get the agent interested in the story behind your description. Also, “query letter” sounds kind of British and, like, purposefully snobbish and opaque.
If the query letter catches the agent’s attention, they will ask to read, say, the first three chapters, or next ten pages; and if they like that, then eventually the rest of the book. Finally, they’ll decide whether or not they would like to represent you. Do you have to have an agent if you’re looking to be traditionally published (as opposed to self published)? No; some publishing houses accept unsolicited manuscripts. But many, especially the bigger names, do not. As I start sending my query letter out, I’ll even share which revision(s) gave me no luck, which brought requests for reading more of my book, and which is the (I hope!) crowning glory success.
If this all sounds an awful lot like finding out how to get past the gatekeepers, you’re not wrong; but there’s a better, somewhat less intimidating way to think of this querying process. I liked William Kenower’s quote on his own quest to find an agent in Everyone Has What It Takes:
“You didn’t make that book; you invited it into your life. It came to you and you followed it. Trust it to help you find its friends the same way you trusted it to teach you how to write it. There are no gates. There are only people, like you, looking for the conversations they want to have, looking for what they love.”
This underlines a key part of the story creation process for me, and I believe for lots of writers: you don’t just dream up an idea from the ether. It’s presented to you, somehow, and you gotta follow it. It won’t leave you until you write the story. And maybe this is how an agent sees this process, on their end. They hope to find the pitch that sounds like their new favorite book is waiting for them, that they must read more of and can’t put down until they find a publisher to publish it.
Parts of the query letter and how I researched
The query letter is a bit like the back of the book description (or inside flap): it pulls the reader in and doesn’t give away the ending, or any spoilers. In fact, the back-of-book description might be pulled closely from your original query letter. Your letter should also be personalized to the agent you’re pitching. Remember the days of sending out your resume? You could blast the same, standard letter out to every company and get a 5% response rate OR you could research the company, tailor your emails, and get a 30% response rate or better (and as every PR professional knows, the same concept holds true for pitching journalists).
I used Get a Literary Agent by Chuck Sambuchino for my initial research into how to write a query letter (as well as for the many other elements in this process! It’s a great resource).
The top points I kept in mind when writing it:
Keep it short: the length should clock in around 2 paragraphs, from 3 to 10 sentences.
Don’t give away the ending! No spoilers!
Include book length, title, and genre.
Name the main character, but he or she may be all you need to name. Even the antagonist can be merely described, not named.
Don’t get caught up in subplots and sidekicks. Just write the hook.
While you don’t want to get mired in plot details (leave that to the synopsis), aim for specific, descriptive writing—not generic.
Elicit emotion. The voice of your book should match the tone of the letter.
After reading through the above, look at the descriptions of some of your favorite books. What do you like about them? Can you see how the author fit that essence of the story you love onto just the flap or back of the book?
The steps to my process were:
Read up on how to do it. Read closely and carefully through good resources (see below).
Knock out a draft.
Read the how-to process again; have you missed anything?
Let it marinate (the most important step to any writing process, from important work emails to entire books: just step away!)
Make edits, send to trusted writer friends for suggestions if you can, and revise.
Once you’re feeling good, personalize the query letter to the agent. This includes the bio note (a sentence or two about yourself), perhaps why your book might be specifically relevant to the agent you’re pitching, and a thank you.
Stuff I like:
In addition to the book Get a Literary Agent by Chuck Sambuchino, which I used to write my query letter, I often look to Jane Friedman’s website for additional info. Her post The Complete Guide to Query Letters is extremely thorough and clear.