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- Start Strong. Most people start their query letter by introducing themselves or including other niceties. Don’t do that. You are wasting time, and that only annoys agents.
- Summarize Your Book & Audience. Quickly summarize the following points: What your book’s about. Who it’s for. Why they’ll care. Notice that I said “quickly.”
- Summarize Your Platform. This is a BIG consideration for nonfiction. Who is waiting to buy your book, and how will you reach them? Platform is not the same as your audience.
- Summarize Your Credentials. This is less important than your platform, but it’s still important. What matters here are the credentials that are related to the book or to your platform.
Apr 22, 2024 · A query letter is a one-page document that serves as a writer’s introduction to literary agents and, occasionally, editors and publishers. I say, occasionally, because most acquiring editors who work for large publishing houses only accept manuscripts via agent submissions. This means you cannot query these editors directly.
Learn how to write a query letter that will get an agent to request your manuscript. Includes an exclusive querying kit.
- This is pretty basic personalization, but it shows me that Dianna did her research. In your query, make it clear that you’ve done your homework and are querying this particular agent with good reason.
- It’s unusual to lead with accolades, but in the children’s world, the Highlights Chautauqua workshop is a big deal, so this got my attention. If you have similar achievements, by all means, shout them from your opening paragraph!
- In setting up your story, you absolutely must convey a sense of what your main character wants most in the world, and of what’s standing in her way, as Dianna does here.
- We get a good sense of Piper’s character here; it’s important that your query not just flatly tell us about your characters, but show us who they are.
Learn how to write the perfect query letter to pitch to an agent in this complete guide, including examples.
A query letter is the most important page you'll write besides your book if you want to traditionally publish. Three-paragraphs will help.
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Apr 27, 2021 · A great query letter — one that gets an agent to request your manuscript — is one that both checks all the boxes and is unique to you, your book, and the agent in question. To give you an idea of what this might look like, we’re sharing some query letter examples, which we polished up with the expert help of a handful of editors on the Reedsy marketplace.
