How to write your query letter
I’m in a strange place with writing at the moment. I’m on submission for book 2 and starting to write book 3 while mentally preparing myself that book 2 won’t be picked up by a publisher. It’s easy to get downhearted about it but this whole process is a marathon, not a sprint.
It’s made me think about how easy it is to forget how far I’ve come. There was a time not too long ago when I was desperate for an agent and getting one felt like such a huge hurdle. And guess what? I found one. Not just any agent but an incredible agent from a hugely respected agency (Tanera Simons from Darley Anderson). I still vividly remember seeing her details on my agents spreadsheet, thinking ‘shall I send my MS to her or not? She’s definitely out of my league, but I’ll try anyway.’ Thank goodness I did.
So, I thought it might be helpful to share my query letter for those that are at that stage now. The stage when getting an agent seems impossible. When you’re endlessly googling ‘how to write a query letter’ and still can’t quite find the answers you need. When you have absolutely no idea how to start. It can feel daunting submitting to agents but it doesn’t have to be.
I’m not saying my query letter will secure you an agent or that it’s perfect by any means, but it did get me some attention and lead me to my agent so something about it worked.
If you’re anything like I was then, you’ll be reading everything you can find on submission to make sure yours is the best version it can be, so I hope you can use some of this advice.
Here’s a few starting tips:
Don’t rush the process. Take the time to carefully research who you want to submit to. Read interviews with the agents and watch videos to get a real sense of not just what they’re looking for, but to get a sense of who they are as a person.
Tailor your query letter - so important! An agent wants to know you’ve taken the time to find them and that you believe they are the right agent.
Use a spreadsheet or word document to track who you’re submitting to, when they reply, etc so you’ll know when it’s worth sending a gentle reminder and you can easily see where you’re at with the whole process. For example, I always made sure I had at least 10 active submissions so if one agent replied with a no, I’d immediately send out a new sub.
I spent countless hours finalising my query letter template and had a friend (a Curtis Brown agent no less) look over it. When I got the thumbs up from her, I used it for every single submission.
Here it is…
Dear (insert name),
What is your book? Genre, word-count, comparable titles or authors. End with a catchy tagline or the hook of the book to grab their interest.
WHERE THE MEADOW MEETS THE STARS is a contemporary love story with a twist (83,000 words) that I see sitting between Maggie O’Farrell’s After You’d Gone, Jill Santopolo’s The Light We Lost and Audrey Niffenegger’s The Time Traveller’s Wife. It is a story about Nick and Ava, who are meant to meet, but not meant to be.
Brief Blurb. You can choose to include spoilers or leave them for the synopsis. I chose to but haven’t included it in this blog post on the very slim chance I ever revisit this idea.
When Nick meets Ava, childhood friendship eventually blossoms into young love. But in the summer of 2003, when they are on the cusp of adulthood, a family secret tears them apart. A decade later, they have a second chance at love. Told through multiple timelines from the nineties to the present, we piece together Nick’s life, and watch him grow from boy to man as he navigates life after loss. This is not just a love story, it’s about the power of enduring love in all its forms: family, grief, nostalgia and sacrifice.
Why am I submitting to this agent? How would my book fit with the agent’s list? What kind of author would you like to be? Why have you chosen this agent?
I see you are a fan of commercial romances, so I hope Where the Meadow Meets the Stars with its equal measure of romance and heartbreak might appeal to you. I see my ‘brand’ as modern love stories told in multi-layered ways. I follow you on social media and have admired you from afar for a while now. I love how driven and passionate you come across. I read an interview with you and your advice to ‘write what you know’ really resonated with me and encouraged me to keep going with this book. I would really love someone like you in my corner.
Some personal details about you and your background. A great chance to show your interest in the writing world.
I worked in international sales for a children’s publisher for a decade. Now I am a contributor to Cherubs magazine (300,000 quarterly readership), recommending new adult fiction alongside running a virtual book club on Instagram (@thefeelgoodbookclub). I have started writing a second book.
I attach the first three chapters and synopsis.
Thank you for considering my work.
Kind regards,
Sara Bragg
Keep in mind that you should:
Be professional and honest
Make your elevator pitch or brief summary succinct
Make it short and sweet (no longer than a few paragraphs)
Be sure to include their name rather than sir/madam/agent. This shows you know who you’re sending it to.
Include some detail or information about the agent that personalises the query letter, eg, ‘I watched an interview with you at X and loved what you said about Y.’
The agent submission process is time-consuming but it’s worth putting in the effort, trust me. Good luck! Do let me know if any of this is useful.
Thanks for reading.
Sara x