What is a query letter?
A letter sent to a prospective publisher or literary agent, outlining the author's work and credentials.
Query Letters: The Art of Persuasion
In the competitive world of publishing, a query letter is a writer's chance to make a strong and lasting impression on a prospective agent or publisher. It is a one-page letter that serves as an introduction to the author and their work, outlining the manuscript's plot, themes, and target audience. A good query letter is an artful blend of persuasion and concision, capturing the agent or publisher's attention and encouraging them to request the full manuscript.
Query letters often include a brief synopsis of the manuscript and a paragraph or two about the author's writing experience and credentials. The author's voice and style should come through in the letter, giving the agent or publisher a taste of what to expect from the full manuscript. A well-crafted query letter can mean the difference between scoring a publishing deal and languishing in the slush pile.
Query letters are not only a vital component of the publishing process for aspiring authors, but they also appear in fictional stories themselves.
In Amor Towles' novel, A Gentleman in Moscow, the protagonist, Count Alexander Rostov, must write a query letter to the Soviet authorities in order to secure permission to have his novel published.
In Mary Kubica's novel, The Good Girl, a character posing as the protagonist's brother writes a fake query letter to a literary agent, in order to make it seem as though the protagonist's disappearance was due to her being at a writing conference.