All about query letters

If you want to get published and you aren't already famous, you need to master a query letter. From a publisher's or an agent's point of view, the query letter is a test drive. If you can grab them and make them want to read more, they'll ask you for more. If not, you aren't going to move forward with them. Most of you probably already know this. What you may not know is how exactly to craft the perfect letter.

I'm no expert. If I were, I'd be preparing for a book signing, rather than writing this blog. But there are experts out there, blogs where you can go to school on other peoples' query letters and agents' input:

Query Shark. Agent Janet Reid reviews query letters sent to her. If you're looking for a gentle critique, this isn't the place. But the input will be good. For instance: You've got to be kidding. 160,000 words is twice as long as a novel should be and you've couched this query letter is such a way that there's no reason for me to think I'd even want to read this.

Janet Reid is an active blogger, also presiding over a personal blog, and the former Miss Snark blog.

Nathan Brandsford's Blog. There's a lot about query letters on this blog, including a topic called "Can you query if you are an unpublished author and your novel isn't finished?" (Answer: No.) Brandsford is an agent with Curtis Brown.

Bookends, LLC. Bookends have a number of agents and a blog that deals with query letters from time to time.

Anatomy of a Bad Query Letter. The Guide to Literary Agents' blog post in response to Nathan Brandsford's Anatomy of a Good Query Letter, covering what to do if you don't want to get published. It's, like, learning in reverse.

Molly Harper's Query Letter. A first-time published author shares the query letter that worked for her.

10 Query Letter Tips. The Guide to Literary Agents provides ten tips to help you. They should know, right?

Your query letter is a marketing document. You're trying to convince someone to spend some of their time looking at your material, rather than someone else's. You must both capture their attention by wowwing them, while following the conventional format. If you can't do that, you won't get a positive response, even if your novel is perfect for them.