Emailed Queries v. Query Manager
There are two main ways to get agents your query - Query Manager, which is an online form, and old-fashioned email.
The most important thing is to look up the agent’s submission guidelines, and follow them exactly. If they use an online form, don’t email them a query.
Query Manager makes submissions easy for authors - the forms include copy-and-paste boxes, and when you hit “submit,” you get a link to your submission page. This is where you can see the status of your query, as well as submit material that’s requested, and send agents messages to notify them you have an offer of representation/you’d like to withdraw your query.
Email queries are a little tricker, because you have to worry about formatting. Almost all agents will request that you send them your sample pages in the body of an email, in order to help them avoid spam attachments. So:
Make a sample email and email it to yourself to check formatting. Make sure that when you copy and paste your materials into the email, it doesn’t send in a weird color or with tiny font. I removed formatting and just sent my emails in my default email font, with single spacing,
Use the query letter as the body of your email. I did this, and then pasted any requested materials after my signature block.
Make sure that your subject line is correct. Usually, you want to follow the format “Query for [Agent’s name]: TITLE (age range, genre).
Send away!