So What is a Query Anyway?
So you’ve decided that you want to pursue traditional publishing, and that means you need to snag an agent. So how do you do it?
Step One? Querying
“Querying” is author-speak for the process of applying to agents, who will decide whether or not to represent your book. In order to begin this process, the very first step is to prepare a query package that you can send out to agents.
How Do You Query?
Think about a query package as an application for a job--the job of commercially-viable author. It consists of:
A cover letter (the query letter)
A resume (for your book--this would be the synopsis, which we’ll cover later)
A writing sample (your “sample pages,” also covered later).
Based on this query package, an agent will decide whether they want to bring your manuscript in for an “interview”--i.e. requesting more or all of it to read (you guessed it, covered later as well).
The Query Equation
The very first thing an agent is going to read is your query letter, so it’s got to shine.
The good news is that queries are formulaic, and therefore you can learn and master the formula.
The bad news is that if you don’t know the formula, your query is going to look wonky to an agent, who likely only has a few minutes to spend on each letter.
(Side note: did you know that agents receive hundreds of queries a month? My agent received 3,752 queries in 2021. So they have a lot to go through.)
Query letters are usually around 300-400 words. Every query letter includes the following:
A 2-3 paragraph summary of the manuscript
Metadata about your book
An author bio
The following posts walk you through how to put together each of these elements.