START HERE: About These Real-Life Query Letters

The query letters you’ll see here are from authors who found representation. Some of the books they talk about are published, some of them aren’t (yet!).

Getting an offer of rep isn’t the only hallmark of a “successful” query letter - I’d argue that any query letter that gets requests is, in fact, successful. But these authors have achieved what many want (an agent) and look, it’s easier to verify for me than asking people for evidence of the full requests they received.

You’ll note that these query letters all look and sound different. That’s because all query letters do! Querying is a subjective process, and each letter is unique. I hope you’ll take inspiration (but not actual words or phrases!) from these letters, and that they’ll help you understand what a query letter should look like.

Queries are arranged by genre. Click through the pages to find your genre. It’s there, I promise!

Query letters will be added to this page on a rolling basis. If you’re an agented author and you’d like to add yours, please DM me on twitter, or use the contact me form on this website to get in touch!

A caveat: I have not vetted any of the agents whose clients are represented here. Hosting these query letters is neither an endorsement of these agents, nor a sign that I have confirmed that they are legitimate/a good actor. Please do your research before you sign with an agent, including checking their sales history and reaching out to current/former clients.

And a note: copying or reproducing these query letters, in any way, shape, or form, is expressly forbidden. Authors are sharing their stuff to help you, because they’re wonderful people, so please be cool about it and respect that this is their work. These query letters are for informational purposes only.