WHEN TO START WRITING A QUERY LETTER

by Christine Van Zandt

 

If your goal is traditional publication and you plan to acquire an agent or will be querying
publishers directly, don’t wait to draft your query letter—do it while you’re still writing your book.

 

WHY?

A query letter is a crucial piece in selling your manuscript; you’ll want to devote plenty of time to writing an excellent one. If you begin drafting one while still immersed in the story, the material is fresh in your mind. Having your query letter on hand is also beneficial to the book-writing process because writing and reviewing the query letter regularly can keep your writing track (or get it back on track if you feel you’re straying from the heart of your story). Or, maybe the query letter needs updating to better express the new direction the manuscript has taken. A query letter, like a manuscript, is a work in progress. You’ll keep revising the query as your book evolves and tailoring it for specific submissions.

 

WHO NEEDS TO WRITE A QUERY LETTER?

Authors seeking traditional publication typically write a query letter to accompany the opening pages of the manuscript once they start querying agents (seeking representation). However, there are other paths to take that also require a query letter. For example, some publishers allow queries from unagented writers, or, sometimes a direct contact—maybe an acquisitions editor you met a writers’ event—asks you to query them directly.

 

WHAT IS A QUERY LETTER?

A query letter is a concisely written, one-page business letter used to entice the reader to stop everything they’re doing, read the accompanying manuscript pages, and then contact the author asking for the “full” (full manuscript) because this is a book they couldn’t put down and one they think they can sell.

 

For novels, typically 15-30 pages of the manuscript are submitted along with the query; for picture books, the full manuscript is sent. Submission requirements vary; follow guidelines carefully. Nonfiction books may be handled differently; sometimes they can be pitched as an idea. However, for debut authors, sample chapters or a full manuscript may still be needed.

 

BEFORE YOU START

Plan to invest time researching. Find the right agent for you and your book and send queries only to agents who are actively seeking the kind of book you’ve written. This means that (1) they are open to submissions, and (2) they represent that category and genre of book (i.e., middle grade mystery). Beyond reviewing an agency’s website, you can look at sites that provide a look at many agents/agencies, like Manuscript Wish List.

 

OPENING

The opening lines of a query letter often state why that agent/publisher is being queried and note if the writer has a connection. For example, “Per the monthly Slushpile-Skipper opportunity on the Kids Writers Are Awesome blog, I’m submitting the first 20 pages of my 40,000-word middle-grade mystery because the post stated that you are seeking middle-grade contemporary friendship stories and also like ghost stories. My book has all of those elements.” Or, “We met at the Spring 2024 Children’s Writers Conference during a pitch session. You expressed interest in my book’s premise and asked that I send you the first three chapters. Attached please find the opening chapters of my 40,000-word middle-grade mystery.”

 

HOOK AND SUMMARY

After an amazing opening blurb about your book that hooks the reader, a standard query letter includes a brief summary of the book. This sounds simple. (It’s not.) Spend a lot of time crafting this portion of your query letter. If you belong to a critique group, workshop your query letter with them. If you have critique partners who have read your book, that’s even better because they may catch what your query letter’s missing.

 

A query letter can help sell your book. Treat it as an important piece on your path toward publication.

 

Though, as with most anything when it comes to writing, there’s no one way things are done. An agent may skip past the query for now and go directly to the manuscript pages. It happens. Still, I believe in “better safe than sorry” as many agents do start with the query and, if intrigued, continue on to the manuscript pages.

 

BIO

Include brief info about yourself that’s relevant to you as a writer and, perhaps, why you wrote the book. Focus on facts that are applicable and can help sell the book. For example, “I’ve been a high-school teacher for the past 15 years. My historical fiction YA book is loosely based on my grandmother’s journal that she kept as a teen in the 1930s through 1940s chronicling Japan’s invasion of China and WWII.”

 

CLOSING

This is where you thank the reader for their time and consideration. Remember everyone is busy. Keep the query letter’s content brief and professional; include contact info at the bottom, including social media hyperlinks.

 

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

There are many online sources. I like the Writer’s Digest article, “How to Write Successful Queries for Any Genre of Writing” because it includes 39 examples of actual query letters that landed book deals.

 

SCBWI members can also access a free article, “The Query Letter,” by Carla Killough McClafferty in SCBWI’s online publication, The Essential Guide to Publishing for Children. Once you’re signed into SCBWI.org, click on “Publications,” then the name of this book.

 

Good luck! I hope to, one day, read your book.

 

 

About the Author: Christine Van Zandt is the owner of Write for Success Editing Services and an award-winning author. Her nonfiction picture books include Milkweed for Monarchs (Beaming Books, 2024), A Brief History of Underpants (becker&mayer! kids, 2021), and three yet-unannounced children’s books. She lives in Los Angeles, California, with her family. You can find her at Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, Bluesky, and X/Twitter.