Your query letter is your one-page chance to win over a literary agent. How can you be sure you're getting it right? This list of dos and don'ts will help you strike the right tone.
Do Finish the Novel First.
You can write the best query letter known to mankind, but it won't do you any good if you can't back it up with an equally strong novel. Don't wait to get an interested response and then scramble to finish the book: you should be able to put it in the mail ASAP.Do Your Best Writing in Your Query Letter.
This is your job interview, your audition, your one chance to sell yourself . . . and the agent's going to give you about thirty seconds. Your letter should immediately give your reader a clear impression of your setting, your protagonist, and the conflict, what literary agent Katharine Sands, author of Making the Perfect Pitch, refers to as "place, person, and pivot." These are the elements that will make your story compelling in this forum.Don't Brag About How Many Books You're Gonna Sell.
While it's good to describe how you are positioned to help market your book, refrain from unprofessional boasting. They don't want to hear that "you know you can sell a million copies," even if you have good reasons to believe this.Do Say If You've Been Referred.
If you've read "How to Find a Literary Agent," then you've already begun asking other writers and former writing teachers about their agents. If someone advises you to write their own agent and says, "mention my name," then by all means do so. As with job hunting, a reliable referral makes all the difference in the world. (See a sample query letter, showing the language you might use in this situation.)Don't Lie -- Or Even Stretch the Truth.
This one should go without saying. While they won't check up on everything you say in your letter, if you claim to know someone they know, expect them to follow up on that. An agent-writer relationship is at heart a business relationship. Like all businesspeople, agents want to be able to trust their clients.Don't Try to Describe Your Entire Oeuvre.
Focus on only one book in your query letter. You'll dilute the impact of your query letter if you get lost in a long explanation of the eight other books you're currently writing or planning to write. If you've done your job in your query letter, then the agent's already convinced that you're a "real writer." And real writers, they assume, have more than one book in them.Do Mention Any Previous Publications.
It is helpful to mention, in your one-paragraph bio, that you've published other things, even if they're not fiction. It shows that you know something about how the publishing world works and that you can write. It makes them hopeful that you've had some experience with criticism and revision.
Find out more about approaching literary agents in "How to Find a Literary Agent."
