Writing Query Letters That Sell Your Books
Let me begin by explaining what a query letter is. The first time I heard about query letters was when I took a course on the business of publishing and I had no idea what the instructor was taking about.
Simply stated, a query letter is a well-crafted sales pitch to an editor or agent. A well-written query will sell the idea of your book. The goal is for an editor or agent to request to see the full manuscript after reading the query.
Writers, me included, want to pull their hair out when they sit down to write a query because it’s so different from writing the novel itself. And the thought of condensing their entire novel into a few short paragraphs seems like an impossible task. The good news is that it’s not impossible; authors just need to learn the art of the query.
The Query Letter Structure
1. Just like in your novel, you want to hook the reader with your first line. Begin with the summary of your story. Only the basics of the story should be included here.
· Who is the main character?
· What is the problem?
· What does she want?
· Why can’t she have it? What is the conflict?
· What is at stake?
