Your Literary Agent Query
Letter Template
By Mary Kole
Mary Kole is a former literary agent, freelance editor, writing teacher, author of Writing Irresistible Kidlit, and IP developer for major publishers, with over a decade in the publishing industry.
Believe it or not, there is actually no one-size-fits all query letter template, but these recommendations from a former literary agent come close. I worked as a writing agent at a leading literary agency for five years, so I have a lot to say about structuring the perfect query letter template. Feel free to take the wisdom—especially the points that apply to your project—and leave the rest.
Before You Use a Query Letter Template
First and foremost, you might have a lot of book ideas, but you need to choose one project to focus on for your submission strategy. One project at a time. That’s it. You also need to be sure you’re ready for submission and that you’re not submitting too early—those are two issues that demand another article entirely. You should have also gotten a second set of eyes on your story, whether from a beta reader, critique partner, or freelance editor. If they’ve noted flat character, an inconsistent plotline, an unclear writing voice, a lack of writing imagery, and no story tension, you need to go back to the drawing board and do some heavy revision. Do NOT pass “go” and submit!
Once your project is ready, make sure you are adhering to submission guidelines that you will uncover during your literary agent research. You can do your agent research at the same time as you use a query letter template to write your pitch. Be sure you plan on sending exactly what a literary agent wants to see, otherwise, your submission might not receive consideration.
A Basic Query Letter Template
There is actually no set format or query letter template (and if there was, half of queries wouldn’t follow it anyway because of all the signal to noise ration out there online about writing query letters). But, as a former literary agent, this is my preferred format:
Your query personalization (if you’re using it) and manuscript logistics usually go first in the query letter template. What are the query logistics? Your title, word count, category, audience, and genre. This is so agents can set their expectations right from the start. Comp titles should go here as well.
The meat of the query letter template is your main pitch. This can be preceded by a good logline, and should last for one to three paragraphs. Focus on characters and main plot elements, and consider revealing the ending.
Then a short, professional author biography and your sign-off.
Contact information and social media for writers links after your signature.
Anything you’re including (a writing sample, book proposal, the entire picture book manuscript, etc.) should be copied and pasted below that. Include links to view/download illustrations, if you are pitching a project with illustrations that already exist or working as an author/illustrator team. (This generally applies to your picture book dummy, if you have one.) Make sure not to send attachments unless someone explicitly requests them.
Keep things to 250 to 450 words, and this query letter template should put you in the running for literary agent and publisher consideration in the slush pile.
You may be asked to use a submission form instead of sending an email. It would behoove you to follow directions.
If Your Query Letter Template Doesn’t Work
If you don't get a positive response after submitting a personalized version of this query letter template for your project to a literary agent or traditional publisher, wait at least six months before resubmitting revised work or submitting something else. Many submission guidelines request that you are mindful of this best practice, and it's important to remember that if an agent or publisher previously rejected something, they are likely to reject new stuff … unless you have committed to learning your writing craft or have done significant revision.
When you're ready to get out there, this query letter template will be waiting!
Click here to purchase Successful Query Letters, my book on query letters, including over forty examples with comprehensive notes on each one. There’s a ton of submission advice, best practices, and insider information in these pages, and you’ll really enjoy seeing what other writers are doing in the slush.