Writing a Query Letter

There are four simple steps to writing a query letter.

Step One: Begin with a hook sentence. To get a feel for writing a hook sentence, look at newspaper headlines. Which headlines grab your attention most?

Let’s do a little experiment.

In a Google search, the title, Generation Me: Why Today's Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled--and More Miserable than Ever Before by Dr. Jean M. Twenge, is featured several times. Here is a great hook from The Journal of Personality: Is ''Generation Me'' really more narcissistic than previous generations?Now pretend your book is in one of those headlines. How would journalists feature it? For fiction, write a sweeping sentence that describes the overall conflict.

Step Two: Provide two or three paragraphs about your title and tell the publisher how your book can benefit the reader. Here you can also add how the publisher will benefit from selling your book. Tell him or her how your title is unique, who will be interested, and why.

Step Three: Indicate what you are proposing, “I am proposing...(title and number of words) for your consideration...”

Step Four: Once you have attracted the editor with a unique, fresh idea that will give him or her something to think about, add your credentials. Why are you qualified to write this book?

For fiction writing, explain how you are familiar with the setting of your manuscript, or with the protagonist's field of work. John Grisham, for example, was a successful lawyer and politician before penning legal thrillers.

If you need assistance writing your query letter, book authors at Editing Office can do it for you. We will prepare your query letter and submit it in North America and Europe. Please allow one week for delivery.

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