Query Letters

What is a Query?
Why Query?
Tips on Writing Query Letters
Tips on Making Your Query Great
Formatting Your Query
Sample Article Query
Sample Book Query
Query Resources on the Web

What is a Query?

Mary DeMuth describes a query as, "... a query is a business letter sent to a magazine, newspaper, publishing entity that pitches your story or book idea to an acquisition or managing editor or to a literary agent. You send a query instead of a manuscript."

Consider it your multi-purpose tool to describe the idea you'd like to write, introduce yourself, and ask for a response. The first paragraph is important. It has to capture the editor or agent's attention and make them want to read more. Your query may get only 30 seconds of attention-so every sentence has to count.

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Why Query?

A good query shows you know the magazine or house you are pitching, know your story idea and how it fits, and that you are the person to make it happen. Mary DeMuth shares six reasons to query:

1. Most editors will not accept unsolicited manuscripts. 
2. It saves time. They ensure “that you don’t invest time and energy into writing an article that won’t be accepted.” Moira Allen, The Writer’s Handbook 2003 
3. It’s easier to secure interviews when you can say, “I’ve been assigned an article by Marriage Partnership. Would you be interested in being interviewed for my story about fighting fair?” 
4. It helps you forge a relationship with an editor…an editor that can give you feedback, help focus your article, hem you in with a word count, or suggest possible sidebars.
5. You have the chance to show an editor your unique writing style, to illuminate your credentials, and to demonstrate your professionalism and reliability.
6. Once you’ve written an excellent query, if the editor likes it, you are farther along than if you had sloppily put it together.

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Tips on Writing Query Letters

Make your query letter strong right from the beginning. “It's all in that opening sentence. Can you grab me with what will eventually be the lead in the story? A well-constructed pitch allows me to see the story right away.” - Stephen George, Writer's Digest, December 2005

“The query letter may be the most important 1-2 page letter you'll every write.” says Elaine Wright Colvin of the Writers Information Network. She suggests first setting the stage, then grabbing their interest, and finally, compelling them to ask for the complete proposal. After that, she says to, “Sit back and be patient.”

Writing query letters and book proposals can be learned through any of the many books written on this challenging subject. Do not buy one book and think you know everything there is to know about writing these important parts of the publishing process. Read at least two, and be sure they have samples for the type of writing you do, i.e., nonfiction, fiction, etc.

Before sending any query, check the publisher's guidelines to be sure you are sending exactly what they want. The pet peeve of many editors is reading a pinch from someone who obviously has never even picked up an issue of their magazine.

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Tips on Making Your Query Great

1. Address it to the correct person and never, ever misspell the editor or agent's name.
2. Personalize and customize the query for each publishing house.
3. Only send your query to an editor whose house is a match for the material.
4. Fine-tune your hook to generate interest in you and your project.
5. Study successful query letters and learn from them.
6. Start with a compelling opening paragraph, followed with another paragraph of additional information that shows the connection to the magazine's or publisher's readers, and end with a paragraph that gives your writing credentials and asks for a response or an assignment.
7. Make your bio one or two sentences that shows you are qualified to write to the article.

Mary E. DeMuth offers a great resource on queries. Her article, Queries Now: You Can Write One Today is nine pages and includes three sample queries, a fiction book query, an article query, and a nonfiction book query.
Queries Now: You Can Write One Today  

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Formatting Your Query

Keep your query to one page.

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Sample Article Query

Sample Article Query  by Lynne Thompson

Queries Now: You Can Write One Today  by Mary DeMuth, mentioned above.

Sample Article Query  by Mary DeMuth

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Sample Book Query

Queries Now: You Can Write One Today  by Mary DeMuth, mentioned above.

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Query Resources on the Web