If you familiarize yourself with the best practices of writing a query letter, use your best judgment, and act in good faith and send the best query you can you’re going to be fine and there’s no need to sweat the tiny details.
Don’t believe me? Here’s a nearly identical post by agent Michael Bourret.
It’s not about the details.
Only…. it kind of is.
I mean, it is and isn’t.
UPDATED 5/29/19
The details that matter
It isn’t about the details in the sense that there really is no such thing as an instant rejection if you make a query faux pas. Literary agents are going to take everything into account when making a decision, and just because you, say, started with a rhetorical question doesn’t mean you will automatically be rejected.
It is about the details in the sense that literary agents are making a decision based on a short letter and maybe some sample pages and so of course it’s about the details.
But which details to sweat and which details to not sweat?
Here’s my sweat list.
Overall look
Around the right length, a reasonable font at 10 or 12 points, broken into reasonable paragraphs, no fiddling with margins, pictures, indenting, colors, etc.
Just a clean, professional-looking letter.
Don’t sweat if it’s a little long or a little short, and definitely do not start messing around to try and make it look creative or different. When it comes to letters, “creative” tends to look “insane.” It’s like showing up to a job interview in a clown costume. When you’re formatting your query: wear a boring suit.
The description of your work
Get it right. Get it right, get it right, get it right. Get it right. Sweat this. This is what we care about. We’re looking for a good story idea and good writing, and you want both to jump out in the query.
That’s it
Annnnd, we’re done!
All that other stuff like credits, genre, word count, series, etc. etc. etc.? Sure, great if you can sort through an agent’s pet peeves and get yourself in the ballpark of the right genre, and every little bit helps if you can show that you’re cool and professional and know what you’re doing.
But when it comes down to it: use your best judgment and get the big stuff right. All the rest is gravy.
Need help with your book? I’m available for manuscript edits, query critiques, and coaching!
For my best advice, check out my online classes (NEW!), my guide to writing a novel and my guide to publishing a book.
And if you like this post: subscribe to my newsletter!
Art: Looking Up the Yosemite Valley by Albert Bierstadt
Fantastic post.
Stuck at work and thinking about gravy… Do you think french fry shops deliver?
bryan-
You don't know how jealous I am of your ready access to poutine.
Thanks for sharing this, especially the "wear the boring suit" part.
I'm not to this point yet, but it's good to have a little reassurance about what is and isn't important. I was already starting break nervous about writing my query letter and I don't even have a completed first draft! : -P
I'm glad it is and it isn't. It's those details that terrify, I mean clarify.
😉
Nathan, I think you're pretty laid back when it comes to the small stuff. I know agents who will hit the delete button if you don't at least mention what the genre is.
Nathan, you're just making everyone want YOU to be his/her agent with this. You know that, right?
Tangential question, sorry. If you have used something in your mauscript for which you might need permission or their might be a legal issue, at what stage is this addressed? Song lyrics for one. But also what if you, say, set part of your story at Obama's Inauguration and mentioned actual people who were there, along with your fictional characters. Does an agent worry about this kind of thing and would the potential hassle be enough to make him reject?
And maybe you should go to New York more often… what with the Kings looking for three in a row tonight.
I feel like my gmail sometimes screws with the formatting, and I have no idea how to fix it…
Hopefully agents still read it even if the font looks minuscule/weird.
Being professional and telling your story as succinctly as possible, puts you in the game. Research agents, write the query with authenticity and confidence, and get to work on the next project.
Great post, Nathan. Thanks yet again!
Great post.
But my question is — what do you do with all the chocolate nibbles accompanying the more insane queries?
Seuss.
Terrified? Check.
Reassured? Maybe. On a good day.
Mostly just disturbed by the state of the industry and trying to whistle in the dark while I write.
No it's Suess.
Theodor spelled it wrong.
Thanks for this. Loved the clown costume. I'll try to avoid that one.
The description of my work is exactly what makes me sweat. Well, one of the things.
I study the Writer Digest queries in hopes that one day it will all sink in, perhaps through osmosis.
Seuss is how he's known.
Yes, I know. I mis-spelled it. I also took it down. Wrong for this post.
Nice post, Nathan. I think it's wonderful that you're reassuring writers that they can relax alittle.
Thanks.
Reading your, Michael Bourret’s and Holly Root’s recent blog posts has added joy to my writing day. I think writers who frequently visit agent blogs and try to follow advice have been feeling frustrated lately because so many agent blogs and Twitter messages have been warning writers not to do certain things and expressing frustration about writers’ query letters and other communications over and over again, but the writers who follow the blogs have already read those warnings in blogs and archived material. It’s incredibly refreshing to read three blog posts by agents speaking to the writers who regularly read agent blogs and try very hard to absorb all the information they can.
Michael Bourret mentioned Lisa McMann. She is such an incredibly nice author! She belongs to one of my writers’ groups and it’s been wonderful watching her get an agent, then land multiple book deals and make the New York Times Best Seller List. I sent out my own query letter to a handful of literary agents before showing my original query letter to Lisa and other authors in the writers’ group. They pointed out to me that I hadn’t explained enough about plot or characters. They were right. I had been trying to keep my query letter very short, but my novel is too complicated for that, and I ended up describing mostly theme. I went on to revise my query letter over ten times before sending out the final longer version.
I don't suppose it's just, you know, "relax," said the call girl to the archbishop.
But aspiring writers get all worked up about a lot of minutiae when they should worry about the overall message they're sending. As an editor for a technical journal, I'm sort of big on:
Don't waste my time.
I have tons to read, tons to do, I get tons of emails. Get to the point. In fact, you may very well spend 10 paragraphs telling me what you want, but it's unlikely I'll read to the end anyway, so make sure that what's up front is the important stuff.
I can't imagine you not rejecting someone who started their query with a rhetorical question…it would mean they knew nothing about you.
POUTINE? Oh now I miss Quebec.
This is brilliant advice – thank you. But I have to take issue with one point you made. I wouldn’t consider it crazy to turn up for an interview in a clown costume if the circus, was in fact, looking for a clown. Just thought I’d point out that slight flaw in your logic!
MOB-
Haha, good point.
Love that you mention the importance of the look of a query. I'm a big proponent of all writing looking good. I'm always telling my kids that about their homework, book reports,etc. Spacing, size, neatness, etc, all matter to the reader whether they realize it or not. This is one reason I always preferred essays to multiple choice tests in high school. I could write an essay on something I had no clue about, and get a decent amount of points based just on how it looked and my writing style. The answer may not have made sense, but it seemed like it should…
Thank you for making querying seem a little less daunting =)
This is a great post, Nathan. Just one thing I wasn't clear on. Are you saying we should get the description of our work right? 😉
lisa-
GET IT RIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It amazes me how people fret and worry about the small stuff. Is this font okay, should I include this or that, what do I do if I don't have any writing credits, etc. etc.? You see this stuff on message boards ALL the time.
Sometimes I want to reply – does your novel have a kick ass plot? Compelling characters? Is there some heart in there? Because that's the stuff you should be worrying about.
Worrying about font is like worrying about what color your tablecloth is for the Thanksgiving dinner. Who cares? I mean really? If your turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing and gravy are the best I've ever had, believe me, I won't be remembering the ugly green table cloth.
And now, I'm hungry.
While I'm definitely feeling reassured today – thanks, Nathan! – I'm with Terry, who wrote:
The description of my work is exactly what makes me sweat. Well, one of the things.
LOL! So true. 🙂
I sooo dig this post. "Get it right! Get it right!" It's awesome advice. I'm still working on my writing, but I'll get it together, I mean, I'll get it right.
Wish there were a magic ratio of requests/rejections to know if we're 'getting it right.'
Thanks for the post, Nathan. I have to say that it is the description of my work that I'm sweating about and all those "get it rights" that you put… yeah, not helping to alleviate my stress. But it's good stress! I know I will get it right!
I could really go for some chocolate right now. 🙂
Did someone mention chocolate? Okay, okay, back on track. Thanks for this wonderful post Nathan as I've been absolutely pulling my hair out over these darned query letters. Oh, and let's not forget the elusive synopsis.
In fact, my author's blog has been dedicated to these evil documents for the past few days and you would be amazed at the contradictory advice I've received.
It would be nice if someone would invent software to read a manuscript and then write the query and synopsis for us lazy writers.
🙂
I'm starting to think that there's some sort of psychic link going on between the agents. Jung's collective unconscious, if you will. 😛
In any case, this definitely makes me feel better. I'm getting my queries ready to send off, and there is so much information and detail that I've been worried over doing something wrong and wrecking my chances. This is a nice breath of fresh air. Thanks. 🙂
In my profession, it's considered bad form to waste bandwidth on HTML-styled e-mail. Do you discriminate against people who don't use it?
You are a beautiful man for throwing this bone. In my experience, it’s all true. I tend to make those irritating little mistakes that can’t seem to be caught the first twelve times I proof-read but only after I hit submit (can you say mulligan girl?). Fortunately, I still manage to get plenty of requests for fulls. Agents aren’t evil. They’re just business people.
So, I shouldn't start with a rhetorical question? OK, I'll try not to do that. And then, the description; it was subtle, but I think you were suggesting we should get it right. Am I wrong?
Really though: Thanks. Simple, memorable advice.
So nice to read this 🙂
About six years ago, I wrote a description for a children's novel (not a query letter) that started with a rhetorical question. I had thought this description might now work for a query as it was bright and fun reflecting the tone of the novel. As the next sentence answers that question, I wondered if this would make it more acceptable:
'Wouldn't you love to have your own beautiful sea witch? Marina has!'
Ahhh…. poutine!
Lucky for me I live in Portland, and one of my friends opened up an all-night poutine cart.
For fun, he sometimes lets us deep-fry random food items! I can't wait to do a slice of pizza.
I wonder how that would taste with gravy…
I had to google Poutine. I've never heard of it.
Ann Foxlee –
This past summer, I was at a State Fair that had food stands featuring all kinds of fried food: fried cheesecake, fried macaroni and cheese, fried candy bars and cookies and Twinkies, not to mention the regular fried stuff like french fries and funnel cake. I saw a sign in one of the windows where funnel cakes with all kinds of sugary toppings were being sold that had a rather funny grammatical error. It said, "Diabetic desserts sold here." I thought to myself, "You betcha, they’re diabetic." 🙂
Marilyn Peake:
Ha! If they're not diabetic, they will be after eating at that cart!
Malia Sutton:
You probably figured it out, but Poutine is delicious french fry goodness, topped with gravy and cheese curds. mmmmmmm……
My friend also makes his own ketchups for the non-gravy folks, my favorite of those is the rosemary-truffle.
I think he's open now…all this talk about poutine, I might just have top swing by for my day's junk food ration.
Nathan, sorry I hijacked the comments with Poutine talk, but you started it! ;-P
Thanks for the great post, Nathan! I'm currently writing and revising my query letter and it's nice to be getting some positive feedback while staring down the barrel of a rather daunting gun.
This post made me happy, so I'm linking to it in my blog. Thanks.
Ann Foxlee…
I'm literally on my way out the door to a place on Second Ave., between 7th and 8th, that makes it. Supposedly, it's authentic.
Argh! My editor is telling me I'm maybe a quarter of the way done with my WIP. A 500-600 page book is going to kill me. I feel like this post sounds… Crazy.
Stress…it's the gravy of life!