What A Query Is Not

Over this last weekend, I answered a huge stack of submissions and saw a trend. No, this does not happen all of the time, but certainly enough that I think this is time to address the issue of what a query is and is not.

A query letter is that first letter you send out to an editor or an agent to see if he or she would be interested in seeing more of you project. The query letter IS a simple business letter, very similar to a letter of interest in the general business world. There are three things that have to happen in this first letter:

1. Introduce the title, genre and word count of the letter
2. Give the reader a small premise of the story
3. Tell the editor or agent about yourself and why you have reached out to that editor or agent.

THAT IS ALL! Professional, informative and to the point.

But, lately, people are going far beyond that!

Writers seem to think that if they send more information, the editors and agents will want to see more. Unfortunately, this simply shows that you probably do not read the submission guidelines, or are probably not familiar enough with the business. Let me talk about some of the problems.

Cutting and pasting a partial in the email

This is one that you need to be careful about. Some, and I do mean some, agents say to send a sample of the writing in the email, Others do not. So follow their directions. Please note, however, that when you do cut and paste that partial, (again, only if requested) the formatting is still there. 

Attaching other documents to the email

Again, only send what is requested. I actually had someone attaching partials of several other projects, beyond the one they wanted to have considered. We also see authors sending scanned images of newspaper clippings, photos of what they believe the characters look like, and reviews of their other books either scanned for saved as PDFs. Too much!

Adding artwork to the email including the author's thoughts on the cover

While we appreciate your enthusiasm, the publisher is going to do this for you. The problem I have seen far too many times is the author not being a great artist. Now I get a drawing that looks like it was done in a high school art class. Not a great way to think of you story.

Sending prior correspondence from other editors and agents

If you think you are doing this to show how much you have grown, let me just tell you, it isn't working. You are now telling us simply why your writing is BAD. Not only that, you have now told us that we are not your first choice.

Attaching the query letter as a separate document

When you do this, you are just telling us that this is probably a mass email and you have not taking the time to truly review our submission guidelines. Write the darn letter!