How to write a good query letter in 7 easy steps |Jamie Smartkins

You are good writer but even after sending multiple proposals to literary agents/publishers , you don’t get any response .
Why is that so? We generally think publishers/literary agents never look into our proposal but that’s not the fact . Definitely the literary agents will give more importance towards the work of established author’s proposal. So in order to make your query letter stand out among proposals, you got to give your best to make the first big impression. Here I am listing 7 steps to write an impressive query letter . Most of query letters are sent through electronic submission ,not hard cover submission. I am discussing email query to agents/publishers here.

1)Study publisher website:

Most of the time new authors just look into the contact and submissions page and blindly send query letters. You need to visit and study the website carefully and submission guidelines. Don’t simply send query on the email provided. The submission guidelines is a must read for all the authors seeking to get published. Most of the times you will find the genre of the book you have written is not enlisted on the submission guidelines page, which means never send your query/proposal if the publishers are not interested in your genre . That does not demean your work ,even if you are sending good query letter will not only waste their time but also yours as well. It would give negative impression. Just move on to the other publisher seeking the genre which matches your genre of writing. When the submission guideline says “not accepting unsolicited requests”,
you just need to move on to next publisher to submit your query letter.

2)Subject Title :

Once you find your right publisher , next important is writing the correct subject line in the email which most authors fail to write.
Here is one sample subject headline which can be used as a template as subject line.
Subj line – “Query : genre of your book : Name of your Book by author name”
e.g. – “Query : Fiction/Non Fiction/Young Adult/Romance/Fantasy : XYZ by abc “

3)Address and greet the publisher :

Now while writing the letter , address and greet the publisher in a nice and friendly manner. Don’t keep it too formal, a bit casual letter is ok . Tell them why you are opting the said publisher that they are looking for a genre and you have written that specific genre.

4) Build a strong author bio :

Here I would say try to market yourself by saying some impressive stuffs about your writing acumen viz – written for school journal, college
magazine , performed in arts drama and also mention the authors who have inspired you the most and specify your favourite genres.You don’t need to build one page resume for your author bio .Tell them about your personal milestones in a short and succint mannner.

5)Writing a log line in the query letter

Once you have greeted and mentioned about you, its time to write a catchy log line of your book in the email. Log line in short I can say if you
are asked to say about your novel in one liner , what would you say ? Exactly , this is a bit tricky one as you have give the essence of novel story in one liner and it is bit tough to write. Try to come up different log lines and select the best one . Log line is most important in the query letter content . Before jumping into synopsis , they would definitely like to see the log line.

6)Strong Synopsis :

After you have written the log line,its time to attach the synopsis and sample two -three chapters of your book at max in the email which is the next important stuff in your query letter.If they like the log line, they will definitely look into your synopsis. Please refer to article on synopsis to get to know about writing a great synopsis .

7) Say thanks:

Don’t forget to say thanks at the end of email and say you are waiting eagerly for their response.

Conclusion :

This sums up in general about writing a killer query letter which can land you a publishing contract . I would say never give up hope as landing a publishing contract for a first time author is always challenging . But do remember J.K Rowling faced lot of rejection before becoming one of the greatest authors of our generation. So keep trying and definitely your work will be recognized someday, somewhere and you will get the desired success you have always dreamed of .
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