Week Three - Query Letter.

Writing a query letter in a week has been a huge challenge. Trying to summarise a book I haven't written and know absolutely nothing about, but pretending that I do in 250 words, is quite trickier than I thought it would be. To make the task even harder, there seems to be a LOT of complicated rules on how to, or indeed not to, write the perfect query letter. 


I figured the best place to start was too Google 'query letter' and go from there. I came across countless websites with 'how to' and 'how not to' guides to writing query letters. The problem is, most of them contradict each other. I came across a couple of useful websites however, including http://www.guidetoliteraryagents.com, which gives examples of successful query letters, with comments from the agents who received them. Also, courtesy of Jen, I read http://www.jmtohline.com, a blog about the answers of agents to the question 'What is the single biggest mistake writers make when querying you?'  and also Slush Pile Hell, a blog written by a literary agent with examples of failed query letters sent to him.


From what I've read, the biggest mistakes writers make when querying agents are:

•  Being over-confident/arrogant about their work.
• On the other hand, not being confident enough.
• Not taking the time to research the agent and what he/she represents.
• Sending a mass produced query letter to agents, not addressing the agent personally.

After reading several examples of successful letters, it is clear that the best query letters are:

• Short, concise and to the point.
• Set the tone of the book.
• Give a teaser of the story to get the attention of the agent and make them want to read more.
• Credentials to prove that the writer has the ability to write a good book.  

If I ever did write a book and want to publish it, seeing how what an agent has to deal with and how the respond to bad query letters, I would probably end up spending more time trying to perfect those 250 words than I did writing the novel.