/submission

Query Letter

A query letter is a one-page sales letter to a literary agent: 250-350 words, plain text, no attachments unless the agent's guidelines ask for them. Save drafts to submission/query.md.

Template

---
type: query
updated: YYYY-MM-DD
---

# Query: {Title}

## Pitch

{One-sentence pitch, under 35 words.}

## Letter

Dear {Agent name — supplied by the author},

{Optional personalization line — only from facts the author supplies.}

{Hook: one or two sentences that put the protagonist, their situation, and
the pressure on the page.}

{Book paragraph 1: who the protagonist is, what they want, and the inciting
incident that sets them moving.}

{Book paragraph 2: the complication, the choice they face, and what they
lose if they fail. End on the stakes, not the ending.}

{TITLE} is a {word count rounded to the nearest thousand}-word {category and
genre}, complete at {word count}, that will appeal to readers of {Comp A}
and {Comp B}.

[TODO: author to supply] {Bio: relevant credentials, publications, or lived
experience. Omit rather than invent.}

Thank you for your time and consideration.

{Author name and contact, from story.md `author` (or every name in `authors`) and `contact`}

Structure

1. Hook. Specific, not rhetorical. Do not open with a question to the agent ("What would you do if...") or a dictionary definition.
2. Book paragraphs. Protagonist, want, inciting incident, obstacle, choice, stakes. Name at most three characters. Stay with the main plot; subplots belong in the synopsis. A query does not reveal the ending.
3. Metadata line. Title in capitals, word count rounded to the nearest thousand, category and genre (adult, YA, or MG plus genre), and one or two comps. Some writers put this line first; either works.
4. Bio. Short and relevant. A first-time novelist without credentials can skip it or give one line. Never write it for the author.

Personalization

Add a line only when the author gives a real reason: the agent's stated wishlist, a client book the author admires, or a meeting at a conference. A generic compliment is worse than none.

Common mistakes

Check every draft for these:

• Over 350 words, or longer than one page
• Themes and summary ("this is a story about grief") instead of events
• Too many names, invented terms, or subplots
• Rhetorical questions
• A word count far outside category norms, or unrounded (87,342 words)
• "Fiction novel", or pitching a debut as a series with no standalone ending
• Comps that are megabestsellers or decades old (see comp-titles.md)
• Claims about sales potential or the author's certainty of success
• A tone that does not match the book's voice