There are some publications that outline the process, but since I am asked by clients often enough – and since the rejections I’ve received for my own novel acknowledge a good query letter – I’ll offer my wisdom.
Begin your process by researching reliable agents (most are members of AAR) who are interested in your genre. Once you have a list, go to each website and follow exactly the instructions for submission. Some want only email, some with attachments, some hard copy in a certain font. (It’s a test – if you can’t follow their guidelines, they are unlikely to want to have a relationship with you.)
Whether electronic or hardcopy, keep your letter to one business size page with normal fonts and margins. Agents are busy and more likely to respond to efficient queries.
Stylistically, as best you can, have the letter represent the tone of your manuscript. That will help it stand out (if your manuscript does). At the least, write an intelligent business letter.
Address your letter to a specific agent and start with why you are writing specifically to that person. (You’ve met them, they represent an author whose writing is of the caliber of yours, or is in your genre, etc.) For one thing, this tells them you are not sending 200 identical letters to their competitors, so they won’t be wasting their time looking at your submission.
Tell them what your piece is about, including the title (DON QUIXOTE is a series of disparate adventures of a benighted knight in the seventeenth century, long past the death of the age of chivalry.) Reiterate the title at every opportunity (within reason) to reinforce its presence as a noteworthy book. Type the title in CAPS.
This first information should include genre and orientation (and, for fiction, the setting/era). (ACTION/REACTION is a step-by-step guide to planning radical political action and how to deal with the courts when you’ve been dragged away.)
How is this entry in the field distinctive and contributory. (DON Q and the form are a caricature of the popular literature of the early days of literary fiction.)
Who is the audience. (DON Q will appeal to uppity literary critics as well as bored teenagers who long for the solitude of life on the road.)
What books have similar qualities, then name the qualities. (The song-studded story is a heartful romp in the natural world: lyrical as MISTRESS OF SPICES, delighting as THE LITTLE PRINCE; wise as JONATHAN LIVINGSTON SEAGULL; unpredictable as BLUE HIGHWAYS; playful as THE LAST UNICORN; emotionally honest as THE YEARLING; off-beat as THE LIFE OF PI; and meditative as THE PROPHET. The voice is crisp and poetic, satisfying the spectrum of generations whom these books continue to inspire. Yet it is uniquely itself, founded in the mystery that fills our daily world, driven by inner curiosity rather than conflict – a POOH for adults and pensive children.) All references are for marketing purposes and should be to books which are recent and generally acclaimed.
What are your qualifications to be writing about this (if you have any). (I am a professor of communications in antiquity. My first book, BEYOND THE BENCH PRESS, which sold 170,000 copies in the first year, was an academic exploration of impact of the printing press on the leisure of the burgeoning aristocracy – read: ne’er do wells – and rising merchant class.)
Most important to agents: what is your platform – which means in what venues (profession, Twitter, blog, &c.) are you already established and with how many followers who are likely to buy DON Q? (This is why it’s a good idea to start building your platform when you start writing – you want people who are waiting for your book to be on sale.)
In the meantime, delight in the process.
Download PDF: Query Letters To Agents