How to write a query letter for a literary agent - Nathan.
In order to have a book published by a traditional publisher, you will likely need to know how to write a query letter to find a literary agent. A query letter is part business letter, part creative writing exercise, part introduction, part death defying leap through a flaming hoop.Query Shark blog, in which literary agent, Janet Reid, gives snarky advice on how to write a query letter to brave newbie participants willing to swim with The Shark. In addition, here are a few AQ success stories of newbie writers — just like you — who used our AQ query letter advice to draft their query and snag their agents, who snagged.How not to write a darn good query letter-Don’t go beyond one page. Brevity is your friend. Actually, it’s rude to go over one page in a query letter, not to mention unprofessional. Most literary agents will not even consider a query letter with more than one page (or front and back).-Don’t oversell it.
One of the easiest ways to learn what makes a good, standard query letter is simply to see an example of one that does its job well. If you write fiction or narrative nonfiction, a query letter is your first (and often, your only) chance to get an agent interested in reading (and, with hope, signing) your work.How to write an effective query letter A query letter is a note asking an agent if they’re interested in representing a book. Agents may receive a dozen or more queries a day — and might only sign four or five authors per year.So you can see how making a good first impression in your query is crucial!
The query letter has one purpose, and one purpose only: to seduce the agent or editor into reading or requesting your work. The query letter is so much of a sales piece that it’s quite possible to write one without having written a word of the manuscript. All it requires is a firm grasp of your story premise.
