How to Write a Query Letter that Grabs Attention

When you have written your book and you start trying to get it published you will want to develop a decent query letter to send to agencies.

What is a query letter?

Writers use query letters to pitch articles to magazines or books to agents and publishers.

If you are self publishing this won’t matter.

But if you want to get published, a query letter is a way to introduce yourself and your book to an agency or editor.

That said, let’s get into some tips and tricks that could help you think through your query letter.

1. Remember they are humans

You’d be amazed at how many writers don’t think about the human element in writing a pitch.

Imagine you were the editor. Imagine you receive 10-20 query letters a day.

How would you want the letter to go?

Would you prefer it start with a nice greeting? Or would you rather just get into the meat?

Everyone is different, but there is an old saying that could apply here, “You get more bees with honey.”

This just means, kindness goes a long way and to begin your letter with a kind greeting and end it with a kind word might help you get a bit further than you think.

Of course, your work will be the major deciding factor, but you wouldn’t want to do anything to not give it an extra shot of making it memorable.

I’d personally want my letter to make the editor think, “I remember this one. Their words actually encouraged me a little last time. I wonder if the pitch hasn’t improved or maybe they came up with a better story idea.”

Don’t go overboard, just think about a pleasant greeting and ending.

2. Don’t make it too much about the backstory

It can be tempting to explain every facet of the story in this pitch, but that would be a mistake.

Just like you wouldn’t want to bore your reader with too much backstory too early, you wouldn’t want to bore the agent with your query either.

You want to wow them with the idea and leave them curious to know more.

Think of it like writing a teaser. With a teaser you literally want them to be left thinking, “what happens next?”

You don’t want to give them everything all at one shot and have them think, “that sounds nice, but it’s probably not for me.”

Don’t give them enough to even make that conclusion for themselves. Just give them enough to want more and then cut them off.

Make them reach out to grab more.

If you can do that to the editor you’re pitching, they’ll believe you can do that to readers.

3. Your first paragraph MUST be gold

Here’s how you check your first paragraph.

Have someone you trust read it or submit it to a writing social media community you are a part of. Make sure it is people that won’t make it fluffy. Find people that will tell it to you straight.

Just give them that first paragraph. Have them read it. And then ask the Golden question: “Where did you get bored?”

If they say they never got bored and wanted to know more, you have won the first battle.

If they say, “I zoned out when you started explaining why the main character was hiding from the bad people.”

Then you know what you have to do in pitching this story.

If the first paragraph ever lets them get bored at any moment whatsoever, you’ve lost. Is game over.

So before you even hit send, be sure that your first paragraph is spectacular. Don’t waste your time or theirs.

4. Cut out the fluff

Write your first query quickly. Leave it for at least an hour. Then come back and read it with fresh eyes.

Is the first paragraph exciting? Yes? Great!

Now into the second paragraph.

Is it just as exciting? No? It’s filled with fluff? Cut it out.

A query letter isn’t all that long. It might be about 3 paragraphs, maybe 4.

So it absolutely cannot have one single lull moment. It cannot have one single dull moment. It has to be immaculate. It has to be perfect.

You get one shot. Don’t blow it. Make sure there is not one single boring sentence.

5. Don’t just assume they’ll read your entire letter

You think they just read the entirety of every pitch that makes it to their desk? Hah! Fat chance!

If they get bored in paragraph one. They won’t read into paragraph two. And just like that, the letter means nothing.

Take your query a sentence at a time. Does sentence one make me want to read sentence two?

Does sentence three make me want to read sentence four? If the answer is no, rewrite sentence 3 or scrap it altogether.

Treat your entire query letter like this and you will be much closer to a full read and an acceptance to take the next step with them.

6. Give interesting details not just details

“The hero fights off the evil corporation to save her family!”

Boring.

“But it has an exclamation point!”

Hah! Be serious.

“Regina and her mother are thrown into another realm where Regina must learn how to use magic or her mother will die.”

Better. Not quite there yet, but definitely better.

You can see the difference. You can give vague details of an interesting story or you can give strategic details of an interesting story.

Don’t shout yourself in the foot by not choosing the right details to give.

Choose words that are more interesting and bear more weight. Choose words that give extra imagery, depth, and meaning.

7. Do this to not give away too much

Remember how I said, write them a teaser but don’t give them the entire thing.

Here is a specific way to do that.

Give them the major conflict, but don’t solve it for them in the query.

The editor wants to know that you know how to do this.

They want to know that you can give a major set up but not give away too much to where the reader feels satisfied with knowing the conclusion.

Maybe hint at a twist, but don’t give up the twist.

If your editor wants to read your story, you win.

Don’t take that opportunity away from yourself by giving away the twist and the resolution to your story to the agent in your query letter. That’s a big “no-no.”

Just like you want to leave your reader wanting more. You want to leave your agent you’re pitching wanting more.

After all they are the ones who have to decide if they actually want to start reading your book or not. Might as well leave them curious to find out how your story resolves.

Does Regina save her mother? Does she make it back to her own world? What does she discover about herself in this new realm?

Want to find out? Read my book. 🙂

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Hope this helps!

Happy writing!

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How to Write a Query Letter that Grabs Attention

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After checking out Bluehost, see how we made a profit FAST with our blog and how you can too: Our #1 Easy way that we made a profit with our blog on year 1, not year 5.

Need a Cheaper Plan? Try DreamHost.

Already own a blog? Monetize with Ezoic. Make 5X more on ads with Ezoic! See for yourself. – These ads use machine learning. Set it and leave it.

Try Grammarly, The Free tool that should be in every writer’s toolbelt.

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How to Write a Query Letter that Grabs Attention

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