example of cover letter to literary agent

How to Write a Submission Cover Letter That Will Wow Literary Agents

As a writer, you spend countless hours perfecting your manuscript, pouring your heart and soul into every word. But did you know that the cover letter you include with your manuscript submission is just as …

Written by: Adam

Published on: November 20, 2023

The purpose of a submission cover letter is to introduce yourself and your work to literary agents. It gives you the opportunity to make a strong first impression and convince the agent that your manuscript is worth their time and consideration. While the content of your manuscript is undoubtedly important, a well-written cover letter can help it stand out from the slush pile and increase your chances of getting noticed.

Understanding the purpose of a cover letter for manuscript submission

Before diving into the nitty-gritty of writing a cover letter for manuscript submission, it’s crucial to understand its purpose. A cover letter serves as a professional introduction to your work and provides a glimpse into your writing style and personality. It should be concise, engaging, and tailored specifically to the agent or agency you’re submitting to.

When a literary agent receives a submission, they often have limited time to review each one. A well-crafted cover letter can pique their interest and make them eager to delve into your manuscript. Think of it as a teaser, enticing them to read further. It’s your chance to showcase your writing skills and convince the agent that you’re not only a talented writer but also a professional who understands the industry.

Essential elements of a cover letter for manuscript submission

Now that you understand the purpose of a cover letter, let’s explore the essential elements that should be included. First and foremost, your cover letter should be professional in tone and format. Use a standard business letter format with your contact information at the top, followed by the agent’s details and the date. Address the agent by name if possible, as it shows you’ve done your research and personalized the letter.

Next, introduce yourself and mention the title of your manuscript. Briefly explain why you chose to submit to that particular agent or agency. This demonstrates that you’ve done your homework and are genuinely interested in working with them. Highlight any relevant writing credentials or experience you have that make you uniquely qualified to write the manuscript. Keep this section concise and focus on the most impressive aspects of your background.

Finally, provide a brief summary or pitch of your manuscript. This should be a compelling and concise overview that captures the essence of your story and leaves the agent wanting to know more. Avoid giving away too much detail or spoiling the plot. Instead, focus on intriguing the agent and creating a sense of curiosity. Think of this section as a movie trailer – it should leave the agent eager to dive into your manuscript and discover the full story.

Tips for writing an attention-grabbing opening paragraph

The opening paragraph of your cover letter is your chance to make a strong first impression and grab the agent’s attention. Start with a compelling hook that will immediately engage the agent and makes them curious about your manuscript. It might be an intriguing question, a shocking statistic or a captivating anecdote. The key is to make the agent want to keep reading.

After the hook, briefly introduce yourself and your manuscript. Mention any relevant writing credentials or experience that make you stand out. Highlight why you chose to submit to that particular agent or agency. Show them that you’ve done your research and are genuinely interested in working with them. This personal touch can make a significant impact and show the agent that you’ve put thought into your submission.

Remember to keep the opening paragraph concise and to the point. Agents receive numerous submissions every day, so they appreciate brevity. Avoid rambling or providing unnecessary information. Instead, focus on crafting a strong and attention-grabbing opening that leaves the agent eager to read more.

How to showcase your writing credentials and experience

When it comes to writing a cover letter for manuscript submission, showcasing your writing credentials and experience is essential. This section allows you to demonstrate your expertise and convince the agent that you’re a talented writer who is worth their consideration. Here are a few tips to help you effectively showcase your credentials:

Highlight any relevant writing achievements: Focus on the writing credentials that are most relevant to your manuscript and the genre you’re targeting. This could include published (or self-published) works, writing awards, or any other accomplishments that demonstrate your skill and experience (such as building an audience on social media).

Provide details but be concise: While it’s important to provide some context and details about your writing credentials, remember to keep it concise. Agents have limited time, so make sure to highlight the most impressive aspects without overwhelming them with unnecessary information.

Tailor your credentials to the agent or agency: Research the agent or agency you’re submitting to and tailor your writing credentials accordingly. If they have a particular interest or speciality, highlight any relevant experience you have in that area. This shows the agent that you’ve done your homework and are genuinely interested in working with them.

By effectively showcasing your writing credentials and experience, you can establish yourself as a credible and talented writer. This increases the agent’s confidence in your abilities and makes them more likely to consider your manuscript.

Crafting a compelling summary of your manuscript

Perhaps the most crucial part of your cover letter for manuscript submission is the summary of your manuscript itself. This section is your chance to give the agent a taste of what your story is about and entice them to read further. Here are a few tips to help you craft a compelling summary:

Keep it concise: Your summary should be brief, typically no more than a few paragraphs. Focus on the main plot points and the core themes of your story. Avoid getting bogged down in unnecessary details or subplots.

Capture the essence of your story: Your summary should give the agent a clear idea of what your story is about and what makes it unique. Highlight the main conflict, the protagonist’s journey, and any intriguing elements that set your manuscript apart.

Create a sense of curiosity: The goal of your summary is to leave the agent wanting to know more. Don’t give away all the details or spoil the ending. Instead, create a sense of curiosity that compels the agent to dive into your manuscript and discover the full story.

Crafting a compelling summary takes time and careful consideration. It’s often helpful to draft multiple versions and seek feedback from trusted peers or writing groups. Remember, your summary is your manuscript’s first impression, so make it count.

Do’s and don’ts of writing a cover letter for manuscript submission

To wrap up our guide on writing a submission cover letter, let’s go over some essential do’s and don’ts to keep in mind:

• Address the agent by name if possible.
• Tailor your cover letter to the agent or agency you’re submitting to.
• Highlight your most relevant writing credentials and experience.
• Keep your cover letter concise and to the point.
• Proofread your cover letter for any grammatical or spelling errors.

Don’t:

• Ramble or provide unnecessary information.
• Oversell or exaggerate your writing credentials.
• Give away too much detail or spoil the plot in your manuscript summary.
• Forget to personalise your cover letter for each submission.
• Forget to follow the submission guidelines provided by the agent or agency.

By following these do’s and don’ts, you can ensure that your cover letter is professional, engaging, and tailored to the agent you’re submitting to. Remember, the goal is to get a foot in the door, make a good first impression and convince the agent that your manuscript is worth their time and consideration.

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How to Write a Stand-Out Cover Letter

• How to Write a Stand-Out…

SO, WHAT IS A COVER LETTER?

Literary agents and many literary competitions require a cover letter along with your sample chapters and synopsis. This is a formal introduction to you and your novel. Note: It is not a CV, a bio or a blurb for the book. It’s a letter, written from one professional to another, that should make the agent or judge want to read more. The biggest mistake entrants to the BPA First Novel Award made this year was getting the balance off, either writing too much about the novel or too much about themselves – some poor novels didn’t get a mention. There’s a rough template most agents and competition judges will look for, and it’s pretty doable! Let’s give it a go.

TELL US ABOUT THE NOVEL

First, tell us about the novel. That’s what you’re trying to sell! You want the agent to finish the cover letter with such curiosity about the book that they’re hungry for the sample chapters. 

The first paragraph will usually reveal the title , the genre , the word count of the completed manuscript (If you don’t include this, they might worry you haven’t finished it!) and something that offers a taste of the novel, like a mention of the themes you’re going to explore.

Be specific when stating the genre – if it’s general fiction, think about whether the market is commercial, book club, upmarket or literary. If it’s YA, don’t just say it’s YA – is it a YA romance? YA dystopia? Who’s out there writing YA crime? The literary agent will be familiar with all the terms, so the more specific you are, the easier it will be to picture an audience for the book.

Once you’ve provided these core facts, write an elevator pitch . This is a single sentence that conveys your novel’s hook or USP. For inspiration, check out the Sunday Times Bestsellers List:

• Richard Osman’s  The Thursday Murder Club : Four friends in a retirement village team up to solve a mystery on their doorstep.
• Paula Hawkins’  The Girl on the Train : A commuter’s fascination with a married couple she passes every day turns deadly.

It’s a good idea to follow this up with a one-paragraph description of the novel. Unlike the synopsis, it doesn’t need to tell the entire story, but it should be just more than the premise. Tell us who the protagonist is, what happens to upset the balance of their life, and what their goal is (presumably to restore said life balance!). If you can do that in a couple of sentences, you might also mention one of the novel’s core turning points.

Cover letters should describe the novel first, then the writer, then remind us of the novel at the end. In a short final paragraph, say what inspired you to write the book and offer some comparable titles . (Check out agent Nelle Andrew’s advice on comparable titles .)

The letter should be targeted towards the literary agent or competition judge you’re writing to. Some writers choose to open with this and others incorporate it into the later paragraphs. The best way to make a connection and show you’ve done your research is to mention an author on the agent’s list who has a relevant readership. You could also explain why you think your novel aligns with what they describe in their wish list.

TELL US ABOUT YOU

It’s the writing, not the writer, that’s important … but the agent or judge does want to know about you too. They especially want to know why you were the one person who could write this book . And it’s true – no one else could write the book you’ve written. So tell us why. Did your job as a psychiatrist inspire the analysis of your antagonist’s motivation? Do you live in the idyllic town where the book is set? Have you studied the era of your historical novel? Share relevant details about yourself. 

The agent or judge also wants evidence that you are a writer. You’re not just someone who thinks they have a novel in them; you take your craft seriously. If you can, share what magazines your short fiction has been published in, the competitions you’ve been listed in or the creative writing courses you’ve completed. If you don’t have that kind of experience, share anything that tells us you’re serious. Join a writer’s workshop group and tell us about that. Attend an online masterclass (like the ones BPA runs ) and mention that. Experiment with writing in different forms and tell us about it. S hare which contemporary authors have inspired you, so it’s clear that you’re well read. Just don’t put, ‘This is my first attempt at writing fiction,’ and leave it at that. It doesn’t inspire confidence.

A cover letter should be professional, like the cover letter you would send with a job application, but you also want it to have some personality. And given you’re basically applying for the role of ‘novelist’, it needs to be well written.

So, keep it formal, make sure it’s eloquent, and try to get some flow into it. When you read it aloud, it should sound natural. If it doesn’t, it might be that you haven’t varied sentence length, that you’ve used rigid language, or simply that you’re trying too hard. As formal as a cover letter should be, you want your enthusiasm for this novel you’ve spent so long writing to imbue the lines. 

COMMON ISSUES IN ‘BPA FIRST NOVEL AWARD’ SUBMITTED COVER LETTERS

• Formatting it like a CV or splitting it into sections titled ‘Bio’ and ‘Novel Summary’.
• Sharing irrelevant detail about your personal life. 
• Making it too short – 200-350 words is a good guideline.
• Or too long – unfortunately, nobody’s going to read a cover letter past the first page!
• Writing a vague description of the story e.g. ‘When a mysterious event happens, a woman will have to look to the past to uncover the truth.’
• Including long-winded explanations of why there’s a huge market for your book.
• Coming across as arrogant … or lacking in confidence.
• Sharing more about the novel’s message than its story.

WRITE THE COVER LETTER YOUR NOVEL DESERVES

Once you’ve finished a manuscript, the instinct is to get it on submission as soon as possible, but it’s worth taking the time to give an accurate and exciting representation of the work . Literary agents receive many submissions a day and have to fit reading time in with a huge workload. You need to grab them in the cover letter so that they’re already thinking of you as a potential client when they read the sample.

Out of everything you could have written on the blank pages of a document titled Novel , you’ve carefully chosen each word of this story that has to be told. You know people will love it and you hopefully have a sense of who and why . Get that across to the agent or competition reader, and maybe, just maybe, they’ll request the full manuscript.

For personalised feedback on your cover letter, you might want to consider a BPA Submission Package Report – enquire here .

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How to write the perfect pitch letter to an agent

Announcing the discoveries prize longlist 2024, julia boggio: 'learning to read other people’s work with a critical eye helps you turn that same eye on your own work', by anna davis, 7th jan 2019.

So, you've finished your manuscript and are eager to share your work with literary agents. One question I'm always asked by students is: How do you write the perfect pitch letter to a literary agent? Here are my top 15 tips on how to make your submission pitch letter stand out from the pack:

1. Write to a specific agent and do your research

Start out by thinking carefully about who you're going to send your work to. Research thoroughly on literary agency websites and generally online, reading interviews with individuals and checking their social media profiles. Pick agents who are clearly interested in the kind of book you're writing and who appear to be eager to find new writers. When you write your query letter, tailor it to the individual - even though this means you'll have to rethink your pitch letter for each agent you address it to. Don’t write to 'Dear Curtis Brown' or 'Dear Sir' or 'The Submissions Department' etc. Always write to a person.

2. Address the agent by their first name

Only the oldest, most formal of agents are uncomfortable about being addressed by their first names – and really, those are not the people you should be approaching for representation in any case. There’s no need for Mr, Mrs, Ms etc.

3. Keep the pitch-letter short. It should be no more than three brief paragraphs ...

... one which pitches your novel; one which tells the agent a little about you; and one which talks about why you’ve chosen to target this particular agent. It’s up to you which order you do these in. I’d probably kick off by pitching the novel, but others would advise differently. People will tell you that the letter should be no more than a page – actually I’d say it should be much shorter than a page. Whenever we run agent-letter workshops with our London-based students, we end up telling at least 80% of the students that their letter is too long …

4. Kick off your letter by pitching your novel

This is the time to utilize your best one or two-line pitch. You should be giving the central question which drives your novel and hooks in the reader, or stating what’s at the heart of your novel. Ideally, use a slightly different version than whatever you've put in your synopsis to avoid repetition. And it’s good to tell us whose story this is too … Aim at two or three sentences (no more than that, really – this has to be brief and to the point) which introduce your story. Don’t try to cover your whole plot – your synopsis will be doing that job. You’re just looking to whet the agent’s appetite. Include the title of your novel (perhaps even as the heading for the letter). You should also give the genre of your novel if you know it. People often mention their word-count, in their pitch letter but there’s no real need for this: You should probably put that on the title page of your material.

5. Talk about why you’re addressing this particular agent

Agents like to feel you’re writing to them for a reason. Find out something to say which is specific to them: If you’ve read or heard something they’ve said about writing or the kind of novels they’d like to represent – or perhaps if you’ve met them – you could mention this. If there’s a reason you think you’d fit well on their list, say what it is.

6. Include mention of one or two comparison novels

This is when you liken your novel to other similar works. It’s a good idea to find books to compare to yours which are current and commercially successful – and ideally which are represented by this particular agent (though this might not be possible – it will depend very much on their client list). But don’t pick novels which are really major works or you’re setting the bar very high for yourself – perhaps unreachably high. If you can’t come up with good comparison novels, it could instead be a good idea to simply mention one or two of the relevant agent’s clients whose work you particularly admire. Don’t worry too much about the issue of ‘comparison novels’ though, if you can’t come up with any. It’s not the most important aspect of the letter. And don’t include lots of them. Two is enough.

7. Tell the agent a little about yourself

What you do, etc. Leave out details which are not strictly relevant or interesting. If you are a doctor writing a medical drama – say that. Mention any creative writing courses you’ve taken which are prestigious and with selective entry. It’s not worth mentioning self-published books unless they’ve sold well (by which I mean well into the thousands). Mention awards and writing competitions you’ve won if they are not too obscure. Remember, this should only be a short paragraph – don’t get bogged down in detail – be selective and only mention points which speak positively of you and clearly work in your favour.

8. Avoid bragging

... or stating that your novel will be the next huge international bestseller etc. On the other hand, don’t apologise for your novel  or for taking up the agent’s time with it – present it confidently. Read over your letter when you’ve finished writing it to make sure that everything you say is positive – don’t say anything negative at all.

9. Don’t tell us that your wife/husband/best friend/children etc love your novel

The agent doesn’t care about any of that!

10. Be focused – don’t pitch more than one novel or memoir in your letter

Talk about just one novel. If the agent calls you in for a meeting, that’s the time to talk about other projects, future work etc.

11. Do put time, thought and care into your pitch letter

Don’t be slapdash, and check your grammar and spelling. You need to be professional in order to be taken seriously by a professional.

12. There’s no need to include ‘polite padding’ in the query letter

For instance, you don’t need “I’m sending you the opening of my novel and synopsis in search of representation” – the agent will know why you’re writing to them, and you can just go straight into the pitch. Similarly, you don’t need to thank them for their time or say you’re looking forward to hearing from them etc – just write the real meat of the letter and then sign off. Make every word count.

13. Don’t ask for a meeting with the agent

... or state that you’re interested in working editorially on your novel. Just present the novel and then allow the agent to come forward with their idea of what should happen next. They will, in any case, assume you’re happy to come for a meeting or do some rewriting if requested to. Don’t make a point of saying that you’re sending also to others … They'll assume that anyway.

14. Don’t crack corny jokes

It’s just excruciating. And don’t talk about a ‘ fictional  novel’ – all novels are fiction.

15. Don’t be obsequious

The agent doesn’t need you to flatter them or suck up to them.

Oh - and did I say keep it short? ...

Courses to help you pitch with confidence

Check out our one-day Pitching Your Novel course. Expert CBC editors, Jennifer Kerslake and Abby Parsons, will lead a group of 16 students through the dos and don’ts of writing your pitch and query letter to literary agents during a full day of Zoom teaching.

Sign up now

Learn to edit and polish your novel to the highest standard and then pitch with confidence to the publishing industry. Edit & Pitch Your Novel – Advanced is an online course comprising teaching videos and notes from our founder Anna Davis alongside tuition and feedback from author Lauren Pearson. Plus, five Zoom masterclasses with publishers and literary agents.

If you're looking for a flexible online course, join our bestselling six-week Edit & Pitch Your Novel course.

How to Write a Query Letter: 3 Paragraphs That Hook a Literary Agent

by Abigail Perry | 0 comments

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If you're interested in getting your book traditionally published, it's crucial that you sign with a literary agent who loves your story and has a vision for your career. To do this means you need to write the single most important page you'll ever write outside of your book: a query letter.

No pressure, right?

If the thought of writing a query letter freaks you out or confuses you, hit the pause button and breathe for a second. You are not alone.

Here's the good news: there is a method that will help you get an agent to say, “Sounds great! Send me more.” I call this the three-paragraph method. It's all about the hook-book-cook!

What I Learned About Writing Query Letters by Working at a Literary Agency

When I studied film and television in college, I learned how to develop and present an elevator pitch. After graduation, I turned to publishing. Eventually I attended the Writer's Digest Conference in 2015, where I pitched my story in a pitch slam.

This experience was intimidating and fantastic. I had presented elevator pitches as an undergrad to my film professors, but I had never pitched my story idea live to a literary agent in under a minute. It also taught me one  part  of a query letter that you need to master in order to hook a literary agent.

Flash forward a few years later to when I worked as an Editorial Intern. To this day, I consider this one of the most valuable experiences in my writing and editing career.

And while I learned a lot more than just query letters in this role, evaluating query letters is an important part of any literary agent's job. I witnessed this firsthand.

I'd like to share what I learned to help you write a great query.

What is a Query Letter?

A query letter is a one-page letter that acts as a sales pitch. Although these were once sent as snail mail queries, writers now email their letters. This email should be concise, one page, and sent to a specific literary agent. The goal of a query letter is to hook that agent and get them interested in reading more of your manuscript.

You don't have to have a finished manuscript to write a query letter, but you absolutely should have a finished manuscript before you query a literary agent, unless you're a nonfiction writer and pitching a book proposal for a nonfiction book.

Rule of thumb? Focus on quality over quantity. While I have read my fair share of longer query letters that literary agents considered, short ones pitched well stand out.

What does short mean?

A single-spaced page, in standard Times New Roman, 12-point font, that is probably around 500 words. I'd encourage writers to stick to this length when writing their query letters.

Going over this suggests that you're trying too hard to tell your story. You shouldn't have to try hard to pitch the big hooks. The main character , stakes, and unique plot should be able to stand on their own.

Do You Really Need a Query Letter?

Yes. You bet. 👌

If you want to publish with traditional publishing, you need a query letter. It's as simple as that.

Query letters are one of the first steps in the publishing process.

Agents receive a lot of emails in their query letter inbox. Seriously, it's a bucket load. Because of this writers might think that some don't take query letters seriously. Writers might also take it personally if they don't get a response from a literary agent months after querying them.

Look, all rejection stinks. Nobody likes that feeling. But this is part of the traditional publishing business, and I think understanding why agents don't have time to answer every query makes the process more manageable.

• 3% to read partials
• 1% to read fulls
• less than .01% offered representation (signing about three to five clients a year)

It's not a shock that this isn't a lot.

Still, not querying gives you a zero percent chance at signing with an agent, especially since it is highly unlikely that a publisher will offer to publish a story that you have self-published or that is already published. There are outliers, like Andy Weir's The Martian , but your best shot by far is by querying an agent.

So, how do you write a query letter that stands out?

A Note on Self-Publishing

Self-publishing does not require a query letter. But learning this three-paragraph method can still help self-published authors because the second paragraph teaches a strategy to write your back cover.

Back covers work as great sales copy for Amazon and other online sellers!

First, Personalize Your Query Letter

Do not submit a query letter that is not addressed to a specific agent. Literary agents are part of literary agencies, but the specific agent is the one you will grow a business relationship with.

Which reminds me, make sure you spell their name right! Double check.

You'd be surprised how many query letters spell the agent's name wrong, and while this doesn't guarantee a rejection, it doesn't help.

If a literary agent is interested in representing you, they will do their fair share of research on you and your work. Mistakes happen, but spelling a name correctly makes for a friendlier beginning.

Some other reasons you want to query a specific agent are:

• When you query a literary agent and they like it but it's for them, they may pass it onto a colleague who is a good fit.
• You should want a specific agent for a reason. Querying any random agent isn't good for your business goals and writing career.
• Knowing a specific agent gives you an opportunity to make a connection with them (see paragraph one later in this post).

Personalizing your letter proves you've done your research, and it will likely make you more passionate and excited to work with that agent.

3 Research Strategies to Help You Personalize Your Letter

I emphasized the importance of research for specific literary agents, and you should do this.

However, there are a total of three elements you should research before writing your query letter to help not only with how you write it, but also give you a better idea about why you want to work with a literary agent and literary agency.

1. Your List of Dream Literary Agents

I recommend making a list of seven to ten dream agents before writing your query letter. This might make the letter easier to write, too, because you're writing to someone specific instead of a general audience.

There are several great ways to do this. Here's a list of ideas for you to consider.

You can find a literary agent who might be a good fit for you by:

• Looking in the acknowledgments section of a book that works as a good comp title for your story
• Visiting Query Tracker
• Checking out my upcoming podcast on #MSWL (coming soon!)

2. Comp Titles

Comparable titles (or comps) won't break your query letter if not included in it, but good ones can seduce an agent into asking for more.

Before you include comps, however, make sure they are excellent ones.

Keep in mind that bad comps are worse than no comps, so it's better to not include comps in your query than include bad ones.

How can you tell if your comp choices are good picks?

You can learn more about strong comp titles in this article .

3. The Agency: What They've Sold and How They Work

Although you should address the letter to a specific agent, you should also research the literary agency. Just because one agency makes more six-figure deals than another doesn't mean they're the best agency for you.

There are a lot of factors that might make an agency the right fit for you or not. It's worth taking the time to think about what you want and need from an agency so you know whether the agencies you query fit the bill.

How to Write a Successful Query Letter with 3 Paragraphs

Agents look for specific details in a query letter. You can be sure they'll want to know your book's:

• Connection point
• Main character
• Back cover pitch with a hook
• Author bio , with writing credentials

It can be tempting to try to explain your book at length, but a query letter is not a synopsis. You want to make this pitch short and concise.

This is why many agents prefer three paragraphs (give or take) that show a literary agent exactly what your book is about, whether or not it's a good fit for their list, if it will sell, and a little about you.

If you read query letter examples, the order of these paragraphs might be mixed. However, I personally prefer the order I'm about to share with you because it (1) establishes clear expectations of what a literary agent should expect, (2) hooks with a back cover description, and (3) shares more about the author.

Agent Carly Watters calls this order the hook, book, cook approach.

Paragraph 1: Hook

Paragraph one is about hooking a literary agent by setting up expectations for the book and making a connection.

When submitting multiple query letters to different agents, this is the one paragraph you need to differentiate. The rest of the query letter can stay the same.

Why does this paragraph change? Because you should be querying a specific agent for personal reasons, remember?

Make a connection by doing this:

• Describe the word count, genre, and title of your book, which should appeal to their manuscript wish list.
• Identify why you want them as your agent, and why you think your book is a good fit for their list.
• Share comps that the agent likes.
• Maybe  include a story premise .

Let's look at an example of how to do this.

One of my favorite books in 2021 is Nancy Johnson's The Kindest Lie . It's a timely book that explores the issue of systemic racism in America, and could be described as Smart Book Club Fiction.

Nancy's literary agent is Danielle Bukowski of Sterling Lord Literistic. I know this by looking at the acknowledgments section in her book.

Now let's pretend I have a book that is similar to Nancy's, and I want make a connection with Danielle. I research the books Danielle likes to represent by visiting one of the ways suggested in the dream agent section above.

Here's what I find on Danielle's website:

She wants to represent books “traditionally overlooked by the publishing industry, as working on books that represent the world is important to me.” Wow, I love that.

And if I thought my (hypothetical) book fit into this category, like The Kindest Lie does, this would be a phenomenal point to make in that first paragraph.

Sharing this in the first paragraph shows I've done my research on Danielle. That I want to work with her , not just any agent who represents my book's genre. It also gives me a chance to share that I love authors and books she's represented.

Knowing all this, I could use these details in my query letter's first paragraph. Like:

• Briefly what my book is about (I'll go into more detail with this in paragraph two, so don't go overboard here; focus on how it connects)
• Genre, Title, and Word count
• Why my book would interest Danielle

P.S. Don't forget to address Danielle specifically. Don't make it out to the literary agency, and absolutely avoid “To Whom It May Concern.”

Put it all together (one to two sentences):

Dear Ms. Bukowski (or Dear Danielle), After reading (and loving!) Nancy Johnson's debut The Kindest Lie, I am submitting my BOOK TITLE HERE for your review. It is a 90,000-word Smart Book Club Fiction story about SOMETHING UNIQUE TO WHAT SHE IS LOOKING FOR or a ONE-SENTENCE SUMMARY. I think it will appeal to your interest in representing books that the publishing industry usually overlooks.

Notice a few things about that paragraph:

• BOOK TITLE HERE: Write the book title in ALL CAPS, not italics.
• 90,000-word: The book probably isn't exactly 90,000 words, but round to a nice even number.
• Smart Book Club Fiction: State the genre of your book, and make sure it's on the agent's list!

Some other good ways to make a connection with an agent could include:

• Make a connection with anything they say they're looking for on their manuscript wish list.
• Share how it's similar to any story they've represented in the past (remember those good comps!).
• If you heard an interview with them, mention it and tell them why you liked this interview.
• If you met them at a conference or heard them speak at a conference, mention the connection.
• If you've attended a workshop they ran, mention it and share why you liked it.

Paragraph 2: Book

Paragraph two is all about the big pitch for your story premise. It does not describe the entire plot or every minor plot. It should read like the back cover of a book, which is why it's great to explore the back covers of comparable titles before writing this.

One element you'll want to consider when writing the back cover is your story's stakes. I like to think about James Scott Bell's whiff of death suggestions: psychological, physical, and/or professional death.

Note: Do not mistake value shifts for genres used in traditional publishing. While knowing your story's main stakes are great for writing and editing it, a traditional publisher will want to know it's a YA Fantasy story, not an Action or Performance story.

That said, knowing your value shifts can help you show them why your story has life and death stakes, or why your character's professional reputation is on the line, or their sanity in some way.

There are various ways to write a story's back cover, and some pantsers and plotters even use this to plan their book before writing it. However, I always turn back to James Scott Bell's strategy for writing back covers, which he covers in his book Revision and Self Editing .

This is his suggestion:

• Sentence One: Identify the protagonist, their vocation, and their initial situation (status quo)
• Sentence Two: BUT when (this happens) + the main plot problem
• Sentence Three: Now + death stakes

Ultimately, you can write this back cover in as little as three sentences.

Some query letters write this in two to three short paragraphs (with a heavy emphasis on short: each paragraph is two to three sentences). Keep in mind that you do not want to explain too much of your story when writing this. Let the plot and main character stand on their own.

Do not give away the ending. Instead, suggest the journey.

Here's the back cover for Nancy Johnson's The Kindest Lie :

Notice the last paragraph? You don't need an overarching description about the big ideas in the book in your query letter, but if you can write this well, that's great to include.

Additionally, this is a published back cover, so it's longer than what's expected in a query letter.

If you want to read  The Kindest Lie  and more of Nancy's amazing work, visit her website here .

Paragraph 3: Cook

The last paragraph in a query letter is your author bio. The most important idea here is that you write a bio that shares your credibility as a writer, or any big information that sheds light on your professional writing resume, seasoned with a dash of your personality.

Don't force details here. If you haven't published before, that's okay. You absolutely can call yourself a debut writer . You don't have to have an MFA to get a literary agent (although you can mention it if you do have one).

If you have published, mention this. Even better, if you have a big platform or other numbers that would benefit your book's sales, include these.

Don't hold back on anything that demonstrates your publishing career!

Ultimately, bios don't need to be long. They are meant to give the agent a sense of who you are from a professional standpoint; think quality over quantity again. They could also include one memorable fun fact that humanizes you and shows your personality.

Here's Nancy Johnson's bio:

A native of Chicago's South Side, Nancy Johnson worked for more than a decade as an Emmy-nominated, award-winning television journalist at CBS and ABC affiliates in markets nationwide. A graduate of Northwestern University and The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, she lives in downtown Chicago and manages brand communications for a large nonprofit. The Kindest Lie is her first novel.

Bonus: Don't Forget the P.S.!

Including a P.S. underneath your signature that reestablishes your connection with the agent is a good bonus piece. Be genuine with this, and speak to the agent when you write it.

Also, it's nice to thank the agent for their time before your signature. It can't hurt to include your website address directly beneath your signature. This will suffice for contact information; you don't need to give phone numbers or addresses in a query. Try something like this:

Thank you so much for taking the time to review my manuscript. Warm Regards, YOUR NAME YOUR WEBSITE ADDRESS P.S. Congratulations on NAME OF CLIENT'S BOOK surpassing 100,000 copies sold! What a deserving milestone!

P.P.S. Pitch Your Story with Confidence!

Spend time with your query letter. If you want, get a professional critique and share it with your writing community. And when you're ready, pitch your story with confidence .

At some point, you have to hit send. You've done the research. Do it confidently!

THE GOOD PLACE: A Query Letter Sample and Template

This sample query letter is not a real letter used to query an agent but one I've crafted to model the Hook, Book, Cook format. To model this, I selected a hypothetical literary agent and built on the DVD description for one of my favorite TV shows, The Good Place (season one).

I also made this query letter YA by imagining that Eleanor is sixteen years old and not thirty-something.

Keep an eye on this space. As writers in the Write Practice community pitch successful query letters, we'll share those here, too.

Dear Ms. Schur, I absolutely loved the fun sense of humor and uplifting tone in Leslie Knope's YA debut, The Wonders of Pawnee, which is why I think you'll enjoy my 70,000-word YA Fiction novel, THE GOOD PLACE . It is a perfect blend of serious life questions explored by spunky characters full of wit, and will attract readers who adore love stories like Justin Reynolds' Opposite of Always and philosophical questions like in Gayle Forman's If I Stay. After sixteen-year-old Eleanor Shellstrop dies in a tragic accident, she winds up in the afterlife—and it's amazing. Here, in what's called the Good Place, Eleanor enjoys the endless pleasures of frozen yogurt, soulmates, and wonderful people who have dedicated their lives to performing good acts. Eternity here is perfect. The only problem is Eleanor isn't supposed to be here. In fact, her life decisions wouldn't have even gotten her close. But when Eleanor confesses the clerical error which only happens because she's reaping someone else's reward to her soulmate, indecisive ethics professor Chidi, trouble really starts to boil. Now, with the help of three unlikely companions, Eleanor struggles to learn how to be good in order to make sure her secret stays a secret. Not only for her eternal life, but the friends she grows to care about, and increasingly endangers with her growing mess. I am a veteran actor turned writer with a B.S. in TV, Radio, and Film and have spent the last decade studying story structure on the stage and now in books. As an avid YA fiction reader, I enjoy supporting authors on Goodreads and Instagram, where I have 14,000+ followers as a #bookstagrammer. THE GOOD PLACE will be my debut. Thank you for your time and consideration. Best Regards, Jenny Pages www.jennypages[DOT]com P.S. I really enjoyed your latest podcast episode on New Girl . That Jessica Day cracks me up!

Other Places to Find Examples

Here are some of my favorite examples:

• Love, Hate, and Other Filters by Samira Ahmed
• The Fifteen Wonders of Daniel Green by Erica Boyce
• The Writer's Life Lily King
• Hooking Your Reader & Keeping Them Turning Pages
• In Praise of Bookstagrammers

What About Stories Written in Dual POV?

I've talked to a lot of writers who ask this question: what if your book has more than one point of view ? Should you include all of these in your query letter?

The answer: most likely.

Query letters set up expectations for your story, right? So if your story is written in dual POV , it wouldn't hurt to give the literary agent a heads up about this. Mention each POV and show how each has their own story arc that inevitably weaves together by the end.

How do you do this? Check out how authors of multi-POV novels have summarized their books in their back cover copy.

Here are some examples of strong multi-POV back covers:

• The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
• Girls with Bright Futures by Tracy Dobmeier and Wendy Katzman
• Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

What You Should Expect After You Hit Send

Most literary agencies have a policy that you won't hear a response from the literary agent if it's a pass. Others might notify you that you've been rejected. And everyone who wants to read more will contact you.

It hurts to be rejected. I get it. But please do your best to not take rejections personally, or get bummed out if an agent doesn't let you know directly that the book isn't for them.

It can feel very much that a rejection of a book is a rejection of you, but it isn't.

You might think, “Well what the heck, why don't they let me know why it's a pass? Or even that it is a pass?” While most literary agents would love to write personal rejection notes and give some notes for edits, they just don't have the time to do this. Query letters and signing clients is part of the job, and an exciting one at that!

But they also have to agent.

While you're waiting, work on your next book. Keep writing! Read some of those books piling up on your bookshelf. Go for a run with your pup. Play with your baby. Eat popcorn. Plot out your next big idea!

And if you get rejected, keep going. Submit to other agents on your agent list.

Remember, it only takes one yes!

Red Flags to Avoid in Your Query Letter

​One final note.

We've talked about what a literary agent likes in a query letter, and what will catch their attention and hook them.

We probably should also briefly cover some red flags, or items that will (likely) lead to hard rejections. Take note of this list, and be sure your query letter is free of all these items:

• A query full of typos . Mistakes happen, but a query letter littered with grammar mistakes suggests careless writing, and anything that draws an agent's attention too much will distract them from the story pitch.
• Misspelling the agent's name. This doesn't lead to an automatic rejection, but try to get this right. Proofread your query letter!
• Anything suggesting that you're the next James Patterson or another big writer, or your series will sell like Harry Potter. It hasn't yet, so don't state this.
• Saying your book will sell millions of copies. Again, it hasn't yet, so leave this out.
• Being rude, threatening, or gimmicky in any way.

You have one chance to impress each agent with your query letter, and you want your letter to shine, with no bumps or hangups that might cause them to turn away. Make sure your commas are all in the right places!

Can You Follow Up?

You haven't heard from the literary agent in a while. Should you follow up?

If the submission guidelines say a no response is a rejection , and it's been longer than three months, it's probably a rejection.

Some agents don't mind a polite follow-up, but don't be hasty with this. Give the literary agent time to review their query letter inbox. And keep in mind, not every agent loves follow-ups. If you follow them on social media, they may talk about this on their platforms. Follow their lead.

Overall, I err on the side of leaving it be and not putting your book in one inbox. You can absolutely have that number one agent, but don't be afraid to query other agents after a significant time has passed (again, I recommend three months).

There's nothing wrong with following up politely. But best not to put your book in one inbox.

The Key Principles for How to Write a Query Letter

We've just covered a lot of information about query letters. Here are the key takeaways to keep in mind as you write your query letter.

• A query letter is the most important page you will write besides your book.
• Don't query an agent until you've finished your manuscript (or written a nonfiction book proposal).
• Research and build a dream agent list (seven to ten).
• Query a specific literary agent, not just any agent.
• Use the preferred three-paragraph format: Hook, Book, Cook.
• Add a P.S. to make your query letter stand out.
• Follow submission guidelines.
• Be respectful, don't use gimmicks or lash out if you're rejected.
• Three months is a common wait time before hearing from a literary agent.
• Avoid query letter red flags.
• Write your next book after you submit your book to literary agents.
• Submit your story with confidence! Remember, you have a say!

Above All Else, You Need to Write a Great Book!

Publishing is a tough industry, and you need to dig deep and stay true to your passion if you want to publish you need to muster your love for storytelling and keep going !

I genuinely believe that stories have the greatest chance to engender growth in positive directions. They are bright gifts that teach us perspectives we couldn't learn intimately if locked away instead of put into print.

You are a writer.

You can do this. But to traditionally publish, you will want a literary agent. Your relationship with a literary agent is a business relationship first, and the submission process is also part of that business.

When you understand the mechanics of the submission process and master the three-paragraph format in your query letter, you'll boost your chances in the slush.

Ultimately, though, a query letter is only the first step in signing with a literary agent. Even more important than writing than a knockout query letter is writing a great book!

A great book is what a literary agent will offer to represent! The query letter gives them exciting reasons to check it out.

What scares or confuses you about writing query letters? Do you think these three paragraphs will help you overcome that fear or confusion?  Let us know in the comments .

Now that you know the preferred three paragraphs in a query letter, pick the paragraph you find most intimidating and give it a go!

Spend fifteen minutes writing this paragraph.

It doesn't have to be perfect. You can't revise anything that isn't written, and we all need to start somewhere!

Once you're done, post it in the Pro Practice Workshop for feedback. Do this confidently and with an open mind for critique.

Then, comment on three other people's paragraphs. Ask for them to critique your paragraph, too. This is how we help one another!

Good luck, and happy querying. I can't wait to see your book debut in the world!

Abigail Perry

Abigail Perry is a Certified Story Grid Editor with professional teaching, literary agency, and film production experience. In addition to writing Story Grid masterwork guides, she works as a freelance editor and is the Content Editor for The Write Practice. Abigail loves stories that put women and diverse groups at the center of the story—and others that include superpowers and magic. Her favorite genres include: Smart Book Club Fiction, Women's Fiction, YA Fantasy, Historical Fiction, and unique memoirs. She also has a B.S. in TV, Radio, and Film and loves working on screenplays that are emotionally driven and/or full of action. You can learn more about Abigail on her website.

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How to write the perfect letter to a literary agent

Posted 27 November 2020 by Rufus Purdy

Rufus Purdy, an editor and tutor on the forthcoming Write Here… Online novel-writing course , explains how to write the perfect submission letter to a literary agent.

I’ve heard a lot of writers moaning about literary agents. People say they’re lofty gatekeepers of the publishing industry, they’re only looking for authors who are already famous or who have at least 100,000 followers on social media, they’re not interested in new talent unless that person is writing a slightly different version of what’s sold by the shelfload over the past year, they make you wait for months before sending you a crushing, two-line rejection… And while there is a small element of truth to all those statements, most agents are very nice people, who do what they do because they adore great writing. I worked for the Curtis Brown literary agency for six years, and all my colleagues there were constantly on the lookout for great stories, told in a fresh and interesting way. And all were desperate to find talented new authors and get their work in front of as many readers as possible.

Your first point of contact with a literary agent will be the covering letter you send to them along with your synopsis and sample chapters. So what will agents be looking for in that letter? Well, a good covering letter should be short and it certainly shouldn’t go on for more than one page. And by a page, I mean a single page in Microsoft Word, with an easily readable, 12-point font (ideally Times or Times New Roman) and normal margins – not with lines stretched right out till they’re touching the edges of the paper. This letter should be written to a specific agent. Your aim in this letter is to make the agent you’re targeting feel as though you’ve singled them out above all others to represent your novel, so don’t use ‘Dear Sir’, Dear Madam’, ‘To whom it may concern’ or – worst of all – ‘Dear agent’. Using the agent’s first name is absolutely fine, but make sure you spell it correctly. Nothing screams sloppiness and a lack of attention to detail like getting someone’s name wrong in the opening line of a letter.

You want to grab the agent’s attention, so your first paragraph should deal with pitching your novel. You don’t need to go into great detail – you’ll also be submitting a synopsis, remember – but you do want the agent to be excited by the idea of the book you’re sending them. You should also let them know what genre your novel sits in (if it is, indeed, in a clearly defined genre) and what sort of books your novel would sit alongside in the bookshops. While you should avoid grandiose and ridiculous comparisons, you shouldn’t be afraid to liken it to work by other authors – especially if those are authors which that agent represents, or who are doing particularly well in the current book market. A sentence such as ‘this novel will appeal to readers who enjoy the books of Gillian Flynn and Erin Kelly’ tells the agent everything they need to know about your book’s place in the market, without you coming across as arrogant.

You should then introduce yourself to the agent and, if you can, tell them about why you chose to tell the story you’re sending them. If you’ve spent the past 15 years playing in midfield for Hartlepool and your novel is about the world of English lower-league football, then that’s something the agent should know. Flag up anything, too, that shows how seriously you take your writing. Mention any work you’ve had published, any prizes you’ve won and any writing courses you’ve taken. I would avoid talking about novels you’ve self-published, though, as, no matter how good those books were, self-publishing is – I’m afraid – no distinguisher of quality. Unless, of course, that self-published novel shifted thousands of copies and made the Amazon Kindle top 10. If you don’t feel as though you have anything to say in these areas – and the majority of authors approaching agents don’t – then just tell the agent something interesting about yourself. Try to pique their interest with a couple of memorable details – perhaps you grew up in a hippy commune, you won the Blue Peter Christmas card-designing competition when you were a child, you’re a keen falconer – so your letter stands out from the hundreds they receive each week. Don’t make jokes or go into self-deprecation though. This is you, formally introducing yourself as a potential client, and you want to come across as professional.

Then you need to talk about why you’ve chosen to target that particular agent. There’s a reason you’ve selected this person to write to, so tell them what it is about them that chimed with you. Is it that they represent your favourite author? Do they say in their online biography that they’re looking for books just like you’re sending them? Are they particularly dedicated to finding authors from a particular country or region? Did you like what they said about finding new talent in an interview you’ve read? Show the agent you genuinely want to be represented by them, but don’t be too crawling and obsequious about it. Just be polite and professional.

Finally, make sure you check the spelling and grammar in your letter, and any author names and titles of books you’ve mentioned. I’ve seen far too many covering letters in which the author hasn’t done this, and it just gives a really bad first impression.

Rufus Purdy is an editor and tutor on the Write Here… Online novel-writing course , which costs £99 for eight weeks and begins on 18 January. For more information, please visit writehereuk.com .

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Blog • Understanding Publishing

Posted on Jun 02, 2020

Writing a Non-Fiction Query Letter (+ Sample Query Letter)

Writing a non-fiction query letter is like writing your own ticket to the big time. If you want to convince an agent or publisher that your idea has ‘bestseller’ written all over it so that they get it published , the few hundred words that make up your query must be irresistibly compelling.

Elsewhere on this site, we go into detail on how to write a query letter for a novel . You can head there now and download a checklist for fiction queries which, truth be told, are about 90% the same as non-fiction ones. But with the help of current and former agents on the Reedsy marketplace, this guide will help you understand the other 10% that will push your non-fiction query over the top.

Note: This following process is not intended to be linear, starting with “Dear Ms. Agent” and ending in “Yours sincerely.” Instead, it’s a thorough guide that will prepare you for the querying process.

Create an airtight book proposal

What’s the biggest difference between a fiction and non-fiction query? In non-fiction, the author is not expected to provide a completed manuscript the way a novelist would. Instead, they present a book proposal, a 15-50 page pitching document with various details and sample chapters from your book.

Reedsy has created a dedicated guide to writing book proposals that will show you how to prepare this document. But here’s the gist: a proposal should aim to answer the questions every agent will want to ask about you and your book. The document can be broken down into the following sections:

• An overview — what is the book about?
• Target audience  — who is it written for?
• About the author — why are you the one who should write it?
• Marketing plan — how are you going to help sell it?
• Competitive titles — what are similar titles on the market?
• Chapter outline — how are you going to structure your book?
• Sample chapters — can you actually write?

Don’t start querying until you have solid content for each of these sections. According to Jon Darga , former non-fiction editor at Penguin Random House and current agent at Aevitas Creative Management, agents and acquiring editors will notice if you leave anything out.

“I've seen a lot of proposals that think they can get away with just the pitch and an annotated table of contents. But we need to be able to make sure you can write, too! Overall, though, a non-fiction proposal should be faster and easier to put together than the full manuscript that you'd read with a novel. Much less writing!”

FREE RESOURCE

Book Proposal Template

Craft a professional pitch for your nonfiction book with our handy template.

Personalize your letter for each agent or editor

Agents and editors get flooded with queries and submissions every week. They call it slush , which shows how optimistic they are about pulling gold nuggets from their query piles. With this in mind, editor Rachel Stout (formerly an agent with Dystel & Goderich) reminds authors that they need more than a well-written pitch to get an agent’s attention.

“You need to show this agent that you are being intentional in your querying, and that you're reaching out to this agent for this book, for this specific reason. You're letting that agent know you're particular about who you query.”

This is where personalization comes in: the process of researching individual agents and publishers in order to:

• Ensure that you only query those who want what you have to sell; and
• Show the recipient of the letter that you are interested in them , specifically.

The second point is crucial. You need to demonstrate that you’ve done your research and you’re not just firing off boilerplate emails and BCC’ing the rest of the publishing world. It can be as simple as getting their name right (more of an issue than you’d imagine) and mentioning a book they’ve worked on — bonus points if it’s similar to yours!

Rachel goes into detail and reveals her top tips in a recent webinar on personalizing queries . Watch the replay and check out the transcript for invaluable advice on personalizing your non-fiction query letter.

Resources for researching agents

Ready to research some literary agents? Hit the ground running with our extensive directory of non-fiction literary agents! We have 500+ agents listed right there, all of whom have already been researched and vetted by our team, allowing you to pick from the best of the best.

Additional resources for researching agents include:

• Agent databases such as Agent Query , Query Tracker , or Publishers Marketplace (see the profiles listed for each agent in our directory ).
• Acknowledgments pages of similar books (which you can comb through for more of an old-school approach).
• Publishing conferences where agents and editors will happily speak with authors.

You'll find more assistance and resources in our post on how to find a literary agent . But in short, you need to find agents who are both open to submissions and seeking your type of book, then make notes of details about them that you can use to personalize your query letter.

Show that you’re the right person for the job

What makes a non-fiction query stand out from the crowd? For Jon Darga, it’s about author platform more than anything else:

“Not necessarily how many Twitter followers you have, but positioning yourself as the one best person to write that book. It would be really difficult to write, say, [cancer physician] Siddhartha Mukherjee's The Emperor of All Maladies if you weren't involved in the medical sciences in some way.”

Your platform doesn’t depend on advanced degrees, either — it’s about how your experience makes you uniquely qualified to write this book. In this next section, we’ll look at the short bios of first-time authors to see how, as Jon says, they position themselves as the best person to write each of their books.

Example 1. Memoir

This is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor by Adam Kay.

The UK’s biggest non-fiction hit over the past few years, this memoir offers readers a humorous look at the doctors, nurses, and wards of Britain’s national healthcare system.

About the author (from the book): “Adam Kay is an award-winning comedian and writer for TV and film. He previously worked for many years as a junior doctor.”

Analysis: Boom — there it is. Who better to write a funny book about being a doctor than an acclaimed comedian who used to be a doctor? Before this book was published, Kay’s modest profile as a comic may not have been enough to pass as a “platform” — but his expertise on the subject has more than made up for it.

Example 2. Business

ReWork: Change the Way You Work Forever by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson. 

This 2010 book showed its readers a new approach to entrepreneurship that leverages inexpensive apps and tools to simplify and streamline businesses.

About the author (from the book): “Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson are the president and co-founder/president of Basecamp (formerly 37signals), a privately-held Chicago-based company committed to building the best web-based tools possible with the least number of features necessary.”

Analysis: Fried and Hansson co-authored a book that’s intrinsically tied to both their story and their product; they built a company that created the very solution that allowed them to grow. Very meta.

Example 3. Health and Addiction

We Are the Luckiest: The Surprising Magic of a Sober Life by Laura McKowen

In this inspirational book , the author addresses the big issues faced by alcoholics in a charming and heartwarming way.

About the author (from the book): “Laura McKowen had a successful career in public relations and the Mad Men -esque drinking culture of advertising. After getting sober, she became recognized as a fresh voice in recovery, beloved for her soulful and irreverent writing. She now leads sold-out retreats on sobriety and is a celebrated yoga instructor.”

Analysis: McKowen’s bio is a quick and highly effective sell of her book. We see that the author has been through the wringer and can offer a first-hand account of alcoholism. Her mention of running “sold-out retreats” validates her claim of being an expert in helping others cope with their recovery. It also implies she has an existing audience of potential buyers

Sometimes, you just need something that no one else has

Let’s say that you don’t have a sexy CV, IMDb credits, a successful company, or even a personal story that ties into the subject of your book. In Jon Darga’s experience, that’s not necessarily a dead end: “I have published books without an obvious platform by writers who convinced me they'd found information and connections that nobody else had!”

A unique angle can take many forms. For example, you might take the wisdom found in ancient texts and spin it in a novel way (like Becky Sheetz Runkle did with Sun Tzu in her book, The Art of War for Small Business ). Or perhaps you’ve uncovered primary sources that other historians may have missed, as David Blight did in his 2018 biography of Frederick Douglass ). So long as you’re able to demonstrate why a more experienced writer couldn’t do a better job than you on this particular book, there’s still hope.

Query Letter Template

Learn how to grab a literary agent’s attention with our free template + checklist.

Start the letter with your strongest selling point

When you’re pitching a novel, you’re always told to “start with the hook,” which refers to a killer plot detail that makes anyone listening want to learn more. In a non-fiction query, the goal is still the same — to hook the reader — but the bait can take many forms. And guess what? You already know what most of these hooks are.

Hook 1: The Story

Dear Ms Buchanan,

I’m seeking representation for my debut non-fiction book, APOCALYPSE COW, which uncovers the darkest chapter in the USDA’s history: a failed 1980 paramilitary operation to neuter millions of cattle in South America.

Hook 2: Your platform

Dear Mr Caulfield,

You've definitely heard of my clients, but if I've done my job right, you've never heard of me. Meryl Streep's nose? Julia Roberts' forehead? Madonna's... everything? All my handiwork. I'm Beverly Hills' most prolific cosmetic surgeon and author of INNER BEAUTY OUTSIDE.

Hook 3: Personalization

Dear Ms Wormwood,

I recently read your post in the Publishers Weekly blog on the dearth of younger voices in historical non-fiction. You mentioned an interest in the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, and I would love for you to consider representing my non-fiction book, ROSSETTI VS. THE ART BROS.

Hook 4: An untapped section of the market

Dear Mr Chinaski,

I am writing to seek representation for my book, WFH: WORK, FAMILY, HAPPINESS — an irreverent parenting guide for the 5 million digital nomads scattered across North America — a third of whom are on the cusp of starting families.

Once you have the agent or editor sitting up and paying attention, it’s time to reel them in with the rest of your query letter...

Follow instructions and don’t reinvent the wheel

If you have wacky ideas for attention-grabbing ways to write your query letter (Pretend to be their high school buddy! Jokingly threaten to harm their pets!) then take a breath and start again.

In almost all cases, the best approach is a straightforward one: follow a fairly standard format and clearly communicate why they should be interested in your book.

With online submissions now being the norm, you often won't have to worry about structuring your query letter. You just have to fill in a form. But here’s a piece of advice that could make or break your query:

Follow the submissions guidelines.

This tip sounds so obvious that it verges on insulting. However, as we mentioned at the start of this guide, agents and editors are often swamped. A query that fails to follow the submission guidelines will be viewed poorly at best, and at worst, be rejected sight unseen.

In cases where submissions guidelines are loose, your query should contain:

• An irresistible hook
• Some aspect of personalization
• Estimated word count
• Intended readership
• Comparative titles
• A brief, relevant bio
• Your book proposal with sample chapters

To see what a standard non-fiction query might look like, here’s an actual example of a letter that worked.

Sample Non-fiction Query Letter

One of Jon Darga’s clients kindly permitted us to reprint their query letter. The title and author name have been redacted — and some of the formatting and wording has been altered from the original.

Dear Mr. Darga,

Here’s some free doctor’s advice: never get sick in July. At best, you’ll meet a doctor at the hospital on her very first day, and she won’t know the difference between a sleeping patient and a patient in a coma. Worst case scenario, you’ll meet a more seasoned physician who was high on drugs the night before, still a little drunk that morning, and has contemplated suicide twice since you arrived in the ER. How do I know this?

I am many things: a dreamer, a high achiever, an Ivy-Leaguer; I’m not White, mostly Black, and questionably Asian; I’m a saboteur, a heavy drinker, a trust abuser; I am someone’s lost son; I’m not sure if I like myself. I am fragile. I am haunted. I’m the last person you want to trust your life to. And I’m your doctor.

[TITLE] is an unflinching, uncensored examination of the often harrowing, sometimes shocking, and progressively dehumanizing twists and turns of medical residency training, and how it provided the perfect context for the culmination of, and ultimate triumph over this young doctor’s struggles with his vices, mental illness, and complex relationship with his father.

A memoir written in the irreverent spirit of the Samuel Shem’s medical classic House of God , while embracing the vulnerability of Paul Kalanithi’s When Breath Becomes Air , my work provides a candid account of the ways in which residency training shattered the mind of an empathetic and well-intentioned doctor, and the arduous task of piecing it back together again through painful and overdue self-discovery.

I am a certified Otolaryngologist (Ear, Nose, and Throat surgeon) with degrees from Harvard and Emory University School of Medicine but I also appear frequently at The Moth competitions, where I’ve won their Storyslam and came runner-up in the Detroit Grandslam. I’m also a writing consultant for [POPULAR TV DRAMA], distilling complex medical and social issues into palatable and understandable mainstream storylines.

[TITLE] offers a modern and fearless appraisal of what it means to be unsure of yourself every day, even as you hold another person's life in your hands. It's hope and love and a cry to keep moving forward, to live each day the very best that we can. I hope you enjoy the read.

This letter comes in at under 380 words, but checks all the boxes and demonstrates that the author can write well, which every query should aim to do. After all, if the agent or editor doesn’t think you can write a compelling letter, why would they think that your book's any better?

To learn more, enroll in Reedsy’s free courses on Writing a Query Letter and Submitting Non-Fiction to Agents and Editors .

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Submit to your shortlist and always follow up

Now that you have compiled all the elements of your query letter, it’s time to get it out into the world. But where should you start? Here are a few pointers to help you with the actual communication side of querying.

Decide whether you want to query agents or publishers (or both)

When it comes to agents, the conventional wisdom is that you’ll need one if you want to publish fiction traditionally; for non-fiction, however, authors can often submit directly to publishers.

When asked to clarify which precise types of books would require an agent to publish, Jon Darga pushed back at the premise.

“The question, for me, should be less what types of non-fiction book and more what are the author's goals ?

“If the author is an academic who's happy doing a deal directly with a university press , or someone who just wants to see their memoir published by an indie press , then you probably don't need an agent. But if your goal is to be published traditionally and commercially by one of the Big Five , you'll need an agent to make those inroads.”

Don’t be afraid to query more than one agent or publisher

Some agencies will only let you query one of their agents at any given time, but that doesn’t mean you can’t put your feelers out to a few of their rivals.

Rachel Stout suggests querying anything from five-to-ten places at a time. “You can go to fewer, you can go to more, but remember it will be up to you to keep track of where your query is and who has had it for how long.”

Indeed, you will want to keep track of those queries so you can chase them up in good time — which leads to our next point.

Follow up at precisely the right time

It’s not unusual for your query to get buried under a mountain of slush, so you should always follow up. Again, read the submission guidelines — they will often tell you how long you should expect to wait for a reply (six weeks is not uncommon!). If you haven’t heard back by then, reply-all to your original query and just say that you’re following up and you’re looking forward to hearing from them.

Bonus tip: if you hear back from any of the agents you’ve queried, you should mention this in your follow-up to the ones who have yet to reply. Just frame it as a polite reminder to check out your submission and not to miss out on something valuable (your book!).

Don’t lose heart

Most published authors have had to deal with rejections at various points in their careers. If an agent rejects your query, it could just mean that the book is not right for them — but it might be perfect for another agent or editor. So keep at it.

As long as your non-fiction book is well-written and has a viable market, you can find a way to get it into the hands of readers. If it’s not with a Big 5 publisher, you might consider looking into a boutique press. And if not them, then perhaps it’s time to dive into the exciting world of self-publishing . Whichever route you take, good luck!

Continue reading

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The Perfect Cover Letter: Advice From a Lit Mag Editor

Today’s guest post is from Elise Holland, co-founder and editor of 2 Elizabeths , a short fiction and poetry publication.

When submitting your short-form literature to a magazine or journal, your cover letter is often the first piece of writing an editor sees. It serves as an introduction to your thoughtfully crafted art. As such, it is significant, but it shouldn’t be intimidating or even take much time to write.

As editor at 2 Elizabeths , I see a variety of cover letters every day; some are excellent, and others could stand to be improved. There are a few key pieces of information to include, while keeping them short and sweet. In fact, a cover letter should only be a couple of paragraphs long, and no more than roughly 100-150 words.

A little research goes a long way

Seek out the editor’s name, and address the letter to him/her, as opposed to using a generic greeting. Typically, you can find this information either on the magazine or journal’s website, or in the submission guidelines.

Read the submission guidelines thoroughly. Many publications will state in their guidelines the exact details that need to be included in a cover letter. With some variation, a general rule of thumb is to include the following:

• Editor’s name (if you can locate it)
• Genre/category
• Brief description of your piece
• If you have been published previously, state where
• Whether your piece is a simultaneous submission (definition below)

Terms to Know

The term simultaneous submission means that you will be sending the same piece to several literary magazines or journals at the same time. Most publications accept simultaneous submissions, but some do not. If a publication does not accept them, this will be stated in their guidelines.

Should your work be selected for publication by one magazine, it is important to notify other publications where you have submitted that piece. This courtesy will prevent complications, and will keep you in good graces with various editors, should you wish to submit to them again in the future.

The term multiple submission means that you are submitting multiple pieces to the same literary magazine or journal.

Cover Letter That Needs Work

Dear Editor, Here is a collection of poems I wrote that I’d like you to consider. I have not yet been published elsewhere. Please let me know what you think. Bio: John Doe is an Insurance Agent by day and a writer by night, living in Ten Buck Two. He is the author of a personal blog, LivingWith20Cats.com. Best, John Doe

What Went Wrong?

John Doe didn’t research the editor’s name. A personal greeting is always better than a simple “Dear Editor.” Additionally, John failed to include the word count, title and a brief description of his work.

There is no need to state that John has not yet been published elsewhere. He should simply leave that piece of information out. (Many publications, 2 Elizabeths included, will still welcome your submissions warmly if you are unpublished.)

John included a statement asking the editor to let him know what he/she thinks about his work. Due to time constraints, it is rare that an editor sends feedback unless work is going to be accepted.

Unless otherwise specified by the magazine or journal to which you are submitting, you do not need to include biographical information in your cover letter. Typically, that information is either requested upfront but in a separate document from the cover letter, or is not requested until a piece has been selected for publishing.

Cover Letter Ready to Be Sent

Dear Elise, Please consider this 1,457-word short fiction piece, “Summer.” I recently participated in the 2 Elizabeths Open Mic Night, and am an avid reader of the fiction and poetry that you publish. “Summer” is a fictitious tale inspired by the impact of a whirlwind, yet meaningful, romance I experienced last year. In this story, I gently explore the life lessons associated with young love, with a touch of humor. This is a simultaneous submission, and I will notify you if the piece is accepted elsewhere. Thank you for your consideration. Kindest Regards, John Doe

What Went Right?

In this letter, John includes all pertinent information, while keeping his letter clear and concise. In his second sentence, John also briefly states how he is familiar with the magazine. While doing this isn’t required, if done tastefully, it can be a nice touch! Another example might be: “I read and enjoyed your spring issue, and believe that my work is a good fit for your magazine.”

I hope these sample letters help you as you send your short works to magazines and journals for consideration. While you’re at it, I hope you will check out 2 Elizabeths ! We would love to read your work.

Elise Holland is co-founder and editor of 2 Elizabeths , a short fiction and poetry publication. Her work has appeared in various publications, most recently in Story a Day . Through 2 Elizabeths, Elise strives to create value and visibility for writers, through writing contests , events , and more!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

[…] view post at https://janefriedman.com/perfect-cover-letter-advice-lit-mag-editor/ […]

[…] To get into literary magazines, you need a cover letter, so Elise Holland lays out how to write the perfect cover letter for a literary magazine. […]

Love this! The letter is short and to the point, and covers all the necessary information. Great tips! I always worry that the only publishing credit I have is the winning entry in a short story contest through the local paper. Should I mention that? And writing conferences I’ve attended?

As Elise says, it’s OK if you’re unpublished. Don’t worry about it. But feel free to mention your winning entry. If the writing conferences would likely be known to the journals’ editors, you might mention one or two.

[…] recently wrote a full article on the perfect cover letter, here. Check it out for clear, simple instructions, along with sample […]

[…] publication. Her work has appeared in various publications, most recently in Story a Day, and at JaneFriedman.com.  Through 2 Elizabeths, Elise strives to create value and visibility for writers, through writing […]

Thanks for the concise and useful information! I’ve heard that it’s also a good idea to include a sentence or two that makes it clear that you are familiar with the kind of work the magazine has published in the past. Is this generally advised, or would you consider it nonessential unless specified in the submission guidelines?

Need help submitting your writing to literary journals or book publishers/literary agents?  Click here! →

Write A Cover Letter Or A Query Letter: The Basics

by Writer's Relief Staff | Cover Letters , Editing And Editors , Literary Agents , Query Letters , Submit Your Writing | 17 comments

Review Board is now open! Submit your Short Prose, Poetry, and Book today!

Deadline: thursday, april 18th.

If you’re thinking of writing a cover letter or a query letter, you’re taking the first steps toward getting your writing published!

The prospect of writing cover letters and query letters often sends writers into a state of anxiety. But we’ve been helping writers compose cover letters and query letters since 1994! What follows is a basic introduction to cover and query letters.

For advanced strategies and techniques, visit our Free Writers Tool Kit!

What is the difference between a cover letter and a query letter?

What is a cover letter? The term cover letter is generally used to refer to the letter of introduction that accompanies your poetry and prose submissions to literary journals and magazines.

What is a query letter? A query letter is a type of cover letter that is geared specifically toward literary agents . Literary agents represent book projects and sell them to publishing houses. They rarely represent short stories or poetry.

In the freelance writing industry, the term query letter can be used to refer to a letter that is pitching a nonfiction article to an editor at a news magazine or other periodical. But in the book publishing industry, query letter describes letters that are sent to pitch books to literary agents.

What do cover letters and query letters have in common?

Literary agents and editors want concise, clear information. They don’t want to be distracted by gimmicks or bogged down by long-winded explanations.

Both cover and query letters are letters of introduction. Both contain author bios and basic information about what is being submitted.

The primary difference is that, while query letters include a synopsis of the project in question (in order to entice an agent to read more), cover letters do not.

A cover letter presumes that the editor who receives it will read the enclosed/attached materials.

A query letter must entice a literary agent to read the attached/enclosed materials or must entice said agent to request more pages of a manuscript.

How long is a cover or query letter?

One page. Single-spaced. And, no, your letter is not the exception that can be longer than one page. 🙂

What’s the bottom line with cover and query letters?

Editors at literary magazines or literary agents may or may not read your cover letter, but you’ll still need to follow their submission guidelines carefully in order to be taken seriously.

Now that you know the basics, it’s time to create an amazing cover or query letter. Our free articles will help. Be sure to check out our Free Publishing Tool Kit!

Here are some other important posts about cover and query letters:

Cover And Query Letters: Striking The Right Tone In Your Writing

The Anatomy of A Query Letter

How To Handle Salutations

Top Query Letter Mistakes: Avoid These Amateur Errors

Fan Fiction: Should You List Fan Fiction Awards And Publications In Your Writing Bio?

Query Fail: How NOT To Write A Query Letter

Query Letters: When (Not) To Talk About Multiple Books, Including Sequels, A Series, And Other Projects

Self-Publishing: When (Not) To Include Your Self-Published Book In Your Query Letter:

How To Write And Send E-Queries

Want help writing a cover letter or a query letter? Contact Writer’s Relief!

17 Comments

I wish to place on record my thanks to Writer’s Relief. The guidelines were helpful and answered a few queries that I had.

Both cover letters and query letters are written with the purpose of introducing yourself and your work to a potential recipient, such as a hiring manager or an agent/publisher.

A cover letter and a query letter are quite different. For poetry and short stories, most markets don’t have you query, just send the material, sometimes with a cover letter.

It can be brief and to the point.

Dear Mr. Editorname,

Enclosed is my 2500 word story “Ralph,” about a man who vomits for a living. I hope you’ll agree the readers of Magazinename will enjoy it.

Thanks for your consideration.

The term introductory letter is by and large used to allude to the letter of presentation that goes with your verse and exposition entries to abstract diaries and magazines. In the independent written work industry, the term inquiry letter can be utilized to allude to a letter that is pitching a verifiable article to an editorial manager at a news magazine or other periodical. An inquiry letter must allure a scholarly operator to peruse the joined/encased materials or must tempt said specialist to ask for more pages of an original copy.

Presentation is key esp the cover letter design, fonts and presentation. More important is the person you are communicating.

We tend to tell one thing to all clients who contact EssayWritingLab with this question – all you have to do is know what to name the letter, and the rest is pretty much the same.

Presentation is resolution esp the cover bird design, fonts or presentation. More necessary is the man or woman ye are communicating.

It’s the very first thing your potential employer will read, and 99% of the time it’s the last. Your chance to show that you know what they need, that you can match those needs, and that you can present yourself in a manner appropriate to their company. Only if that matches will they normally turn the page and start reading your CV

Thanks for your post. I’ve been thinking about writing a very comparable post over the last couple of weeks, I’ll probably keep it short and sweet and link to this instead if thats cool. Thanks.

We’re glad you found our article informative, and you’re welcome to link to our post.

A cover letter and a query letter are quite different. For poetry and short stories, most markets don’t have you query, just send the material, sometimes with a cover letter.

Enclosed is my 2500 word

Thanks for providing the news for cover and query letters. I really found this awesome. Thanks alot 🙂

Really appreciated tips about writing a cover before reading this basic I was too many mistakes thanks for sharing this helpful content.

Thanks for providing the news for cover and query letters. I really found this awesome.

I was looking for an essay writer who can write my cover letter. I want to submit my cover letter to the firm for the job. But through you post I think I can write it myself because you have clearified it very deeply .

Well thanks a lot I have been looking for these kind of blogs because I washaving difficulty in writing my cover letter.

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Getting representation from a literary agent is essential for anyone who wants to be published by one of the big five publishers, but agents are busy people and there are many other writers trying to get their attention. How can you make your submission materials – your pitch letter, sample and synopsis – stand out?

It should go without saying that the most important thing is the manuscript itself – you aren’t going to get representation unless the book is terrific, as well as being something the agent feels able to sell to a publisher.

But, before the agent even reads your manuscript, they will look at your covering or pitch letter. This is the place where you introduce your book, and it’s the best place to grab the agent’s attention.

There is a lot of expert advice on the internet about how to structure a pitch letter and what to include. There are some differences in details, but most of the positive advice in these articles boils down to ‘write a great book, find the agent who will want to sell it, and introduce it and yourself to them really well’ – because that is what the pitch letter is for. It is a quick introduction to your book that induces the agent to read the manuscript – no more, no less.

Perhaps it is because the list of what to do is so simple and short that many of these articles spend at least as much time, if not more, describing the longer list of what not to do in your pitch letter.

Anyone who has had the experience of working their way through a submission pile will tell you about all the distracting nonsense writers put into their letters, all of it something other than introducing their book really well. Many writers pad their pitch letter with various irrelevancies, and get in their own way by trying to be different or memorable for some other reason than presenting a fantastic book. And while they’re trying so hard, they – fatally – completely fail to do the one thing the letter is for.

The pitch letter should be short – definitely no more than a page and preferably shorter than that, so up to around 300 words total – and it needs to:

Pitch your book

• Introduce yourself

It’s great if you’re able to explain how you think your book will fit in with that individual agent’s list or tastes, or if one of your comparable titles is something they also represent, or that you met at this or that event and the agent invited you to submit, but if you don’t have the material for this kind of personalisation, it’s better to skip it rather than forcing it.

Anyway, none of that will matter if you don’t get the main thing right, which is introducing your book. Even introducing yourself is secondary, and for good reason: the thing that matters is always the book.

Research other pitch letters

A great way to begin is to look at lots of other pitch letters. As well as giving you a feel for the shape and rhythm of a compelling introduction, reading others’ attempts will help you avoid many of the common mistakes.

Am I suggesting you need to go and work for a literary agent so you too can have the unenviable experience of wading through a real-life slush pile? No, that’s not necessary. There might be a part of me that wishes I could make writers experience the letters they send to agents from the other side, just to hammer home why they are so frustrating, but luckily a literary agent has basically already done this.

My suggestion is that you spend some time in the Query Shark archives and read as many posts as possible. There, you will find hundreds of query letters in a variety of genres willingly offered up to Janet Reid, an NYC literary agent and the eponymous shark, who proceeds to tear each one to shreds before explaining what the writer should do instead.

There are obvious benefits to reading what an actual literary agent says about a given pitch letter (or query letter for Americans). It’s advice straight from the horse’s mouth. And her advice is very transferable, so you don’t need to worry about the source being American if you are from the UK or elsewhere.

Janet Reid was once famously known as Miss Snark in an earlier, anonymous incarnation, so I will warn you now that she’s very direct and she doesn’t sugarcoat anything. But she’s not being mean, she’s just being clear.

Her approach is probably quite alarming for some people, especially if they are not used to genuine directness, but I would argue that that’s no bad thing if one is trying to enter an incredibly competitive industry like book publishing, because too much sensitivity and a tendency to take criticism personally will not serve you well. Directness like hers will help you detach and see more objectively what makes a good letter and, by extension, some of what makes a book one an agent can sell.

Once you’ve got a strong sense of what works and what doesn’t, you will start to see how you can apply what you’ve learned. It will be time to think about how to describe your own book.

What is your book about? Many writers, on being asked this question, panic and start rambling. Or, they summarise the plot from beginning to end, when the synopsis is the place for explaining that.

Lots of pitch letters try to introduce the book using a list of dull facts shorn of context, like the time period, the place the book is set in and the protagonist’s job title, none of which is inherently interesting. Or, the pitch letter describes a version of one of the common plots, with nothing much to differentiate it from the thousands of other books using that basic plot.

Try to be deliberate about considering this question. What makes your book interesting? What is the central conflict or issue? What is it that will make a reader want to experience this story?

But then, don’t go the other way and use only broad statements about the book’s plot and themes, because being so vague is nearly as unhelpful as concentrating on dry facts. If you’re tempted to try to encapsulate the book in sweeping statements of what it all means, consider whether those remarks are really relevant. If the reply to your pitch could be ‘Ok, but what is it actually about ?’ then try again.

Keep reminding yourself that the purpose of your letter is to get the agent to want to read your book.

Simplify, simplify, simplify

At this point, you may have a long paragraph, and possibly two or three, that includes all the things you really want to tell the agent about your book. You may think that it’s all essential, but that’s not true. Every book can be introduced in two or three sentences.

Remember, what you need to get to is those two or three sentences that compellingly provide a reason to read the book.

Distil those paragraphs down to their fundamentals. Simplify your way down to the very essence of the book. Make the pitch as tight and forceful and striking as it can be.

Try the result on some of your early readers or your writing group and see if they agree that it’s an accurate description of your book, and that it’s strong enough to make someone want to read it.

When you feel really confident that you have a brief paragraph that accurately and compellingly introduces your book, you can write the rest of your pitch letter and use it to submit your work.

And if you want to test it out on a publishing professional first, book one of my online mini consultations , during which we can go through your submission materials together and I can provide feedback and suggestions for improvements.

This post first appeared in 2022 on author and editor Alexa Tewkesbury’s blog, Lemon Tart .

More from the blog

• The Pitch Letter & Synopsis: Essential Ingredients For Your Book Submission
• Will a Traditional Publisher Republish my Self-Published Book?
• Interpreting 3 Kinds of Rejection by Agents and Publishers
• How Can I Make Time to Write a Book? 6 Practical Ways to Achieve Your Goal
• Do I Have to Read to be a Good Writer? 3 Tips for Reading More

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What Should A Covering Letter Include?

In this extract from Writers' & Artists' Guide To How To Hook an Agent — a quick-fire introduction to the process of gaining literary agent representation — James Rennoldson looks at things writers should include in their covering letter to a literary agent... as well as some of the things they shouldn't!

It should be clear now that the job of your covering letter is to help the agent to whom you’re submitting form a clear picture of the book you’ve written, and also gain a positive impression of what it might be like to work with you.

Here are some things a good covering letter should include:

• Salutation, including the agent’s name, correctly spelled;
• Framing devices – book title, word count, genre and/or intended reading audience, suitable comparisons if relevant (literary or otherwise);
• Your pitch. What’s at the heart of your book? What is its USP? Why would someone want to read it?
• Information about you – name, contact details, any relevant writing experience, anything else of interest that’s relevant to your book. Mention formal writing qualifications (a recognised course, something previously published or shortlisted) if you have them, but there's no need to say you  don’t  have any experience;
• Agent-specific reasoning. Why have you sent your work to them? Are you aware of (and admire) some of the authors they represent? Have you met them at an event or follow them on Twitter and felt encouraged to send your work to them
• Politeness. This is a minimum expectation in forming a good working relationship;
• Confidence. Believe in your book! If you don’t, why should anyone else?
• Professionalism. Adhere to submission guidelines, use a spellchecker, etc.
• Brevity. Less is more. The covering letter is a  preamble  to the beginning of your manuscript. Let the manuscript do all the talking on your behalf

THINGS NOT TO INCLUDE IN YOUR COVERING LETTER

What follows is a quick-fire list of common mistakes writers make within their covering letter to literary agents.

• ‘Dear Sirs’. Tailor your covering letter to individual agents; don’t ‘Send To All’; and definitely do not assume every agent you submit to is a man because most are not.
• Referring to one’s self. Don’t leave out your contact details (email and phone number); it’s a risk to sign your letter off using a  nom de plume ; and would you write any other application in the third person?
• Mistakes. If you’re sloppy in your covering letter, then even before they’ve started reading your opening chapters an agent will have begun to wonder about the amount of editorial time they’ll need to spend on your manuscript.
• Arrogance/unrealistic expectations. Is your book really going to be the next multi-million-selling phenomenon? Is it really your place to say it’s better than the work of an acclaimed author? And don’t mistake having an appreciation of the marketplace as an excuse to do someone else’s job for them. There’s no need for statistics, graphs or tables around the potential marketability of your book.
• Apologies. Don’t be self-deprecating or dismissive of your work before an agent has even read the first page. - Waffle. Don’t overload an agent with lots of details about the book; don’t include superfluous information about yourself (‘I have two children and three dogs, Their names are … ’); and don’t waste words with statements like ‘I’ve always written since I was a child’. Anyone could say that; what can you say that’s remarkable?
• Gimmicks. Your manuscript submission should stand out for your writing only (although a solid proposal could be enough for non-narrative non-fiction writers). Don’t undermine it with other ‘features’, such as wacky fonts, bullet-pointed lists, accompanying gifts, photos of yourself, illustrations, and similar.
• Lies. You’ll get found out if you make a claim about your book that’s untrue, and ruin any chance of trust with a prospective agent.

In isolation, one of the above errors is probably not going to mean an agent doesn't look at your sample section of writing. A clutch of these sorts of mistakes, however, is likely to make the agent wonder about whether they could work with you.

Written in Q&A format, the  Writers' & Artists' Guide To How To Hook an Agent  is an introduction to the process of submitting a manuscript to literary agents, and is directly inspired by popular questions asked by writers that have attended our long-running series of events of the same name. If you're looking for a literary agent to represent your manuscript  order your copy here , or to find out about our latest events  click here .

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Blog & Newsletter – 06.09.2022

Writing Tips: How to Write the Perfect Cover Letter  

You’ve come this far: you’ve written your manuscript and polished it as much as you can, and now you’re ready to share your work with literary agents. But before you share your work, you need to write a submission cover letter. So, what is a submission cover letter? And how can you write one that will make your work stand out from the rest? As an agency that receives hundreds of submissions each week, our agents have shared their tips on how to write the perfect cover letter, and make sure that yours is a cut above the rest.

What is a cover letter?

In short, a cover letter is something which introduces you and your novel to an agent. It’s the first point of contact between you and the agent, so it needs to be short, convincing and to the point. Your cover letter should entice the agent and make them want to pick up and read your manuscript.

How should I structure my letter, and what do I include in it?

Firstly, make sure you address the specific agent you are submitting to.

Include an enticing pitch in the body of your email. This should include a one-line hook outlining the central premise of your book; a short, back-of-the-book type blurb; three comparable books in the market today; a short bio; and any other information relevant to your work, such as any courses you have taken, or any prizes you have been shortlisted for, or won. 

When thinking of your three comparable books, try and make the comparisons as precise as possible. For example, ‘this story blends the charm of Gail Honeyman’s Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine with the Agatha Christie-esque mystery of a Ruth Ware novel.’ This will give us a clear sense of where it might sit in the market.

What are your agents looking for in a cover letter?

Madeleine Milburn, CEO and Literary Agent: I look for a clear, concise covering letter with a professional yet conversational tone that gets to the heart of the story quickly. Imagine you are pitching your favourite book…how would you get a reader excited? Look at the blurbs on the backs of books and see how they entice someone to start reading. I also love a title that stands out, and resonates in some way, before even opening the manuscript or knowing anything about the story. 

Hayley Steed, Senior Literary Agent : Personally, I love a strong concept – a one line pitch that makes me stop and catch my breath, an idea that feels new and exciting whilst having a clear audience and pitch, a book that feels like it’s doing something different within a familiar genre. I’m always reassured by convincing comparison titles too – I know that a novel is going to deliver if the writer knows exactly who they’re targeting and where it would sit in the market.

Olivia Maidment, Literary Agent: I am always really impressed by a cover letter that shows that an author has really thought about and grappled with their key themes and central ideas, and how to navigate those ideas in their writing, their style, and the stories they tell. I want to work with authors who have something to say and really put the time into working out how to say it, and I love to see those elements coming together in their pitch.

Emma Bal, Literary Agent:  For non-fiction what I am looking for in a cover letter is an author’s mission statement – why they want to write this particular book and why they should be the one to write it. If an author can establish how their ideas fit into the wider discourse, and what is original about those ideas, even better.

Hannah Todd, Literary Agent: The thing I’m always impressed by in a covering letter is accurate comparison authors or titles. It takes some market awareness to be an author, and this shows that you know what is out there and where your book would sit on the shelf. It also shows us that there is already a market out there for your book! There are LOADS of great resources out there on this (most recently  this twitter thread ) and maybe we’ll do our own post on it in future!

Rachel Yeoh, Associate Agent : In upmarket and literary fiction, I really want to get a strong sense of the themes that that author is writing about – why are these themes important? How are you tackling them in fresh, distinctive ways that will make readers pause for thought?

We know how daunting the querying process can be, but we hope that with these tips you can polish up that cover letter and feel confident whenever you decide to share your work with agents. Good luck!

Award Winning Literary Agency

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How to pitch your book to an agent

The majority of authors we publish, especially fiction books, will be represented by a literary agent.  To get a literary agent to represent you as a new writer, you’ll need to pitch your book to them, usually in the form of a covering letter or email.   

Cathryn Summerhayes, a literary agent at Curtis Brown, talks to us about what she looks for in a pitch from a new writer.

When should a writer approach an agent?

For fiction, whether you’re writing for adults or for children, it always makes sense not only to finish your book, but to revise it. Get some readers (not just your mum and dad), and redraft and redraft until you feel you have got it to absolutely the best point you can without help from an agent and/or publisher.

No author’s first draft ever gets published – and an agent wants to really get the sense that you are hard-working, have spent a lot of time with your manuscript and you are determined to get it right. 

For non-fiction, you need a proposal that gives an overview of the project, a breakdown of the chapters you plan to write and at least one complete chapter to give a sense of your voice and direction. 

For all writers I would work on your ‘back of the book’ pitch – a couple of hundred words that really crystallises what the book is about. I far prefer these to long synopses.

What are you looking for in a writer?

I’m always looking for the same three things:

• Authenticity – why are you so well placed to tell this particular story?
• Uniqueness of voice – don’t tell me you are the next JK Rowling, instead be the best NEW thing.
• Intricacy of plotting – a good story cannot stand up if an author hasn’t thought about what every page will add to the telling of that story.

What are the common pitfalls?

Typos, accidentally cc-ing every other agent you’ve sent to, submitting to the wrong agent – I often see material I wouldn’t consider on my list, even though my online profile and the agency’s website make it very clear what I do and don’t like. We understand that you will want to submit to more than one agent, but just make sure if you are copying and pasting material over, that you make the necessary changes. 

You’d be amazed how many times I see things like ‘I would love  to be represented by United Agents’ (I work for Curtis Brown).  Sloppiness suggests your work will be lazy and that you might not be a good self-editor, and ultimately that you might not be the best author for me to represent. 

This is your audition, your biggest job interview ever, so do put the work in!  If you have written something brilliant, you don’t want to fall at the final hurdle by messing up the covering letter.

What do you like to see in a covering letter?

I like to get a very clear sense that the writer is in this because they love writing, not because they see pound signs flashing up. So, if you are working on a second book, say that. We like to see that you are not a one-trick pony and are in this for the long haul. Tell me that you have entered short story competitions, been published in magazines, attended a creative writing course, festivals, etc. Just show me that you are passionate  about the business of writing. 

Cathryn's top tips for a covering letter

• The key thing when approaching agents is research, research and more research. It helps your submission when you make each agent you approach feel like they have been specially selected because of authors they represent, projects they are committed to, or even hobbies they love.  Check the acknowledgements pages of books you love which are in a similar genre to yours. Often they will thank their literary agent - this could be a good place to start.
• Don't make basic mistakes. Spell the agent's name and the name of the agency they work for right. I’m afraid little things loom large on the slush pile – treat this as a job application.
• Pitch with confidence! But not arrogance. If you feel this book is the best thing you have written and that it is ready to share with agents, then communicate that with enthusiasm. 
• Nail your one line pitch – is it  Star Wars  meets  Bridget Jones ?  
• Have a nuanced 200 words that really crystallises what the book is about. A smart, to the point submission letter, that gives a clear overview of the material that is being submitted, is vital to capture an agent's interest.
• A sense of where your book would sit on the shelves if it were to be published today. Is it literary or commercial? Fantasy or sci-fi? Is it a memoir or a book examining a social issue?
• Make sure your first page is killer  so that you have the agent hooked straight away. 
• Only put relevant details about yourself in your letter - things like prizes won, your qualifications, where you were born, are fine, but be brief. 
• If you have a big social media presence, you can include your handles - but be prepared for the agent to look at your content. 
• Sell yourself, and sell your work. You are your own best advocate.

You can send your manuscript to Curtis Brown through their submissions portal  here .

The best place to find a full list of literary agents in the UK is the  Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook . 

Read about a day-in-the-life of a Literary Agent in  How To Get Published .

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Phoebe Morgan

Author and Editor

My submission letter to my agent

I thought it might be helpful to share the original submission letter which I sent to my lovely agent, Camilla at Darley Anderson.

Now, please bear in mind I wrote this letter a couple of years ago, when I was young and fairly naive – but it did get me an agent, so I thought still worth sharing in case anyone out there finds it useful (although if I’m honest, it makes me cringe a bit now!)

After this letter, Camilla emailed me within 48 hours and asked to read the whole manuscript – we then did some intensive editing together, and she then made an offer of representation (at which I was delighted, of course).

I attached the letter to an email, along with a synopsis of my book (which gave away the ending – you need the full, summarised plot) and the first three chapters. I emailed Camilla directly, after seeing her manuscript wishlist on a website, having looked for agents who enjoyed the genre I thought I was writing. I don’t know why I call it literary in the letter, as it’s not really, its commercial, and the plot has changed a bit since I submitted it first – but this is the completely unedited letter that led to agent representation. This novel changed name to become The Doll House , but The Architect’s Daughters was it’s original name. It outlines a bit about me, a very basic plot including themes of the novel, and is (I hope…) polite and professional.

Dear Ms Wray,

I would like to submit to you a sample of my novel, ‘The Architect’s Daughters.’ This is a piece of literary fiction which tells the tale of how a mother’s loving lie kills her own daughter.

Thirteen years ago, the death of the famous London architect Richard Hawes left his two daughters reeling with grief. Now, as Ashley and Corinne Hawes navigate the pitfalls of adult life, they find that everything they held true about their parents and what it means to be honest is to be turned upside down. Battling with their own demons of infertility, errant teenagers and an odd dislike for their own mother, the sisters are fighting for the truth within a family that has never understood the term. The underlying themes of this novel are honesty, sisterhood and the illusion of reputation.

I am now working as an editorial assistant at Octopus Books, Hachette UK. Writing is the only thing that I find makes sense to me; I am prepared to work very hard (probably for my entire life!) in order to pursue a career in this field, and would be delighted to have the opportunity to work with you if you like my book. There is nothing quite like the fantastic feeling that comes with reading a really great story, and if even one person could enjoy my own it would be an honour. I am in the process of writing another novel (partly to stop myself frantically checking my emails for agent responses!) and have plans to continue writing for as long as possible.

I worked as a news reporter previous to my publishing role, and have had many news articles published in print and online. However, there is only so much one can write about potholes and 101-year-olds; I find writing fiction to be a little more satisfying! I have also completed a creative writing course at the University of Illinois which is where I really began writing seriously.

Thank you so much for your time, and I do hope to hear from you.

It’s not a perfect letter, by any means. But, it is properly spell-checked, and it does give a flavour of what the book is about. I tried to put a little bit of my personality into it too, which I think is always a plus, but it doesn’t ramble on for too long and it’s quite to the point. I had spent a lot of time on the first three chapters I sent to her, proofreading them multiple times, making sure that the beginning really did give a good insight into the book, and closing the third chapter at a point which I hoped would make an agent want to read on.

Every agent will be looking for different things at different times, but I think as a whole, the submission process can be a very daunting one for a new writer so any light I can shed on it from the author angle will hopefully be a tiny bit useful! I would advise keeping your covering letter relatively short – 3/4 short paragraphs maximum, as agents get a lot of submissions and no-one wants to read an essay. Make sure you outline your commitment to writing, explain your day job if you have one, and give a clear idea, very early on, of what your book is about. Agents sometimes use information from your covering letter to pitch you to editors, so be honest, don’t exaggerate anything too much, and above all, keep it professional – you’re essentially asking to go into business with your agent and sign a formal contract, so they need to know that you’re taking this whole writing thing seriously.

Writing cover letters and synopses can be really hard, because you don’t have pages and pages to play with and you need to be succinct, so give it a few goes, make sure you edit your letter as much as you can before sending, and don’t be disheartened if you don’t get an immediate response. I waited months to hear from some agents – Camilla was very quick but that isn’t always the case, so always keep positive and keep writing while you submit – it will help, I promise.

If you enjoyed reading this article, my debut novel is only 99p here if you wanted to check it out and make me a happy writer 🙂 Thank you for visiting my blog.

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Published by phoebemorganauthor

I am an author and editorial director, currently working on the HarperFiction crime and thriller team. My psychological thrillers,The Doll House, The Girl Next Door and The Babysitter are out now with HQ, an imprint of HarperCollins. My fourth, The Wild Girls, will publish in April 2021. My books have sold over 150,000 copies and been translated into nine languages. They are also on sale in the US and Canada. View all posts by phoebemorganauthor

3 thoughts on “ My submission letter to my agent ”

V. interesting! It’s funny to see how much the book changed in between this letter and coming out, too.

What’s up, every time i used to check website posts here early in the dawn, since i love to learn more and more.

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