A one-page letter you send to literary agents to pitch your book and convince them to request your manuscript.
A query letter is a short, persuasive letter (usually around 300 words) that you send to literary agents to convince them to read your manuscript. It typically includes a hook, a brief summary of your book, your comp titles, a short bio, and the book's genre and word count. Think of it as the cover letter for your novel. Most agents accept queries by email, and the query is almost always the first thing they read before deciding whether to request more.
The query letter is the gatekeeper to traditional publishing. You could write the best novel of the decade, but if your query doesn't grab an agent's attention in the first few lines, they'll never read it. Learning to write a strong query also forces you to understand what your book is actually about at its core, which makes you a better writer overall.
Stockett reportedly received 60 rejections before landing an agent. Her query for a novel about Black domestic workers in 1960s Mississippi had to convey both the story's emotional weight and its commercial appeal in a single page.
Weir's query worked because the concept was so immediately gripping: an astronaut stranded alone on Mars must survive using only his wits and whatever the mission left behind. A premise that strong practically writes the query for you.
Miller's pitch reframed a minor figure from Greek mythology as a full protagonist. The query succeeded by promising something familiar (the Odyssey) told from a radically fresh perspective.
Agents see hundreds of queries that start with 'What would you do if...?' Start with your character, your conflict, or your hook instead. Be specific, not generic.
Your query should cover roughly the first third to half of your book. Set up the protagonist, the conflict, the stakes, and the central choice they face. Don't reveal the ending. Save that for the synopsis.
Agents don't need to know you've been writing since age five or that your cat inspired the story. Include relevant credentials like writing awards, relevant expertise, or previous publications. Otherwise keep the bio to one sentence.
If an agent requests your full manuscript and it's still in rough shape, you've burned that chance. Finish revising, get beta readers, and polish before you send a single query.
Write a query letter for your current project in under 300 words. Include these four elements: a hook sentence that sets up your protagonist and conflict, a 150-word plot summary covering the first half of your story, a comp title line (something like 'X meets Y'), and a one-sentence bio. Read it aloud. Does it make someone want to read the book?