How to write a query letter an editor will finish reading

A query letter is a one-page introduction to your book: what it is, why a reader would want it, and who you are. To write a good one, open with the story's central situation, spend most of the page on what is at stake for your main character, give the title, genre and word count, add a short honest bio, and stop. Everything else is detail, and the detail matters, so here it is.

What a query letter is for

An editor or agent reads the letter to decide one thing: should I read the pages? The letter is not a summary of the whole book and not a sales brochure. It is the voice on the doorstep that makes someone want to open the door.

In the United States the word "query" usually means a letter to a literary agent. Many publishers, especially independent presses, accept submissions directly from writers, and they often call the same document a covering letter. The craft is identical. Always check what the publisher's guidelines ask for and send exactly that.

The four parts of a query letter

Most good query letters follow the same order, because it is the order a reader's questions arrive in.

The hook: one or two sentences that set up the character, the situation and the problem.
The pitch: one or two paragraphs on what happens, what your character wants, and what it will cost them.
The details: title, genre, word count, and if you have them, one or two comparable titles.
The bio: a few lines about you that are relevant to this book.

A line of personalisation, saying why you are writing to this editor in particular, can go at the start or before the bio. Keep it short and true.

How to write the hook

The hook is the place most letters go wrong, usually by being too abstract. "A story about love, loss and finding yourself" could describe ten thousand books. A strong hook is specific: a person, a place, a pressure.

Compare these two openings for the same imagined novel:

A moving story of family secrets and second chances set in a small coastal town.

When her father dies owing money to half the harbour, Mara has one summer to keep his fishing boat, and the only person willing to crew it is the man who once burned it.

The second one gives us a character, a deadline, a conflict and a reason to keep reading. It does not explain the theme. It trusts the reader to feel it.

How to write the pitch paragraphs

The pitch expands the hook. Answer three questions, in roughly this order:

What does your main character want, and why now?
What stands in the way?
What will they lose if they fail, or have to give up to succeed?

Stay with the main line of the story. Subplots, secondary characters and backstory almost always make a pitch harder to follow. Two or three named characters are plenty.

You do not need to reveal the ending in the letter. That is the job of the synopsis, if the guidelines ask for one. The pitch should end on the choice or danger that makes the editor want to find out.

Write it in the present tense and in the third person, even if the novel itself is in the first person. And let a little of the book's own voice show. A comic novel can have a lightly comic letter. A quiet literary novel should not sound like a thriller trailer.

The details: title, genre, word count and comparable titles

This paragraph is short and practical, and editors look for it. Give the title, the genre or category, and the word count rounded to the nearest thousand. Say that the manuscript is complete, because for fiction it should be before you query.

Comparable titles, often called comps, help an editor picture where your book would sit in a bookshop. Choose one or two books published in roughly the last few years that share your book's readership, not its plot. Avoid comparing yourself to the most famous books in your genre. "For readers of a quiet, character-led sea novel" is often more useful than a famous name.

If a comparison feels forced, leave comps out. A missing comp costs you far less than a strained one.

How to write a short bio, even with no credits

Write two to four sentences about you that connect to the book. Relevant work or life experience, previous publications, a prize or a writing course you completed are all fair to mention. If the novel is set among fishing families and you grew up in one, say so.

If you have no publishing credits, that is fine and very common. Do not apologise for it and do not pad the bio. One honest line about where you live and what drew you to this story is better than a list of hobbies.

Mistakes that end a read early

Editors read a great many letters. These are the habits that make a letter easy to put down:

Opening with a question ("What would you do if you lost everything?") instead of the story.
Describing the theme instead of the plot.
Praising your own book ("a page-turning masterpiece") or quoting friends' reactions.
Introducing more than three characters by name.
Going over one page, or sending the letter to several editors at once in the same email.
Getting the editor's name or the publisher's guidelines wrong.
Leaving out the word count or the genre.

A query letter template

Use this as a frame, not a form to fill in. Every good letter bends it a little.

Dear [editor's name], I am writing to you because [one true, specific reason]. When [character] [situation], they must [goal] before [deadline or pressure]. [One or two short paragraphs of pitch, ending on the central choice or danger.] [TITLE] is a [genre] novel, complete at [word count] words, for readers of [comparable title or description]. [Two to four sentences of bio.] Thank you for your time and consideration. [Your name, email, and any links the guidelines ask for.]

Before you send

Read the letter aloud. Wherever you stumble, the editor will too.
Check that the first two sentences could only describe your book.
Confirm the title, genre and word count are all there.
Follow the publisher's submission guidelines exactly, including what to attach.
Check the manuscript itself is in standard manuscript format.
Make sure your opening pages are as strong as the letter. We wrote about what an editor listens for in the first ten pages, and it is worth reading before you hit send.

A query letter will not get a book published on its own, but a clear one gets the book read. At Whispering Verse every submission is read by a person, from the first page. When your letter and pages are ready, send us your work.

How we work: editorial standards and corrections.