Are query letters that important?

A query letter is a vital document for writers seeking traditional publishers or literary agents. It’s a short letter that includes critical details about your book – genre, word count, title, synopsis – as well as demonstrates your awareness of the market. The query also includes a few details about you – the author! A good query letter will pique an agent’s interest and lead to requests for a partial or full.

Special attention must be paid to the tone, structure, length and focus of the letter. Writing one is a significantly different exercise from writing a novel and often requires professional help. Many editors have worked with and received numerous query letters over their professional lives and can help you craft yours into a convincing and astute document.

What does a “query letter review” offer?

A query letter review is a service provided by some Reedsy editors to help you create the best possible query letter. The process involves reviewing your letter and making detailed recommendations on structure, tone and content. A good query letter review will help you strengthen your hook and compose a compelling, tightly-woven synopsis. These particularly tricky aspects of the query frequently make the difference between grabbing an agent’s interest and fading into the slush.

Some of our editors will include a review of a certain number of pages with the query letter review — generally somewhere between 10 and 50pg. This is the number of pages likely to be requested alongside your query letter. Make sure you understand exactly what your query letter review includes before finalizing your editor selection on the Reedsy marketplace.

A query letter review cannot guarantee agent responses or representation from a literary agent, but in a highly competitive environment where agents receive hundreds or thousands of letters a year, a brilliant query letter and the advice of an experienced professional editor can be extremely valuable.

The Reedsy Query Bootcamp

Have you been trying to find an agent but have never managed to get any feedback on your queries? It might be time to reexamine your query package. On the Reedsy blog, we offer to analyze that for you in our Query Bootcamp column (which might soon turn into a Twitter chat!).

Here’s the deal: our editor Rebecca Heyman takes a look at your submission (query letter + first 10 pages) and writes her observations and constructive feedback in a monthly feature on our blog. We do not post your actual query letter or your manuscript pages; Rebecca “narrates” your submission so readers can follow along and learn from your example. If you want to be included in the next Query Bootcamp, drop us a line at querybootcamp@reedsy.com