How to write a query email

That will receive a response from an agent

Ok so you have written a novel, or a memoir, or a proposal for a nonfiction book. That’s great, it’s hard to do, I’m proud of you. I earnestly believe that writing is a valuable art and practice for its own sake. There is value in accomplishing this goal. But you’re reading this because you want your book traditionally published, presumably, with the help of an agent.

A “query” is what we call the submission letter sent to an agent requesting consideration of your material for representation. It used to be a physical letter and is now an email or an online submission form. Agents tend to use the term “query” to mean the entire submission as well as the pitch/summary/bio part specifically before the inclusion of the first 20 pages.

Here is a novel query sample