Non Fiction Query Letter - Deep? Shallow? Long? Short?

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Thought Leadership

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I know that Fiction Queries are to be as short as possible, as slick as possible and hit the hot button in the agent's gut as soon as possible but...?

Does the same premise really hold true for a NF Query about a business management text? As it currently stands, my draft query hits 850 words and I have the hook, handle and bait positioned at the sharp end...

Will an agent bite?
 

Janis Love

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Just Make It Captivating

Our last NF query to agents was 886 words and we got seven top agents interested out of a total of 16 queries sent. Not one of them said anything about the length. In fact, we also sent the chapter summary too which was several pages and none of them complained about that either. We sent the chapter summary because it was thought provoking as well as entertaining. Our query letter was long because we didn't want to leave any stone unturned so we included some facts about the market, our platform, some brief ways to market it and how this book reaches our market like no other book published. Just make sure the query is as succinct as you can get it and that it doesn't ramble.

Janis
 

Thought Leadership

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Phew!... and thanks, Janis

Your comments are appreciated and yes, I too have to cover many elements that will trigger agent interest and cannot rightfully be omitted from the NF query.

one supplementary question... when a proposal is sent electronically, with agent's blessing, is it normal to leave the double spacing or have any voiced a preference for single...?
 

Janis Love

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We always single spaced our query letters and double spaced the chapter summaries. We never sent anything electronically. We sent everything FedEx for expedience and to show we're serious about our project. In addition, we sent a color copy of a proposed cover designed by a professional graphic design artist with the disclaimer that we know publishers pick their own covers. Again, we wanted to show agents that we are serious and have put a lot of thought into our book.

Janis
 
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