UK vs US agents

Ah, but how successful was this query? Did they get a bite from the agent?

And were they definitely talking about a query letter? Could it have been a covering letter, which requires less detail?

In the UK typical protocol is to have a cover letter as opposed to a query letter. This is because usually you send along with the cover letter a synopsis and the first three chapters right from the off.

I would recommend you check out this site for more information on UK submission techniques: http://www.bloomsbury.com/WritersArea/Get_Published.asp
( http://www.bloomsbury.com/WritersArea/Typescript.asp?&BLI= is specifically about letter writing, scroll to the end to see the examples they give) All the essays are taken from The Writers' and Artists' Yearbook, which I would highly recommend purchasing for anyone subbing in the UK.

For the record, I personally did a bit of a mix for my cover letters (I subbed in the UK). I did what the book suggested, and then added a small paragraph about my story itself (because I had seen some American query letters), nothing like how query letters are taught to be written however (hence the reason I haven't posted it anywhere as an example of how to write a successful query letter). But if you are interested, I'll post it here if you'd like. Not sure if it would really help though.

Depends entirely on the agent. Some will go straight to the first chapter to see if you can write, some will go straight to the synopsis to see if you have a story. I think the accompanying letter is much less important than it is for US agents.

Really big-name agents are more and more selling internationally, but it's more usual for an agent to concentrate his sales efforts in his own domestic market, and to look to sell overseas rights only once a book has found a home. So if you do query a UK agent, be sure your manuscript is suitable for the UK market (for instance, women's fiction set in a small town in the Midwest would probably not be appropriate) or that it's in a genre that's not nationality-specific (fantasy, science fiction, historical, international thriller, etc). I've been in contact with UK agents who wonder why they get so many queries from US writers whose manuscripts are obviously unsuitable for the UK market.

- Victoria

Have you run into any trouble yet, or are you just trying to cover your bases? In the end, send out what the agents are asking of you. Did you check out the links I gave you? Even though on this forum, everyone talks about query letters, it doesn't mean that you should write one for a UK agent.

Follow the directions. Really, that's the easiest way to handle it.

Would you like me to post my cover letter? Like I said, it's somewhere in between, and who knows if it was actually effective, as my agent says she read my first 3 chapters and that's why she asked for more, while no other agent was interested. But I would if you'd like.

You know Secret, I am so glad I didn't know about all the stuff surrounding query letters when I sent my submissions out. I found some guidelines and a few examples and then I went to town. Had I been a member here, or had I known of Miss Snark, I think I would still be revising my letter. Now this is not to say that there isn't an art to the whole thing, and maybe I was just lucky (and of course mine was a fancied up cover letter and not an actual query letter), still, man, in my case, ignorance was total bliss.

Anyway, for your edification, my letter:

remember this is NOT a query letter, this is me using examples of cover letters, and then putting a blurb in the middle of the typical cover letter. It is a hybrid creature, something of my own creation

Dear xxxxx,

I am seeking representation for my children’s adventure novel, Alex_and_The_Ironic_Gentleman, complete at 90,000 words, with plans for a sequel. It is aimed at the 8 to 12-year-old market, but, like the Lemony Snicket novels, is also marketable to adults who enjoy children’s literature.

Grounded in a world not too unlike our own, this novel takes place is a universe where pirates rule the high seas, Extremely Ginormus Octopi quote Shakespeare, and art-deco party trains hold deep dark secrets. This is a world in which Alex Morningside, our heroine and also a very nice kid of ten and a half, finds herself on a quest, not only to find the Infamous Wigpowder's treasure, but her kidnapped year six teacher Mr. Underwood. On the way she will face tasks she never thought she was strong enough to endure and overcome them with grace and ingenuity. But she must use her judgment carefully. Can she, for example, trust Lord Poppinjay or Coriander the Conjuror? Will Captain Magnanimous live up to his name or is it a clever misnomer? Will she ever elude the Daughters of the Founding Fathers’ Preservation Society? And what, oh what will she do when she finally comes face to face with Pirate Captain Steele the Inevitable, captain of the most deadly pirate ship to sail the seven seas – The Ironic_Gentleman?

While this is my first children’s novel I have had one of my plays performed at the
Edinburgh Festival Fringe to excellent reviews and sold out houses.

Please find enclosed a one-page synopsis along with the first three chapters of my novel for your perusal. Thank you for your consideration of this proposal. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Yours sincerely,

Toothpaste

No no no, see the "bland" letter would just be my letter minus the hook part. I made my cover letter fancy in a misguided attempt. You see I wrote my cover letter minus the little plot blurb, and then was doing some googling, and came acorss an author who had posted his successful query and I saw he had done this format that is the end result of my letter. I didn't realise Americans and Brits do it differently.

However, my letter is still not what is expected of an American query letter (nor is it "bland" british cover letter). I mean if I posted this letter into the SYW forum, I am sure people would tell me that to use questions is no good, that I don't really say WHAT happens in it, and that it is just a laundry list of characters.

The format for a british cover letter is this:

"I am seeking representation for my children’s adventure novel, Alex_and_The_Ironic_Gentleman, complete at 90,000 words, with plans for a sequel. It is aimed at the 8 to 12-year-old market, but, like the Lemony Snicket novels, is also marketable to adults who enjoy children’s literature.

While this is my first children’s novel I have had one of my plays performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe to excellent reviews and sold out houses.

Please find enclosed a short synopsis along with the first three chapters of my novel for your perusal. Thank you for your consideration of this proposal. I look forward to hearing from you soon."

The format for an American query letter is:

Hook.

Paragraph one - usually contains length and genre and first bit of story

Paragraph two - more about the story

Paragraph three - credentials if any


So you see my letter is neither british nor american, hence my reservation in using it as an example. Though if you want to follow my set up, please do.

Why not write it out and see what happens. So copy my first paragraph. And then what I did for my second one was write a back cover blurb for my book, so try the same for yours. Take a couple books off the shelf and read their back covers. And then copy the rest of the letter.

Again, in the UK, it really truly is different. It's just a bland cover letter. I made a mistake because I was confused. Fortunately, everything turned out okay. And in fact I really like my letter, I think it reads interesting and in the tone of my book, even if it doesn't really tell you the plot or anything.

Sorry for the confusion!