Query length

The shorter the better, in my opinion. As for including info on how your book will fit into the market, there are a lot of differing opinions on this. It's absolutely necessary if you're pitching a non-fiction book, but for fiction, I'd keep this kind of info very brief in your letter. Maybe just a sentence or two, at the end, like how this historical topic will appeal to readers of X or Y.

I've heard good things about posting your query in the forums here. Maybe you should try that, see what kind of feedback you get. Good luck!

nehama said:

I'm writing a query for a historical novel and have a first paragraph of three compact sentences on plot and another short paragraph on my credentials. However, I seem to need a third, probably middle paragraph, on market-related info, explaining a bit of historical background, how this is a topic that's never been treated in novel form, why it might appeal to an audience, etc.
To me this makes sense, but some books by agents have suggested that the plot paragraph, plus your credentials is absolutely the limit.
Any thoughts?

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An agent or publisher who handles that genre shouldn't need to be told market-related info. In fact, telling them that is a bit like the old "telling your grandma how to suck eggs". And if they don't know the genre, why are you submitting to them? The same with why it would appeal to an audience. That's for the agent (or publisher) to judge. They should know more about that than you do. If it's something that has never been in a novel before, again they will realize that. Since I don't write historical fiction, I don't know if historical background is usually mentioned. I'd mention if you have a reason to be an expert on it in though. If you're a PhD in history that would be worth throwing in possibly.

Edit: You might want to take my comments with a grain of salt since I don't write the genre, but it does go along with what I've seen many agents say.

I agree with dragonlady- any conversation about marketing and audience appeal is done AFTER they like your premise and are impressed with your writing.
It doesn't matter otherwise...