No Query Letter?

Being new to all this, I would look to others for a "real" answer, but my gut says to include a query letter. I would take "cover letter" to mean query letter.

I'll be watching this thread, though, to see how others respond!

I would send whatever they ask for, and nothing more. Then again, I could be wrong

I would always include a query letter, even if you're sending a synopsis and pages.

kristie911 said:

I would always include a query letter, even if you're sending a synopsis and pages.

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See, I told you I could be wrong!

You're going to do your query letter single-spaced, and Courier looks odd when it's single-space. Times New Roman is a good default font. Then again, I can't imagine any agent would care what font you use, so long as it's a) readable, b) not Comic Sans (or any other goofy font).

I use Times New Roman for my query letters and Courier for my manuscript. The different font just helps to keep the query letter seperate from the manuscript. (At least in my own mind.)

Sound advice!
My hubby found a book on the "take a book-take a book" table at his work called Writers Market. Its the size of the Gutman Bible and it concurs with the Courier New for munuscript and Times New Roman for all else.
It also says send no and No less than exactly what they ask for. It could be wrong - just cause it looks like a bible doesn't mean its right huh.

JMJCarla said:

Sound advice!
My hubby found a book on the "take a book-take a book" table at his work called Writers Market. Its the size of the Gutman Bible and it concurs with the Courier New for munuscript and Times New Roman for all else.
It also says send no and No less than exactly what they ask for. It could be wrong - just cause it looks like a bible doesn't mean its right huh.

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Welcome to the board JMJCarla! I think many of us know the book of which you speak and I think it's a good reference guide. Glad you joined us. Welcome to the Cooler!

Well, when they ask for a synopsis plus three, they ARE getting a longer version of the query. Understand? The synopsis should contain everything, and more, that the query does. So the synopsis and three submission technically doesn't require a query. They're just eliminating one stage of the submission process.

Tri

Tor does not want a query. The say, on their web site, they cannot tell anything about a book from a query. They ask for chapters and a synopsis...

I've always assumed a cover letter to mean an introduction and bio/credits.
But...I incorporate the bio and credits at the last part of the query and the synopsis. I very seldom write any kind of an intro like "Hi, I'm so and so and I've written Major Novel and I'm looking forward to blah..blah..so on. My first pragraph will usually comment on their website, mission statement, or a familiar book or contact of theirs.

Name
Address
City, State, Zip
Phone Number
Email Adress

Genre
Words
Pages
TITLE
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Body of query or synopsis

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Credits and Sales

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Short Biography/education Interests

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

I've used this format and never had any trouble. It's easy to tell at a glance what kind of book it is and how long it is, right from the gate. Your milage may very.

Tri

Mighty,
If you're referring to literary agents only, ALWAYS send a query. If they only ask for a cover letter, then they are referring to a query unless you are mailing back a requested full, then you would send the original query and a cover letter reminding them of the fact that they asked for your full, etc.
If you are querying the publishers themselves, they have their own guidelines for you to follow. Hope that helps. You've gotten some good advice already from some of the others in here.

MightyScribbler said:

If the agency says "Cover Letter" but not query letter, will the query letter count as the cover letter?

If the ageny asks for a short synopsis and pages, but they do not ask for a query letter, would you send one in this case?

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I would send a cover letter, which would be a lot like a query letter, except instead of asking, "Would you be interested in seeing..." I would say, "Enclosed please find...."

johnzakour said:

I would send a cover letter, which would be a lot like a query letter, except instead of asking, "Would you be interested in seeing..." I would say, "Enclosed please find...."

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Exactly. Personally, I would never just throw a synopsis and 3 chapters (or whatever) in an envelope. There should be SOME kind of letter on the front of the submission. Whether you call it a query letter or a cover letter, there should be something. A query and a cover letter would be quite similiar.