About query letters

A query letter asks an agent or editor if he wants to look at a sample of your work. A fiction query gives basic information on the completed work, such as genre and word count. It also contains a brief summary of the story and possibly a paragraph on the author, giving any pertinent information, like previous publications, creative writing credentials, credentials specific to the work, etc.

Check the Share Your Work forum, Query subforum for more information and many examples of queries, both model and under construction.

A query letter is a sales pitch. You send them to agents or editors, depending on what you're writing or who you're targeting. How to write one? Well, head on over to Query Letter Hell in SYW for some ideas, and also read agent and editor blogs.

I'll also add:

A query letter is the first step in an author seeking to publish their book. Queries are sent to both agents and editors, but usually an author sends them to agents. Publishing today almost requires having an agent to take care of your career as an author, while some find this frustrating, as an agented author I can tell you I LOVE having an agent taking care of the business side of everything, it makes my life so much easier. However there are smaller publishers who will accept a query directly from an author.

After submitting a query letter, the agent/editor requests a partial - usually either the first three chapters of your book, or 50 pages. After the partial, they will request a full - the whole MS. After that they may ask for revisions. After that they hopefully offer representation or a book deal. Again, every author's story is a different one, and sometimes an agent/editor will request a full right after the query letter. Different countries also work differently. In the UK for example it is a standard practice to send a cover letter, synopsis and first three chapters right from the off.

Writing a query letter is difficult because you want to catch the agent's/editor's attention with how awesome your book, you want it to stand out against, in some instances, hundreds of other queries. There is a whole subsection in the Share Your Work forum here devoted to perfecting them.

They are soooo fun. I cannot stop going about how much I loooove to write and rewrite and rewrite my query letters

Actually they are not as bad as you might think and redoing them certainly has made me a better writer and my stories tighter.

Check out the dedicated section on these forums for them. The people there are super helpful.

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=174

The most fun I had with a query landed me Jeff Herman as an agent. The book didn't get published, but I managed to amuse myself. Here was the open:

"Dear Jeff,

I hazard to guess that this is the first time anyone has ever sent you "garbage" on purpose. Not to mention garbage with such a bright future ahead of it. The project I humbly submit to you for publication -- Garbage Cans of New York -- is the yet-to-be-told comedic story showcasing essential elements of the Big Apple's urban landscape."

Alas, Garbage Cans of New York, the coffee table edition with humorous stories entwined within it, never saw the light of day. Yet, I was signed by on my first query. Trust your gut and let it fly!!!!!!

Soleary