If a query letter is a business letter, why should it sound like fan mail?

[Prawn]

I spent a couple of months writing and refining my query. I did the research and found my top agents. I spent one or two hours for each agent, finding out on the web things to help me personalize my queries, books they repped that I liked or that were similar to mine, clever things they'd said in interviews or on their blogs, going to the same alma mater, working for the same company, you know the drill.

My first fifteen or twenty queries took about a month, and I got no response, no requests for partials, nothing. Just form letters.

So I said screw it, and moved on down my list, sending out another five or six queries in an afternoon. This batch I did not personalize, and got a request for a partial and a full. It was ultimately a rejection, but it was a rejection of my book, not just of my query letter, so I can accept that. My book got in front of someone.

Of course, my top agents were probably many other people's top agents, so perhaps I should expect complete rejection, but personalizing heaps of query letters just seems like a waste of time.

So now, I have decided not to spend the time personalizing my query letters. I'll address them properly and spell the name correctly, but it seems like if this is a business letter, I don't need to stroke them or give them a warm fuzzy, I just need to be professional.

What do you folks think?

 

[EriRae]

I'm with your school of thought...all business. Let the personal bond wait until they're sitting across the table from you, waiting for you to sign a contract Or at least on the phone, asking you about your novel.

 

[seun]

I go for the business type query, too. Although my submissions never result in more than a sod off, so make of that what you will.

 

[dclary]

I don't believe in query letters. When I'm ready to sell, I'll go meet editors. Relationships get books published. Not letters.

 

[Susan Gable]

I don't believe in query letters. When I'm ready to sell, I'll go meet editors. Relationships get books published. Not letters.

Ummmm...relationships don't get books published. Good writing, good stories, interesting characters, those things get books published.

You could be the editor's favorite person on the planet, and if the story doesn't work for her, she's not going to buy it. Or if marketing doesn't agree with her love for your stuff, she's not going to buy it.

I had a conversation with an editor this summer, and we were discussing pitch sessions, and meeting up with writers, etc. And she said sometimes when the person leaves, she thinks, "God, I hope she can write!"

Cause it's the writing that matters.

The query letter, the pitch session, the meeting, the "relationship" - those are just ways to get your toe over the threshold. In the end, it comes down to the writing. (And the marketability of the project.)

Susan G.

 

[maestrowork]

I pretty much treat it as a business letter -- sort of like looking for a job. I don't personalize my job search cover letters either, and I don't see why I need to with my queries. Agents and editors read hundreds of letters, so the shorter and more to the point the better.

 

[maestrowork]

I don't believe in query letters. When I'm ready to sell, I'll go meet editors. Relationships get books published. Not letters.

If you have personal relationships with editors, great. But that would only get you read faster -- you still have to have a good, sellable book to get published. Most people depends on their agents to have such relationships with editors -- most writers simply don't have such relationships or can afford the time and effort to cultivate such relationships. That's when agents come in.

But like I said, if you have personal relationships, go for it. But if you think you can totally bypass the query phase, then you may come to a rude awakening down the line. You may believe it or not, but it's very much part of the process for most people. That's what got my book published.

 

[Shadow_Ferret]

I don't believe in query letters. When I'm ready to sell, I'll go meet editors. Relationships get books published. Not letters.

I guess that's great if you can do it, if geographically you live where the editors live, can hang outside their offices and pester them. But I think the term for that is stalking.

We don't have any editors for hundreds of miles. I'll stick to a business-style query letter.

 

[Jamesaritchie]

Query

A query letter should never, under any circumstances, sound like a fan letter. If it does, you screwed up, and no will be the answer. That is not what personalizing should mean.

Personalized query letters, from my experience, work extremely well. Queries that read like fan letters stand no chance.

A query letter is a business letter, but the best business letters are always personalized.

 

[Claudia Gray]

I think that if you have a meaningful way to personalize a query letter, do it. In other words, if you really have a solid reason for believing that Agent K would enjoy and handle this type of book, say so -- the thoughtfulness will come through and hopefully make it clear that you have real familiarity with them (and, as such, might actually be correct when you say this is their type of thing).

If, however, you're just working your way through a list and filling in blanks ("Hello, _____. I see that you enjoy _____, so I thought you might want to read _____"), maybe that doesn't make any difference and could as well be avoided.

 

[clara bow]

I totally agree-personalization can be a waste of time (unless you met the agent at a conference or in some other venue...then it makes sense to reference the meeting--or someone referred you to the agent...uh, then you definitely should personalize it!!!). But some agents like it personalized, and if you know this, and can do it, it can't hurt. But it still takes up so much time!

For my next round of querying, I plan on personalizing it to only one agent, and that's only because she blogged about seeking the genre I'm going to submit. Otherwise, I'm just opening with a hook.

fwiw--your mileage may vary.

 

[Novelhistorian]

I'm convinced it's like alchemy. There's no science to it, and often no apparent explanation. If I know an agent or have a name to drop, I'll use it, but that happens so rarely. So many agents say they want to know why you're writing them, but the vast majority of the time it's because they rep the kind of book you're trying to sell, which (if you've done your homework) is obvious. Why lose sleep over this?

 

[kristie911]

There's a huge difference between a fan letter and a personal business letter. You don't spend time gushing over the agent...they're going to smell that line of bullshit a mile away. But by mentioning you noticed they repped so-and-so or like a certain kind of novel, it's certainly a long way from "fan mail". It shows the agent you did your homework and aren't just working your way through the agent listings from A-Z.

 

[preyer]

i'm curious, james, how do you personalize the query? i mean, beyond using their name, is there any trick to it without sounding as if you're not kissing ass?

 

[JoNightshade]

I've been thinking about this lately as well. I work in a business environment and I deal with marketing emails every day, which in some ways are very similar to query letters. If I put myself in an agent's shoes, what's my NUMBER ONE concern?

To find an awesome book that I can sell.

Indicators that I've found an awesome book are:

1) Intriguing, well-written hook
2) Interesting story line (if synopsis is included)
3) Interesting, well-written pages (if included)
4) The details: my name on query, professionally written letter, SASE, author experience, author knows something about me, the genre is correct for me, etc. etc.

In my opinion, item #1 is far and away the most important (as well as 2 and 3 if the agent has asked for either). #4, the details, are just that: details. Having them will help you, but I doubt missing one or two points is going to kill you as far as the agent is concerned. I mean, think about it. Who's going to say, "Wow, this story premise sounds really interesting, but there's no indication that this person read my blog! Sorry, trash can." You don't want that agent anyway.

 

[Andre_Laurent]

It's business, skip the warm and fuzzy.

I don't appreciate a form letter that closes with the agent trying to blow sunshine up my ass after he/she rejected me. And I'm betting that they aren't interested in a fan letter. It's just business on both ends.


Edit: OMG this is post 666 for me.

 

[lkp]

I personalize my letter if I can but I don't worry about it if I can't. I think if you can do it honestly (you genuinely read and enjoy their blog, you actually love the writing of one of their clients, you know your genre or subgenre is one they care about right now) it is a great help.
Publisher's Marketplace is a wonderful resource for figuring out what agents are actually doing rather than just what they say they are doing, by the way. I have had more luck at targetting agents by figuring out what they're actually selling right now than by any other way. Alas, it costs.

 

[Celia Cyanide]

I once read something Miss Snark wrote on the topic, and she said that she does not like to hear compliments that put down other agents by default. Some people might say, "I find your agency to have a level of professionalism above others." You could be insulting her friends.

 

[kristie911]

The problem is some people don't even bother to put an agents name on a query. The just get a bunch, address them all "dear agent" and ship them off. That's not going to impress an agent either. So, if nothing else, always personalize them with their name and agency address...like you should with any business correspondence.

 

[ishtar'sgate]

I'd keep it businesslike and only make it personal if a mutual acquaintance has recommended I contact them, then of course by all means name drop.
Linnea

 

[amber_grosjean]

I'd go with the business form of the query. To make it more personal, include the agent's name and department, who they represent, what books they represent that are in your genre. Other than that, you would include information about your experience as a writer and the book.

Amber

 

[scarletpeaches]

I go for the business type query, too. Although my submissions never result in more than a sod off, so make of that what you will.

My submissions usually result in the same, although one wasn't a sod off, it was a, "Hmm...let me think about this...nope, sod off."

 

[johnzakour]

All agents care about is that you have a well written story that they can sell.

So show them that.

Anything else is just fluff.

 

[Provrb1810meggy]

Personalized sections in successful queries:

I decided to query you, because I read about and was impressed by your sale of two young adult novels by Cinda Chima to Hyperion.

I decided to query you because of your YA sales to Houghton Mifflin, Delacorte, and HarperTeen.

I decided to query you after finding many YA sales attributed to you in the Dystel and Goderich newsletters.

I decided to query you after reading your interview on http://www.ridingwiththetopdown.blogspot.com and checking out your Myspace.

I decided to query you because you represent the popular young adult novelists Alyson Noel and Maureen Johnson.

I decided to query you because your client Meg Cabot is one of my favorite authors.

A more heavily personalized (but not proven successful) personalization:

On the Prospect website, it says you value a close relationship with your clients and like to line edit. This, paired with your editorial experience with HarperTeen, made me eager to query you.

 

[maestrowork]

Again, like John said, all of that is fluff, unless you can say something like:

- I was having lunch with Stephen King/Author X whom you represent, and s/he suggested me contact you about my manuscript...

- I met you at the XYZ Writers' Conference and you invited me to submit my manuscript to you...

- Remember me? You sold two books of mine six years ago. I now have a new manuscript...

Fluff doesn't hurt, unless you sound like a brown-noser. But if I really don't have much substantial to say, I'd just keep it straightforward and business-like. More likely than not the agent will go straight into the heart of you query (where you describe your book) and skip all the pleasantries anyway. And more likely than not, their assistants handle queries anyway.