Query Qs (or blues?)

So, you start the query with something like "The last thing Maxine wants is to be shipped off to a boarding school in Romania, but discovering she has the power to turn folks into a block of cheese with a glare when the moon is full leaves her no choice." And then you write the bits you need for the query about what's going on at the boarding school.

I write my queries by starting with a logline. (When <MAIN CHARACTER> is <INCITING INCIDENT>, they <CONFLICT>. And if they don't <GOAL> they will <CONSEQUENCES>.) Then I add in details to reinforce those points until I have two or three short paragraphs that cover the story from beginning to the choice of the final conflict. But this is not the only way to write a query so YMMV.

Best of luck.

1. "I read somewhere that the query should really be focused on what happens in the first three chapters" - Nope, nope, nope, nope. The Query should be focused on the main thrust of the novel, which in your case would be the boarding school aspect. Something like this would be just fine covering the first three chapters: 'When SKara discovers magic powers they are forced by the Authorities into the boarding school of X where...'

2. Every story has to start somewhere - the chosen one farm boy has to be shown on the farm before the wise old wizard calls him to action. If what happens before the boarding school is relevant and entertaining then you are all good. That said, if agents or publishers request 3 chapters then as a writer I might have liked chapter 3 to feature the arrival at the school but it's not a deal breaker by any means. If it's good it's good.

Great advice here.

The first three chapters will really be the agents seeing your writing style and if it all makes sense and if they click with the characters. They won't accuse you of misleading them in the query. Try something like what Aggy suggested for starters, it's a great way to condense everything. The query is only supposed to intrigue. You don't have to lay out the book in the sequence you wrote it (that's the synopsis!). Good luck!

Paragraph one is usually your set-up, so discovering powers and boarding school in 1-3 sentences. Second paragraph should lead to the "inciting incident", usually the first encounter with the antagonist or some larger force that changes circumstances for your MC. Last paragraph should be about how your MC reacts to this inciting incident or change, and the most effective queries end the paragraph with some ultimate conflict. The MC wants X, but they'll have to do Y to get it.

Most importantly, queries should always have a clear GOAL. Your MC wants something, they do X to get it, Y stands in their way, ultimately they have to make a choice or do something that will be very difficult for them...what will they do?

As others said, this is really a showcase for your writing and a way to demonstrate that your book has those GOALS. Give a small sense for character in the query, and a much larger sense for how one event leads into another. Agents want to see a clear motivation and then clear actions that follow from it. People recommend the first 3 chapters rule because the inciting incident usually happens within the first 10-20% of the novel. If that doesn't work for your book, you can always shift to later on as long as the query focuses on the MC going after something, and the inherent conflict in them getting it.

Hope that helps!

Go to Query Letter Hell, in our Share Your Work section.

You will find all sorts of useful information there.