by guest writer, Emilee Newman Bowles

A query letter is your first, and often your only, chance to grab an editor’s or agent’s attention. You have only a few sentences to show that you can write, and to convince the gatekeeper that your manuscript is worth reading. Without a good query letter, most editors and agents won’t even look at your writing. Harsh, but true. They have to get through their pile of submissions somehow.

Considering the importance of the query letter, it surprised me to see how many authors make simple mistakes when they write theirs. During a year of reading queries and submissions for Ooligan Press, I learned some simple things to do and not to do when writing a query letter.

1. Do your homework! Don’t send your manuscript to every agent and publishing company in Writer’s Market. You’ll save time and money in the long run if you research and send your work to presses that publish the type of writing that you do.
2. Don’t submit genre work to a press that doesn’t publish it. If you write science fiction, send your work to presses that publish science fiction. And don’t over-categorize your manuscript. There’s nothing that will scare an editor away faster than being presented with a fantasy-romance-horror-mystery novel.
3. Do address the letter to a specific person. It should be addressed to the agent, acquisitions editor, or the publisher, if you can find this information. This shows that you have researched their press and avoids giving the impression that they’re receiving an anonymous bulk mailing.
4. If you can’t find the name of an editor or publisher at the press, write simply “To Whom It May Concern.” I once read a query letter that was addressed, “Dear Gentlemen.” As a woman working in a press staffed mostly with women, this put me off immediately. Editors are people too, and you don’t want them to be in a bad mood when they read your manuscript.
5. Don’t insult the people reading your query. This sounds obvious, but you’d be surprised how many query letters I’ve read that are filled with insults to the person reading it just to see if we’re actually reading it—we are, but insults don’t make a good impression.
6. Don’t be overconfident. You want to come off as confident in yourself and in your writing, but phrases like “the next great American novel” or “Oprah’s book club” are huge red flags for editors and agents. (Unless you and Oprah happen to be best friends, of course.)
7. Don’t make simple spelling, grammar, or punctuation errors. This holds true for your manuscript as well as your query letter. Yes, it is the editor’s job to fix mistakes. But your manuscript has to be worth the time and money it will cost to put it into acceptable form, or the publishing company can’t afford to publish it, no matter how much they like it.
8. Know your audience. Not only the editor or agent, but the people in the bookstore who will pick up and buy your book. Do some market research and know whom your book will sell to. When reading a manuscript, editors and agents ask themselves if it will sell and who will buy it. Answer those questions for them, and you’re ahead of the game.
9. Don’t send more than they ask for. Don’t send your entire manuscript when the submission guidelines say to submit a few sample chapters.
10. Do follow the submission guidelines to the last detail. So few people do this, that doing so will automatically make you stand out. Editors are looking for good writing and a good story, but they’re also trying to judge if you can follow directions and if they’ll be able to work with you.

It doesn’t have to be difficult, but taking the time to write a good query letter can make all the difference in whether or not your manuscript is read in the first place, and whether or not you get a personalized letter in return, instead of the publisher’s standard rejection slip.