How to Write a Query Letter That Gets Manuscript Requests
The complete guide: all 7 components, the one-line hook, the 150-word description, comps, bio, and the mistakes that get queries auto-rejected.
Query Letter Examples That Get Agents' Attention (Annotated)
Two complete example letters — fiction and nonfiction — annotated line by line, with the patterns worth stealing.
How Long Should a Query Letter Be?
The exact word count (250–350), what counts toward it, genre-by-genre manuscript norms, and how to cut an overlong letter.
How to Choose Comp Titles for Your Query Letter
The four rules agents expect, formulas that work ("X meets Y," crossover comps), where to find comps, and the mistakes that hurt queries.
How to Write a Novel Synopsis Agents Actually Want
500–800 words, present tense, ending included — with a paragraph-by-paragraph template and the one unforgivable mistake.
Query letter examples by genre
A complete annotated example letter for each genre, plus genre-specific word counts and querying norms.
Fantasy Query Letter Example
An annotated adult fantasy query: magic with a price, worldbuilding on a leash, and the word-count rules fantasy lives by.
Romance Query Letter Example
Rivals-to-lovers done right: both leads with agency, visible beats, heat-level signaling, and the genre's non-negotiable promise.
Thriller Query Letter Example
Pitching the trap, not the body count: an annotated psychological suspense query with escalation that works in three specifics.
YA Query Letter Example
Voice without "teen speak," a bounded speculative conceit, and emotional stakes that outrank the mystery.
Science Fiction Query Letter Example
A human job in an inhuman place: character-forward SF, lane-signaling comps, and the one-novum rule.
Mystery Query Letter Example
An amateur sleuth with structural access, a puzzle pitched in three moves, and how to mention series potential in one clause.
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