Some basics

I see plenty of query letters over the course of a year, and (though they’re much more boring) a fair few synopses too. Lots of these are absolutely fine. A tweak here or there, and they’re good to go. But many of them – maybe half or more – make mistakes that you just don’t need to make.
So let’s get them right. In particular:

Let your synopsis be a synopsis

Writers are, naturally, extremely averse to giving away all the good bits of their story. But that’s what a synopsis is. It’s not a blurb. It’s not a sales pitch. It’s just a neutral, unsexy summary of your story’s plot.

Really, that summary should include the final denouement too. (“Ryan finds the explosive and removes the detonator, thereby saving the stadium.”) But if you really can’t bring yourself to do that, you can cheat a very little bit, and only right at the end. (“Ryan arrives at the stadium, where the dramatic final act takes place.”)

Let your query letter define your query (1)

Agents get lots of emails about lots of things. So make it clear why you’re writing. You don’t have to be clever here. Just use the following sentence with the appropriate bits altered:

“I am writing to seek representation for my debut novel, Return of the Killer Kitten, a 180,000 word geopolitical thriller, set in Ukraine, Berlin and Stockholm.”

Let your query letter define your query (2)

Yes, you are a fabulously creative person with ideas pouring out of your lugholes. But shut up about it – for now. Right now, you are seeking to retain a salesperson (ie: a literary agent) to sell a product (your manuscript) to an investor (your publisher.)

Focus on the task at hand. Talk about the product you want to sell now. Yes, you can introduce yourself a bit, but remember that your book is the main attraction here. So you should spend the majority of your (short) covering letter talking about your book. If, in addition to your geo-political thriller, you wish to write Young Adult fantasy and non-fiction about collapsed civilisations, then fine. But don’t talk about it now: you’ll simply reduce the pool of agents who want to take you on.

Once you have an agent on board, you can explain more what you want to write about, and you can explore how broadly your interests match. But for now, just find the agent who wants to sell this book. That agent is almost certainly the right agent for you now.

Shut up about yourself

I reckon you have a maximum of a paragraph to talk about yourself and, if I were writing a query letter today, that paragraph would probably be a short one. You are not the main deal here; your manuscript is – so focus on that.

That said, if you have an extensive and relevant past, by all means include a ‘Creative Resume’ or something similar as part of the package you send over. If I were seeking a new agent today, I’d need a list somewhere of my past books with a note of publishers, rights sales, TV options, and the like. That would be useful background for any agent, of course, but you want to keep it out of the query letter itself – because you want the query letter to keep its focus relentlessly on the manuscript that you’re seeking to sell.

Don’t shut up about yourself

Ah! You’re writing non-fiction? In that case, please ignore the ridiculous advice given just above. If the non-fiction book you’re selling depends heavily on your authority (your proven expertise) or your platform (your ability to reach readers via social media and so on), you need to talk about that at length. It’s all part of the package the agent will be looking to sell.

Don’t shove the synopsis into the query

Your query letter is a query letter. Your synopsis is a synopsis. Don’t ram the second into the first.
Yes, of course your query letter needs to talk about the manuscript. But it needs to do two things, neither of which involves a full plot explanation. It needs to:

1. Explain just generally what kind of book yours is. Your first sentence has probably given some data (“a police procedural set in the Scottish Highlands”, for example), but you need to flesh that out a bit. So, to take that example, you might expand on the nature of the crime being investigated, who the investigator is, and so on. You’re just trying to give the agent a basic orientation so she has some understanding of what this book is.
2. Explain why this book is sexy. This is the elevator pitch part of your pitch. If the thrilling thing about your police procedural is that the bad guy is a ghost, here’s where you say it. You don’t have to be too clunky about that. (“My elevator pitch is: the bad guy is a ghost.”) You can rely on the agent to pick up on the hints you scatter. (“But as DC Finlay closes in, he starts to realise the perpetrator is not entirely of this world.”)

If you try to replace either of these elements with a bald plot summary, your letter will feel a lot less appetising than it could be.

Think of it this way: your synopsis is meant to be a rather bald, functional document. If it’s fun to read, you’ve got it a bit wrong. Your query letter on the other hand is about seduction. You need a glitter of the unknown, the lure of temptation. If you don’t feel that tickle of excitement in your query letter, you need to redo it.

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All that sounds sensible, but there are also some areas where the answers are a little less clear. For example:

How many agents to query?

My normal rule of thumb is that you should approach 10-12 agents that you’ve selected with reasonable care. (Our own AgentMatch service is ideal, but whatever tool you use, make sure you are contacting agents with some basic interest in the kind of material you send.)

After that, if you don’t get serious interest (ideally, an offer of representation, but at a minimum 2-3 full manuscript requests), then you don’t need to query more agents. You need to write a better book. Yes, there are examples of people who just knocked on more doors and got lucky. But they’re not the rule. Really, the overwhelming reason why manuscripts don’t get picked up by agents is: they’re not good enough.

So, if the signs aren’t promising after your first round of submissions, go back to your manuscript and make it better.

Sometimes the actual submissions process itself gives you clues about what to do. Other times it’s worth getting a paid assessment (like our spectacularly good ones). But either way, if agents aren’t taking your book, then fix it. That’s more important, by far, than simply knocking on more doors.

Why this agent? Do I really need a marketing plan?

And look: there’s a ton of advice there which recommends extra ways for you to add work into your life.
It’s very common to see advice which says you need to tell each agent why you’ve picked them specifically. It’s getting more common to see advice which says you should include a draft marketing plan to prove that you’re up for the commercial struggle.

But – really?

In the end, you’re sending your book to a dozen agents. There might be two or three of those that you’ve picked for some strong reason. The rest are probably just there because they handle books in your genre and they don’t seem obviously mad.

My advice: if you have a meaningful reason for picking a particular agent, then say so. Otherwise, just send your book. A plumber doesn’t expect you to flatter them when you get them to quote for a new bathroom installation. Why should an agent need that special flattery, when you’re just asking them to do their job? Don’t waste your time.

Same thing, really, with a marketing plan. If you feel inspired to put one together, great. If not, don’t worry about it. I know quite a bit about marketing books, but I certainly wouldn’t put a marketing plan together when approaching agents. Marketing is a publisher’s job. It’s not mine, and not an agent’s. Again: don’t waste your time.

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That’s it from me.

Sorry about the BORING PRACTICAL theme this week. Honestly: anyone would think these emails were actually trying to be useful. I do hereby solemnly vow to do something a bit more madcap next week. Or – probably vow. Truth is, I write about whatever happens to be in my head at the time.

PS: Here’s what’s on the way for Premium Members next week (as always, Premium Membership is a click away, right here):

Live Event | Building a Writer’s Reputation Panel – Thursday 24 November, 19:00 GMT | 14:00 EDT

Townhouse | The Writing Room – Tuesdays 16:00 GMT | Thursdays 18:00 GMT

Set aside an hour (or two) to write in The Writing Room. This week will have a special focus on setting.

Townhouse | Harry’s Office Hours – Thursday 12:00 – 14:00 GMT

Based on the exercises in Tuesday’s Writing Room, I’ll be asking you to describe a setting with the five sense and feeding back.

Townhouse | Polly’s Office Hours – every Friday 13:00-16:00 GMT

Next Friday, Polly will also be giving feedback whether your settings come to life.