Scifi Blog :: Fiction & Movie

A good query letter catches the agent’s attention and is the first step in how to get a novel published. What should be included in your query letter?

The first paragraph should be a brief synopsis of your novel. No more than 100 words, perhaps 150 words. This synopsis is written in the present tense. You want to hook the agent’s curiosity to read more. It’s a challenge to condense a 100,000 novel down to 150 words, but important you do. Think of the synopsis as a back cover blurb. It gives just enough information to create excitement about the novel. If you need some examples go to the bookstore and look at the back cover blurbs of books in the same genre as yours.

The second paragraph describes the market for your novel and includes the genre. Are you aiming for romance readers, cozy mystery readers or is your book a young adult novel? You can compare your book to other similar books, saying something like “readers of Sandra Brown will enjoy TITLE OF YOUR BOOK. Mention the word count and that the novel is completed.

The third paragraph includes your background as a writer and a brief bio. If you have writing credits make sure you mention them. Many agents don’t consider a vanity/subsidy book or self-published book as a writing credit. If you include the title they will look it up on amazon.com to see who the publisher is.

The third paragraph is where you can describe any special experience you have that could become a publicity hook or gives you an insight other writers might not have. For example if you are a pastry chef and your heroine is also a pastry chef that would be relevant.

End the letter by thanking the agent for their time and consideration and asking if they would like to see the first few chapters or a completed manuscript. The purpose of the query letter is to motivate the agent to ask for the manuscript.

The query letter should be no more than one page single spaced. You could also include a 2 or 3 page synopsis of your novel, but don’t include the first chapter or the entire manuscript.

If you’ve done any freewriting now is the time to develop a plot or a theme from those writings. Write down all your ideas for characters, events, and places. On indexcards flesh out your characters, tell about their hair color, eye color, build, education, job, hobbies. The more you know about your actors, the more believable they will be when you write your book.

Select a time frame and location. What do you want to write: mystery, historical, fantasy, or ethnic romance novels? Make that decision and then research the market and write to sell in that market. Study book covers, themes, and plots. What do the best sellers look like? Don’t reinvent the wheel.

In the first few pages of writing you must create intense interest. Book publishers and readers usually will not go much farther than the opening paragraphs. That old phrase,”if only I had known” did it’s job at providing suspense and interest. Can you think of an equally attention getting phrase? Of course you can!

Now, create your main character and endow them with human qualities. No one is perfect and they shouldn’t be either. Let their faults show. Fill out their index card with all the details of a living human being. Perhaps you can base your character on someone you know. Just be careful not to be too blatant writing your descriptions.

All characters must have a reason for being there. They should add something to the story. It may not be significant but they must help move the story along.And allow lots of dialog. Let your characters speak as they would in real life.

The main components to a romance novel are:
Interest = This is the boy/girl thing
Conflict = This is where they butt heads
Resolution = This is where all problems are resolved and they live happily ever after. Yes… give them a happy ending!

To the good part!! You could be at your own very first book signing in just a few months! That is not an outrageous claim. Thousands are doing it right now.