How to Use My Query Letter Template for Fiction Workbook
As someone who was in the query trenches for 12+ years, I know how difficult it can be to write a query letter and get an agent interested. That’s why one of the first printables I made for my Etsy shop was a query letter template for fiction writers.
I also have one for nonfiction writers, but I’m in the process of updating that one.
Querying agents has changed a lot since I started querying back in 2010. Response times are slower, it seems like fewer debut authors are being picked up, and publishing houses are dealing with shakeups, possible mergers, and strikes.
With that said, I want you to know that it is still possible to get an agent. But it’s important to accept that it may not happen as quickly as you think or with the agent you dreamed about.
And so today I want to walk you through my Query Letter Template for Fiction workbook. I created it using my years of experience with querying agents and studying what they prefer, what they don’t, and how to keep it simple.
This workbook will help you become more confident with query writing and so when the time comes that you start submitting them, you’ll feel good about your chances.
Here’s a breakdown of my Query Letter Template for Fiction workbook
Basic Elements of a Query Letter
The first thing I walk you through is the basic elements of a query letter. These are four essentials you need to have since they work together to make your overall query professional, concise, and compelling.
These elements include:
the Hook
the Book
the Author
Personalization
The workbook dives deeper into each section so you can understand why they matter and why you should include them in your query letter.
The Hook
In the Hook section, you get exercises to help you write a solid and compelling hook. This is essentially a one to two sentence premise of your book that you would share with someone who might ask, “What is your book about?”
Hooks entice people just enough. They don’t go into endless detail or spoilers. Your goal is to compare your book to something currently published (a comp title) so it gives the person a general idea of the tone.
For example, Alexandra Bracken’s Passenger duology is about time travel and romance on the high seas. You can compare that book to Outlander except it’s for young adults.
You also get fill-in-the-blank templates to help you build a few different hooks. The more you have to experiment with, the better chance of finding the one or two that you’ll share with interested readers.
The Book
This section helps you write your blurb. Too often, writers share too much information in their query letters. But with only one page and a few paragraphs available, you need to learn to cut away the fat and share only the meat of the story, which includes the main character and their journey.
Query letters are not the place for subplots unless they’re absolutely vital to the main character’s journey. Even then, you can write one or two sentences about it and move on.
Your book blurb should include:
The main character and their goal
The inciting incident
The obstacles the main character will face
The stakes if they don’t reach their goal
Again, your query is not the place for spoilers. Reserve those for your synopsis. Your query should read like the blurbs you read on books in stores. In fact, reading a ton of them will help you build your own blurb.
Keep the focus on the main character and their journey while making the agent want to read more.
The second half of the Book section encourages you to dig deeper. This means writing about the themes of the book or how it connects to you. This part is more up in the air because only you’ll know what you need to share more of to entice the agent to read more.
For example, maybe the book was inspired by a real-life experience or something you witnessed. Showing your personal connection to the story will tell the agent that you’re writing about something you know, which will give it more merit.
But diving into the themes can be just as powerful. The exercises in the workbook will give you a few different paths to try.
The Author
This section is pretty self-explanatory, but you’ll be surprised how many writers get tripped up over writing their mini bio.
Because your query letter should stay focused on your story, this section will not be long. And if you don’t have a lot of previous publications to share, that doesn’t mean you have nothing to write about yourself.
The exercises will encourage you to talk about your job or your hobbies. And if they relate to your story, even better.
Basically, this section will help you get over the fear of writing about yourself and produce a mini bio you can be proud to share. Once you have a solid bio, you can post it on your social media accounts or on your website.
Tying It All Together
My main goal with this workbook is to get you to focus on one section at a time and then you can tie it all together into a cohesive query letter.
You get plenty of practice pages to draft your different sections and your full letter. Though you can always draft on your computer or in a separate notebook and write the final copy in the workbook. The choice is yours.
It’s always a good idea to draft at least two or three different query letters. You may only choose one to send, but having options never hurts.
Bonus Query Tips
You also get a couple of bonus query tips that include information about personalization and why it’s important. There’s a section about writing your closing and how to end your query letter. And finally, there are a few more tips on the querying process in general.
I’ve built this workbook to give you as much information about writing a solid query letter right out of the gate. If you take the time to answer the exercises thoroughly, you’re going to find it super easy to tie it all together.
While I can’t promise representation if you use this workbook, I can promise that you’ll become more comfortable writing a query letter.
I know how hard it is to condense your 70,000+ word novel into a few paragraphs. But writing solid and compelling query letters is a skill all writers should learn. It’ll come in handy more often than you think.
You can purchase the workbook here. And as an added bonus, I offer query letter edits. So once you have yours written and feel you’ve taken it as far as you can, request an edit from me and I’ll be happy to help you get it to the final draft.
