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You've spent months (or years? decades?!) writing your book. Now you're approaching traditional publishing and they're telling you to condense it down to a 300 word letter to convince an industry gatekeeper to read it?
Yeah, most writers I know would rather do snow angels in broken glass.
Query letters are hard. I've seen hundreds of writers completely derail their writing process (and sometimes their mental health) because of this one-page letter, writers focused and disciplined enough to get through writing and revising an entire book!
What is a query letter, how do you write one, how can you use them to get a literary agent and get your book published (finally!)? If you want to learn how to write a query letter to get published, that's what we're going to talk about in this article.
And by the way, if you want to make this process easy, we built Twig's Query Package for this exact problem. It's an AI query letter generator that creates everything you need to start submitting to literary agents: 3 variations of a query letter, a full synopsis of your book at 3 different lengths, and it does it alongside your developmental edit, so there's no extra waiting. We'll describe it below, but you can get your own here.
But first, what is a query letter and why do you need one?
What Is a Query Letter?
A query letter is a one-page pitch to a literary agent. It's almost always the first step into traditional publishing, whether you're writing fiction, nonfiction, or memoir. Even academic publishing uses query letters. So it's an important skill to master… if you want to get published.
You can think of a query letter like a sales page or cover letter for your book. You're not sending the whole manuscript. You're sending 250–400 words to convince an agent to read it. That's the entire goal: get them to say, "Tell me more."
You might think: I'm too good to go into some gatekeeper's slush pile. But trust me, a great query letter can work. I've gotten $500,000+ in advances all from queries that started in the slush pile of literary agents. This is a powerful letter!
Query letters can vary slightly between fiction, nonfiction, and memoir, but they all tend to have four parts:
- The personalization – Every agent is looking for different things, and it's your job to tailor your query letter to what they've already done. I like to find a book they've recently sold (through publishersmarketplace.com, more on that later), and then include a few words about how mine is similar.
- The metadata — Title, genre, word count, and (if you didn't include in the personalization) comp titles (comparable books). This tells the agent a bit about where your book fits in the market.
- The hook — A sentence or two that grabs attention.
- The pitch — A paragraph or two summarizing the content of your book. Not the whole plot or full outline. Just enough to make someone need to know what happens next.
- The bio — A short paragraph about you, include publishing credits if you have them, relevant expertise if it applies to your book. If you have neither, keep it simple and confident. No need to share about your knitting hobby or how many pets you have!
That's it. One page. No attachments (unless the agent's guidelines say otherwise). No elaborate formatting. Just a simple but enticing letter that will have agents begging to read your book. Easy right?
Well, no. But if you're still a little confused, let's take a look at a couple of sample letters so you can see how it works.
Fiction Query Letter Example
We'll start with a query letter for a novel. Here's an anonymized query that landed a major literary agent (so you know it works)!
SUBJECT: Query: Women's Fiction - [TITLE]
Dear [Agent Name],
After following your work with Elizabeth Rowan, especially her novel Whispering Shores, I thought you might be a good fit for my Women's Fiction manuscript, [TITLE], complete at 82,000 words.
Emily Hart not only has buckets of talent, she's suffering from a severe case of writer's block. In search of new inspiration, Emily relocates to Haven's Edge, a picturesque coastal town where she meets Alex Reed, a local boat builder with a passion for maritime history and a shared love for the works of Daphne du Maurier. But as their relationship deepens, they find themselves entwined in the decades-old mystery of Madeline Price, a local artist who vanished under mysterious circumstances.
As Emily delves into Madeline's past, she uncovers a series of cryptic paintings and journal entries revealing a scandalous secret about the town's founding families. The journey reignites Emily's passion for writing and helps her rediscover her voice, all while being the catalyst to the town confronting its hidden past, further testing Emily and Alex's relationship and even Emily's continued residence in Haven's Edge.
[Author Bio]
Sincerely,
[Author Name]
Notice the structure: personalization (mentioning a specific book the agent sold), the metadata (genre, word count), then straight into the story with character, conflict, and stakes. No wasted space.
Nonfiction Query Letter Example
So that's fiction, now let's look at nonfiction. Here's one tweaked off a book I helped a client use to land one of the best literary agents in the country and get a publishing deal with a great publisher.
SUBJECT: Query: Business/Self-Help - [TITLE]
Dear [Agent Name],
After seeing you represented Mike Lynch's Super Culture, I thought you might be interested in [TITLE], a business self-help book (projected word count 55,000) for managers and team leads trying to navigate the shift to remote work while still keeping their unique team culture.
Most companies get remote work wrong. They replace offices with Zoom calls, swapped hallway conversations for Slack threads, and then wonder why their best people either quit or lose their productive edge. As the founder of a 40-person company that went fully remote in 2018, two years before everyone else was forced to, I spent years figuring out what actually keeps remote teams connected, performing, and having fun doing it. It wasn't zoom pizza parties. It was rethinking trust, communication, and how we measure performance from the daily standup all the way to the board meeting.
In [TITLE], I share the framework that took my company from 60% annual turnover to under 10%, and I break down how other remote-first companies are doing the same. The book covers asynchronous communication, results-based accountability, and the counterintuitive case for fewer meetings. It's written for the manager who knows remote work should be better than this, and is ready to fix it.
Can I share the book proposal with you?
Sincerely,
[Author Name]
How to Find a Literary Agent
You've got your query letter. Now you need someone to send it to. The best resource, by far, is Publishers Marketplace which shows you who's actually selling books in your genre right now.
Here's the thing: you can look at a thousand agent wishlists, even talk to hundreds of agents at writing conferences, and all of them will lie to you about what they want.
I know this because I've read their wishlists and talked to them, then I've looked at the books they've actually sold and they don't match at all!
To be more generous, I don't think they're lying, it's more aspirational. They would like to sell more YA and middle grade books, for example, they just tend to be really good at picking cocktail recipe books. It is what it is.
The thing is, you don't want to waste your time querying agents who're never going to actually read your book. You want to query agents who actively sell books similar to yours.
So get on publishersmarketplace.com and find them.
A few tips:
- Query in batches of 8–10 agents at a time. If you're getting zero requests after your first batch, either your query needs work or you're sending to the wrong agents. Revise before sending more.
- Most agents accept simultaneous submissions (meaning you can query multiple agents at once). None of them like it, but expecting an agent to have the sole focus of your querying attention for weeks or months is ridiculous. I skip the ones who say they require sole-submission.
- Agents work on a 15% commission when they sell your book. There are a couple of lawyer agents who take an upfront fee, but by and large, if they're charging a reading fee, they're not legitimate agents.
- Don't worry if you don't hear back. Many agents never respond to queries they're passing on. If you haven't heard back in 8–12 weeks, you're welcome to send a quick, professional "did you get this" email, but after that, assume it's a no and move on.
The querying process is a weird mix of numbers + quality. It takes a strong letter sent to the right people at the right time. And even then, with publishing how it is, you might not get picked. That being said, the better your letter and more targeted your list, the better your odds.
But how can Twig help? Here's what you get in our new query letter package.
What You Get in Twig's Query Package
The Query Package is an add-on to any Twig developmental edit, and includes:
- 3 query letter variations — Each takes a different angle. One might lead with the hook. Another might emphasize the stakes. A third might open with a thematic question. You test what resonates with different agents.
- 3 synopsis lengths — Half-page (~250 words), one-page (~500 words), and two-page (~1,000 words). Every agent asks for something different, so you'll have all three ready.
- Comparable titles — Researched comp titles positioned specifically for your manuscript. Not generic "books in the same genre" but actual strategic comps you can use in your letter.
- Personalization guide — A full walkthrough: how to customize your letters, write your bio paragraph (even if you have zero credentials), find the right agents, and actually submit.
The cost of the package is an additional $10, but it's included free with your dev edit credit.
Why Three Query Letter Variations?
Different agents respond to different approaches. An agent who represents literary fiction might connect with a thematic opening. One who specializes in thrillers might want the hook up front. A third might care most about your platform.
Three variations give you range. You're not blasting the same letter to 50 agents and hoping for the best. You're matching your approach to each agent's style and preferences.
Each variation also serves as a starting point. Take the one that feels closest to right, polish it, personalize it. Add your bio. Add a line about why you're querying that specific agent.
Then send!
Why Three Synopsis Lengths?
Because agents can't agree on what a "synopsis" means.
Some want a brief synopsis, a paragraph or two. Others want a page. Others want two pages with detailed plot points and the ending revealed. (Yes, synopses always reveal the ending. That's the point.)
Instead of having to rewrite your synopsis for each submission, you'll have all three lengths ready. Check the agent's guidelines, grab the right one, rewrite in your voice, polish it one final time, and submit.
How the Comparable Titles Work
Comp titles are one of the trickiest parts of a query letter. You need books that are recent enough to be relevant, similar enough to position your work, but not so famous that you look delusional.
Our system uses AI + web search to research titles based on your actual manuscript. Not your genre in general. Your specific themes, style, and story. The results are positioned as strategic comps you can drop directly into your query letter.
The Personalization Guide
This is honestly the part that matters most.
The guide walks you through everything after your query letters are written: how to write your bio paragraph (with examples for both credentialed and debut authors), where to find agents who represent your genre, how to personalize each query, and what to do once you start getting responses.
Think of it as a querying crash course written by someone who's done it.
What This Doesn't Replace
One last thing: an AI query letter generator isn't meant to replace your judgment.
You still need to add your bio paragraph (only you know your experience). You still need to research agents and personalize each letter. You still need to read each variation and decide which angle feels right for your book. You still need to polish it in your own voice.
What it does replace is staring at a blank page trying to figure out how to summarize your 80,000-word novel in 300 words.
It gives you a strong starting point (three of them, actually) so you can focus on what you do best. Your writing!
Try It
The Query Package is available now as a $10 add-on to any Twig developmental edit. If you have edit credits, it's included free.
Upload your manuscript at twig.io/dev-edit, select the Query Package, and have your query materials ready alongside your editorial feedback.
Good luck! Can't wait to hear how it goes for you.
