For my contribution to Query Letter Week this week, I plan to talk about my hunt for the great pumpkin, or a literary agent that would fit me.

My hunt to find an agent began in early 2009. At time I experienced the joy and fright of taking an entire first book and writing a synopsis. Needless to say my first synopsis was a heap of a hot mess. Thanks to Sarah Bromley and Angie Fox, I had suggestions on how I could make my query better.

I’ve had a chance to see many queries from friends and other websites. Here’s my tips on what grabs me as a great query letter:

1. Like others said, keep it short! – I’ve read so many queries that want to show me the kitchen sink, and give every plot point in the book. A query is meant to sell your book to the agent, not to give them a synopsis. If your query goes past 250 words, (and there are exceptions) then really take a hard look and ask yourself, is the information I’m giving necessary to convey what my story is about.

2. Give the book, hook and the cook. Simple and sweet advice that I hear all the time. And it’s valid.  Let’s break this down:

Book: Right up front you need to realize an agent has many queries to read and helping them scan to see if you fit them really helps. For example, you can state: HOT NEW NOVEL is an 80,0000 word paranormal romance that I’d like for you to consider. This lets them know right away the genre and your fabulous title. (Well, let’s hope its fabulous!)

Hook: I think Angie Fox here does a great job talking about finding the hook of your book. It’s that thing that makes your book stand out compared to others. If you could sum up your book in a couple of words what would that be. I know this is easier said than done. The method I use to summarize my book is by describing my book gradually from a few words to several paragraphs. I adapted this from Lynn Viehl’s Novel Notebook page 5. Try to describe your book in one paragraph. Then twenty-five words or less. Then down to fifteen words or less. Next chop some more fat to go down to the final ten words or less. Do you see your brain churning to find out what the central idea of your book is about? What makes your book different to hook that agent?

Cook: Who are you? Okay, more specifically, what are your qualifications in relation to the publishing industry. For the longest of time I envied the folks who had MFAs and such, but it doesn’t matter. Your query and then your writing should sell you. So don’t sweat it if you don’t have endless awards or degrees.

How about a trip down memory lane? This is the query for my second book I ever wrote: BACHELORS AND BROOMSTICKS:

Mr. McCarthy,

My novel BACHELORS AND BROOMSTICKS is a complete 80,000 word paranormal chick lit novel that I hope you will consider.

Supernatural matchmaker Tessa Dandridge helps reckless werewolves and precocious pixies find love. But with financial problems related to her business looming, an opportunity to hit the major leagues comes up. That is, until her magical Rolodex is lost in her repo’ed car and she can’t contact her V.I.P. clients. To connect with an important client cavorting in the fifth dimension, Tessa must depend on handsome Rob the warlock repo man to enter Limbo and find her Rolodex.

Forced to help Tessa, Rob faces money problems of his own, thanks to the bank determined to foreclose on his elderly aunt and uncle’s home. Tessa is drawn in the middle when Rob’s repossession jobs catch up with him and powerful warlock seeks to end Rob’s life for his constant meddling. With Tessa also growing increasingly unhappy with her “perfect” handpicked boyfriend, she’ll question both her matchmaking skills and what she believes is the ideal man.

My novel is targeted for Love Spell or other paranormal romance lines with a large female audience that enjoys authors such as Shanna Swendson or Mindy Klasky. It has a quirky voice similar to the book Succubus Blues, by your client Richelle Mead. Each chapter begins with dating tips from a paranormal perspective. A portion of the first chapter is included below. Thanks for your time and consideration.

Shawntelle Madison

In my query, I break everything up into blocks. Block 1 is where I give the book’s info. Block 2 is related to my heroine. Right then and there I give her goal, motivation, and conflict. In Block 2 I have the hero and his information. I tried to describe his goal in relation to hers and give a hint as to why their relationship wouldn’t work. Not easy at all, but with a lot of tweaking I took many paragraphs and chiseled it down to those two. It’s all about hooking that agent to read more.

In the final block, I give information to personalize the query and show the agent I’m actively researching the market and what kind of books he likes to represent. I want to show him that I’m serious about the business and I feel I’d be a match for him.

How about this. Think about why you picked up that book off the shelf to read it. You read the blurb and you got hooked. That blurb didn’t tell you how the story ended. It didn’t give you that blow by blow of the car crash or what happened when the hero boned the heroine a few times. The blurb made you think of that all time reader question, I wonder what happens in here.