Send the letter to “whom it may concern” in the publishing house, or better yet your Aunt Mary’s editor from the 1990’s. This will ensure that your letter sits in the mail room until the mail person can figure out whom to give it to. Even better it can be returned to sender, address unknown. Even if Aunt Mary was a NYT Bestselling author, her editor may no longer be at that publishing house and her publishing house may not even sell the type of book you are querying about. Before you begin, target your publisher and the appropriate editor for your completed book. If you write to the wrong editor, or to a generic “submissions” you are wasting your time and the editor’s time. Your letter could end up in a stack of mail holding up a credenza. So, do a little research, check the publisher’s guidelines and send your letter to a real person.

Step 2

Write a five to ten page letter telling all about yourself, your experience and of course why the editor would want to buy your book-add how you are certain it will make the NYT list. Be sure not to tell them much about the story so that you will peek their interest.

Keep a query or cover letter short and sweet. One page is best. Editors are swamped for time. If you can’t introduce yourself and your story in one page, then you need to learn how to edit. A good letter has three parts. First is the intro—tell them who you are, why you’re writing and whether or not your story is complete. Next is a short paragraph about your story—sell it like a back blurb. Last, thank them for their time and trouble.

Step 3

Leave them with your phone number and address. After all, they can simply call you or better yet, write you. At the very least a big publisher should be able to spend 40 cents on a stamp to let you know.

ALWAYS include an SASE—self addressed stamped envelope. Editors don’t have the time to call you or hunt up envelopes or postage for your rejection letter. Imagine if they get 50 queries a day-6 days a week. Plus they are working with their current authors and the many stages of books they are seeing get properly published. Now, how many submissions would you remember to call or find a stamp for? The easier you can make their job, the better. I shows that you are professional and respectful of their time and talents. Below is an example of a query letter.

Silhouette Bombshell
Natashya Wilson, Associate Senior Editor
233 Broadway, Suite 1001
New York, NY 10279

Dear Natashya:

At the RWA national conference you said you were looking for Bombshell stories that ran along the lines of the television show “Medium.” So, I polished my completed 80,000 word manuscript, Demanding Justice, with you in mind. Dr. Eva Stanford has a patient who becomes someone else in third stage REM sleep. The woman convinces Eva she is the long missing first wife of a prominent politician, a woman whose disappearance 35 years before sparked talk of Mob involvement. When Eva delves deeper into the mystery, she draws the attention of unsavory characters. Eva must use her wits and her secret marital arts skills to stay alive and solve the mystery behind the woman’s nightly transformation. To that end, she recruits the help of FBI Agent Nathan McKinsey and discovers a love that just might be bigger than the both of them. Enclosed please find a partial for Demanding Justice, along with a copy of my bio and an SASE per your publishing guidelines.
Please feel free to contact me should you have any questions or concerns. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely,

Nancy J. Parra

Note: This query letter and story are copyrighted by Nancy J Parra and cannot be used without permission from the author.