Common Query Letter Mistakes (and How to Fix Them)

Let’s take a look at some of the most common mistakes I see in query letters—and how you can easily avoid them.

Mistake: Focusing on theme instead of plot.

A lot of query letters highlight the lesson to be found in the manuscript, or the emotions the author hopes the reader will feel. Themes won’t help sell your book. An agent needs to know what actually happens in your manuscript. Having a high concept premise (and effectively communicating that in your query letter) is key.

Mistake: Not trying to hook the reader.

The purpose of your query letter is to make the recipient want to read your book. That’s it. Your pitch should leave some questions unanswered so the recipient has to read the manuscript to find out what happens. Queries with strong hooks capture the attention of agents and editors.

Mistake: Pitching more than one project.

Your query letter should focus on one project, even if you’ve written a few. Keep things simple and pitch your best work.

Mistake: Writing too long of a pitch.

I personally read query letters in batches (I’ll set aside time to specifically read those emails), and when I come across a query letter that will take minutes to read instead of seconds (it’s true: most agents only spend a few seconds per query), it stands out in a bad way. There’s no firm guideline on query letter length, but stick to two or three paragraphs. A short pitch is an indicator that you really know your story and how to position it in the market.

Mistake: Complaining about other books.

It’s not great when a query letter has negative things to say about published books. Whether it’s about a specific trend or an entire category/genre, you don’t need to highlight what your book is not. Focus on describing your work.

Mistake: Not including an author bio.

Agents take on new clients that they want to work with—it goes beyond writing a great book. You also need to make a good first impression. Even if you’ve never published before, you should include something about yourself in your query letter. You’re looking for a business partner, so you want to introduce yourself.

Mistake: Using questions in the pitch.

“Have you ever wondered what NYC would look like after the apocalypse?” No, I haven’t. If that’s my answer, then this pitch has already lost my interest. If the reader has a negative response to your question, well, you might not even get the chance to explain what the book is really about.

Mistake: Sending with bad formatting.

I recommend sending a copy of your query letter to yourself before submitting it to agents. You want to make sure your email system isn’t messing up fonts, spaces, colours, etc. If you’re copying and pasting your query letter from a word processing program, there’s a good chance the formatting will change somewhere in the process. Strip all the formatting before pasting (if you know how to do this) or type your query letter directly into the email.

Mistake: Relying too much on comparison titles.

Finding strong comp titles for your query letter is an important task. But you can’t expect those comp titles to sell your book. What if the agent reading your query letter hasn’t read those comparison titles? Include those comp titles, but more importantly, write a strong pitch.

Mistake: Not following submission guidelines.

Are you tired of reading this advice? Agents post this all the time because it remains the biggest mistake. Following agent/agency submission guidelines is so important and makes the right first impression. (It can also help avoid your query being sent to spam.)