Novel Query Letter Examples Novels & Stories

Her fingers, so sure a moment before, fumbled now. She pulled out the first page from the new stack. It was a formal cover letter addressed to a Mr. Alistair Finch, Director of the Trust. Subject line: RE: THE CARTER CANDIDACY. Being considered? She had been a winner, not someone being considered for some secret review. The letter was just a simple confirmation, saying that "the first funding package has been approved and is ready for payment." It was signed with a name she sort of recognized as Grant's longtime executive assistant. Her blood ran cold.

I adjusted a sleepy Esme on my lap, holding her with one arm as I scrolled frantically through the email with my free hand, my eyes glued to the screen. [Greetings! Ms. Holloway, I'm Theresa Steele, Editor-in-chief here at Bloodhound Press. I hope this email finds you well...] I skimmed through the pleasantries and the details of his review of my work, which were filled with genuine praise for my writing style and my ability to keep readers on the edge of their seat.

I still hadn’t gotten it out of my system. I raised my head and looked at my laptop. I still had the draft of a query letter I had typed out to Anthony, on my email. I was still contemplating sending it. However, there was no direct evidence that he had done anything to prove that he had done anything inappropriate. I set the file down and exhaled. I would get the information from her soon enough. I checked the computer screen. Work was over and I wasted no time in grabbing my phone and calling Enora.

--- The response that mattered most arrived in April. It was not a review. It was a letter—a handwritten letter, forwarded by the publisher, from a woman in the north of England who had read the book in February when it had appeared in her local library. The letter was written on blue paper, the kind that was sold in packets at stationery shops, the paper with the watermark that indicated it was good quality without being expensive. The handwriting was careful—the handwriting of someone who had taken time to form the letters correctly, who had perhaps written multiple drafts before settling on the final version.

Perfect. “Draft an inquiry,” I say. “Exploratory. Two paragraphs. Mention narrative strategy, long-form concepts, and a stipend that refuses to be ignored. Send it to her agency, copy legal.” I pause. “Use a foundation name, not corporate. The Heliograph Fund. Keep my name off the first pass.” “Of course,” she says, and then, because she is very good at her job, “Do you want the contact to come from a woman?”

I am also proficient in household management tasks and flexible with schedules. I am excited about the opportunity to contribute to your family's well-being and development. I look forward to discussing how my skills align with your needs further. Thank you for considering my application. Sincerely, Emma Johnson. With a deep breath, I attached the letter to the email, my fingers hovering over the keyboard before finally clicking "Send."

"He sent me the worst query letter I've ever received. Three paragraphs, no comps, a typo in the title of his own manuscript." "And you signed him anyway?" "The first page was extraordinary. You can teach someone to write a query letter." She paused. "You cannot teach that." Caleb was quiet for a moment, looking at the market with the thoughtful expression she was starting to associate with him — like he processed things a beat slower than most people, not because he was slow but because he was actually thinking. It was an unusual quality. She'd forgotten it existed. "What made you want to do it?" he asked. "Finding people like that."

Then she read it again, slowly. Margaret Chen wanted to read the full manuscript. She’d found the query letter “striking in its directness and its refusal to apologize for its subject matter.” She was interested in the intersection of personal narrative and social architecture that the query described. She could not make any promises, but she wanted to read it. Anya sat very still for a moment. Then she forwarded the email to Nikolai with no text in the body of the message. He appeared in her doorway four minutes later.

He looked younger in the photo. Anita left Liam's profile page, and browsed how to submit her letter of application and certificate to them instead. Finally, she found an available application form online and checked for open positions. Anita copied the company’s email address and decided to write a letter of application, as that was the only way to submit an application to work with the company. Since she was tired, Anita decided to type a fresh letter of application to the Benson Group the following day. After copying the email address, she put her phone on her shelf and drifted to sleep.

They simply present themselves as the next available action and you take it and find out what it was in the taking. She opened a new document. She began to write. * * * The agent responded in twelve days. Her name was Clare, and her email was direct and professional and contained the specific language of someone who had read the manuscript and had formed a clear view of it, the language of someone who dealt in books and knew what she was looking at.