23 Literary Agent Query Letters That Worked

By Jason Boog 

Once you find an agent you would like to represent your book, the pitch letter is the next step in the traditional publishing process.

Below, we’ve collected 23 different agent pitch letters that actually worked in a variety of genres. We’ve gathered these samples from agency websites, agent blogs and the AgentQuery forums. No matter what kind of novel you have written, they can help you craft a better query letter.

Welcome to our Top Stories of Summer 2013 series. For all our readers returning from trips and vacation reading, we’ve created a short list of the stories you may have missed during this long, strange summer for the publishing industry.

Here’s more from AgentQuery: “A query letter is a single page cover letter, introducing you and your book. That’s it. Nothing more, nothing less … A query letter has three concise paragraphs: the hook, the mini-synopsis, and your writer’s biography. Don’t stray from this format. You won’t catch an agent’s attention by inventing a creative new query format. You’ll just alienate your chances of being taken seriously as a professional writer. A query letter is meant to elicit an invitation to send sample chapters or even the whole manuscript to the agent.”

23 Agent Query Letters That Actually Worked

1. Adventure Novel

2. Children’s Chapter Book

3. Chick Lit Fantasy

4. Fantasy

5. Historical Fiction

6. Historical Romance Novel

7. Lady Lit Mystery

8. Literary Fiction

9. Middle Grade Novel

10. Middle Grade Science Fiction

11. Mystery Novel

12. Paranormal Romance Novel

13. Romance Novel

14. Romantic Suspense Novel

15. Science Fiction

16. Steampunk Novel

17. Thriller Novel

18. Urban Fantasy Novel

19. Women’s Fiction

20. Young Adult Novel

21. YA Fantasy

22. Young Adult Paranormal

23. YA Science Fiction