Most query letters fail for boring reasons. Not because the novel is unpublishable, but because the letter buries the story under throat-clearing, forgets the word count, or opens with a question no agent has time to answer. An agent might read forty submissions before lunch. Your letter has one page, or less, to prove the manuscript behind it is worth an hour of their evening.

Here is how to write one that gets read — and, ideally, gets you a request for pages.

What a query letter is actually for

Three jobs, in this order: tell the agent what the book is, show that you can write a clean sentence, and show why this book belongs on that particular list. Everything else is decoration.

It is a pitch, not an apology. Sentences such as "I hope you might possibly consider…" plant doubt before the agent has read a word of your story. Be warm, be brief, be certain about the book.

The shape of a UK query letter

UK agencies mostly work from email submissions or a form on their website, but the letter itself follows a dependable pattern. Five short blocks:

1. The salutation. The agent's name, spelled correctly, with the title they use. "Dear Ms Okonjo" is fine. If the agency's site shows the agent prefers a first name or Mx, follow that.
2. The hook. One or two sentences stating the premise, genre and category.
3. The story. One or two paragraphs on the protagonist, what they want, what stands in the way, and what happens if they fail.
4. The bio. Publication credits, relevant experience, or a genuine platform. Two sentences is plenty.
5. The close. A polite sign-off — "Yours sincerely" when you have used the agent's name — plus a note if the submission is exclusive or simultaneous.

Aim for 250–350 words in the letter itself. UK guidelines often ask for the first three chapters, or the first 5,000 to 10,000 words, plus a one-page synopsis. Read each agency's requirements properly, because they differ, and agents notice when you have ignored them.

Open with the story, not the scenery

The first sentence should make the agent want the second. Genre, category, word count and a clear premise will do more work than any atmospheric description of your setting.

The reliable shape is: character + want + obstacle + stakes, with one distinctive twist.

Weak: My novel is about a young woman who discovers she has powers and must save the world.

Strong: When sixteen-year-old Nia accidentally raises the drowned miners buried beneath her village, she has three days to send them back before they take her brother in their place.

The second version gives an agent a lead character, a deadline, a threat and a reason to keep reading. Yours does not have to sound like a thriller — a quiet literary novel can still open with a precise, concrete situation.

Get the middle right: genre, word count, comparison titles

Be specific. "Literary fiction with a speculative edge, complete at 92,000 words" tells an agent where the book sits. "Fiction" tells them nothing.

Word count should be honest and rounded to the nearest thousand, not padded. Most UK agents expect adult novels to sit somewhere between roughly 70,000 and 100,000 words, with children's and YA categories usually landing in different ranges. If your manuscript falls far outside the usual band for its category, an agent will still want to know why — but they need the real number first.

Comparison titles help if used carefully. Choose two books published in the last few years that share your readership rather than your plot, and explain what the comparison means. "For readers of X and Y, in the tradition of Z" signals the shelf. Comparing your debut to a record-breaking bestseller signals that you have not thought about the shelf at all.

Personalise it without pretending

Generic flattery is easy to spot. "I admire your agency's commitment to excellent storytelling" says nothing, and it says it to every agent on the list.

Useful personalisation is one or two sentences drawn from something concrete: the agent's wishlist, a recent interview, a line in their submission guidelines, or a panel you attended. For example: "Your wishlist mentions you are looking for historical fiction set outside London, and your list leans towards working-class voices — my novel follows a Tyneside shipyard family across three decades."

Say it once and move on. If you were referred by another writer the agent represents, mention it — but only if it is true. Agents check.

What to avoid

• Rhetorical openings ("What if you woke up…?"). They delay the pitch and rarely land.
• Describing themes instead of story. Themes belong in the synopsis; a query needs events.
• Word counts that stretch credibility, and manuscript pages attached without permission.
• Unpublished novels listed as credits, or praise from friends and family.
• Apologies for taking up time, and asking whether the agent is open to submissions when their guidelines already answer that.
• Mass emails with every agent's address visible in the "to" field.
• US spelling and terminology in a UK submission. Small consistencies suggest care.

Final checks before you press send

1. Read the agency's guidelines twice. Attach only what they ask for, in the format they ask for.
2. Insert the agent's name correctly, with the right honorific.
3. Check that your genre, category and word count appear in the first paragraph.
4. Read the letter aloud. Cut anything that sounds like a press release.
5. Use their subject line format if one is given; otherwise keep it plain: "Query: [Title], [genre], [word count]".
6. Send from a professional address and log the submission — date, agency, agent, what you sent, and the response window their site states.

Then stop tinkering and start the next chapter. A query letter is a working document, not a masterpiece: its job is to get your pages read. When a request lands, the letter has done its work, and the manuscript takes over.

Photo: Pixabay / Pexels