Query Letter

I have had several people want to see my query letter since I have gotten quite a few responses, so I am including it below.  I have received both good and bad responses, but to me that's better than no feedback at all.  And most of the rejection letters have been quite nice.

I use "Young Adult Novel Query" as the subject to my email.

Query Email:

To Whom It May Concern,
(or Dear Ms./Mr. So-and-so if I actually know their name)

I am writing to request representation for my young adult trilogy entitled The Maggie McCauley Chronicles.  This series follows the life of Maggie, a young girl who learns she has inherited the ability to time travel from her late father.  This discovery reveals many family secrets, including the family’s history with the malicious Van Alstyne.  With the help of her eccentric guide, Philip, Maggie must discover how to handle her new found abilities so she may fulfill her place in the “Travelers Ordinance.”  Within Maggie’s journey to unearth the past and find her future lies a relationship with the father she never knew.

This book has been described as “the Time Traveler’s Wife meets Harry Potter.”  It has fantastic elements that will capture the reader’s attention along with real-life issues that will connect the reader to the otherwise ordinary Maggie.  This series will resonate with readers both young and old.

I would like to submit to you the first four to five chapters of chronicle one.  Once completed, the first book should contain 24 to 28 chapters and be around 300 pages in length.  I truly believe in this book and think it could be great.  I just need someone who can help me along.

Thank you for your time,

Jana Gordon Pettus

It's really short and sweet, gives a quick synopsis of the book, provides a genre and targeted age group, and offers an estimated length.  I also elude to the fact that it is not a completed manuscript when I say "once completed..." but sometimes they request a full manuscript anyway (see post below.)

Oh and DO NOT pay attention to the spacing, because Blogger is stupid and doesn't know what it's doing.  I've tried to fix it like elevendy billion times, and it never works, so whatever.  It's supposed to be spaced like a typical business letter.

So there is a sample you can go by.  I don't claim to be an expert on query letters.  I just googled one and used that a template for mine.

Enjoy!

-JGP