In a query letter, you’re trying to get an agent interested in your work. I get over 1,000 a week, so my staff and I are going through these queries pretty quickly.

As Hodapp says, the letter has one goal: to get the agent to request the full manuscript, "period." It's harder than it looks. Agents receive thousands of letters and only respond to a small fraction.

Eric Smith is a literary agent at P. S. Literary. His 2020 manuscript wishlist includes genre blending literary fiction and young adult novels. Smith says "hope" is the guiding principle of the YA ...

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He requires those who query him – 50 to 100 a week – to submit lengthy proposals using his template, before he decides whether to represent them. They must provide details “on what the author is going ...