The Query - The Summary
You’ve written your greeting. It’s short, professional, and explains why you have chosen to approach this particular agent. Now it’s time for the meat of the query letter - the summary. To begin with, remember this: It is not the job of your query letter to make every agent want to read your book. The job of the query letter is to help the right agent recognize your book as a project he or she is capable of representing with enthusiasm. No one likes everything and nothing has ever been liked by everyone. Therefore, when summarizing your book, attempt to reveal what it actually is, and even, to some degree, what it is not. Be honest. It’s the best way to find the right agent.
I am now going to deal more with fiction and not non-fiction. Non-fiction is typically sold more on the idea of the book and the author’s credentials. A professional query letter is still important, but requires a bit less finesse. For fiction, you’ve got to reveal the nature of your book without having to tell the entire story. How to do that?
First, if you’ve got a hook of some kind, lead with that. If your detective is a one-armed midget, if your story is told backwards in Farsi, if your protagonist falls in love with a cat—get it out of the way. Such distinctions will probably go a long way in determining if your book is right for an agent. Otherwise, make sure you establish right away when and where the story is taking place, and whom the story is about.
Next, conflict. Somehow, your summary must describe conflict. In fact, beyond defining who and when and where, conflict should be the whole of your query. If your story revolves around one central conflict – the hero must return the Crown of Reckoning to the Tomb of Earth; your heroine is looking for love after losing her husband and daughter in a plane crash – then your job is made somewhat easier. Here is my protagonist, here is his or her conflict, here is how it is resolved.
Not all stories are so simple, however. Mine never managed to be, and so I learned to choose a variety of conflicts that gave a feel for the entire story. It didn’t matter so much whether the agent understood the plot or not; it was only important that the flavor of the story and nature of the conflicts be expressed.