A LETTER OF INQUIRY is written to an editor or agent to describe a writing and ask if they would like to see it. It is submitted in place of an unsolicited (unsolicited) manuscript. (A COVER letter is a letter sent to ACCOMPANY a manuscript).
Before writing an inquiry letter, check to see if the agent / publisher offers guidelines to the writers; be sure to target the right market for your writing. (Many publishers now have guidelines on the Internet.) Also see the Writer’s Marketplace guide.
New York agent Don Maass, in his interview with Writing For Success, offered these guidelines for writing an inquiry letter:
“Make sure your inquiry letter is short and professional. I really recommend the four paragraph inquiry letter as follows:
FIRST PARAGRAPH
Say something like, “I’m looking for a literary agent for my mystery series.” What else do you need to say than that? The agent thinks: Well, what is this series?
SECOND PARAGRAPH
The second paragraph is a description of the property you are offering. All I really care about is the story. Does the story have an interesting business premise? If you don’t have the knack of coming up with a clean hook or a strong, concise tone, then all you have to do is tell me the beginning of your story. What is the problem you are facing? If you can give me those three things and give them to me in an interesting way, I promise I will want to know what happens next.
The job of the inquiry letter is not to sell me representation. All the inquiry letter has to do is convince me to read the manuscript. Sometimes we ask for a couple of chapters and a synopsis, but even if we ask for them, the inquiry letter has done its job. All I need is to be hooked, and the beginning of any good story will hook any reader.
THIRD PARAGRAPH
Now that I’m interested in the story, who is the author? Who wrote it? A little bit about the author is helpful, not too much. How does your experience relate to the story?
FOURTH PARAGRAPH
Closing: Say something like this: “I look forward to hearing from you. I am ready to send you the first three chapters and an outline or full manuscript; please let me know what you would like to see.”
Be short, simple, sweet, professional. When you read 250 letters a week and try to do it in an hour or two, trust me: brevity counts.
Be sure to include a self-addressed, stamped envelope for the editor or agent’s response. If an editor responds with ‘yes, we would like to see your work’, then your writing has been REQUESTED or requested. Please send it promptly and in your cover letter mention that the piece will be shipped at your request.
