Folks who have studied/learned (or, erm, LIVED) with me know I’m not the world’s biggest “rules” person. You’ll never hear me say you MUST follow a certain template in order for your book to succeed—other than to continually make things tough on your protagonist and offer your reader compelling things to anticipate along the way.

The same is true for query letters. We put so much pressure on ourselves to get them JUST RIGHT, and obviously, they DO need to include necessary and persausive details, but any search of the internet will provide copious examples of queries that worked (to help writers secure represenation) but were too long, didn’t include comp titles, or which broke the supposed rules in some other way. Yet, they still did what they intended to do: they captivated someone enough to read the book. And the book is, ultimately, the real star of the show.

So, it should be noted that even though I’m providing what I consider a helpful template for arranging your query letter, there are other useful models out there as well. And it should be further noted, that the “hook, book, and cook” concept is not my own. I don’t know who first originated it, but, to me, it’s an appealing method for tackling the query beast.

Give it a go, and see what you think!

HOOK:

• Includes title, genre, word count, intended readership and comp titles. (This can come at the beginning or end of the letter—or be woven into the main body describing the book.)

• Offers a short, tantalizing logline/summary that expresses your story’s concept in a way that stirs intense interest.

Examples:

“What if stepping through an ordinary wardrobe could transport you to a world trapped in eternal winter — where your arrival has been prophesied for a hundred years?” (THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE)

A woman accused of a heinous crime must seek help proving her innocence from the town’s most notorious citizen: Lizzie Borden.

BOOK:

The story summary in one or two paragraphs (three tops, if they’re short). Will typically introduce the most intriguing aspects of:

• Story World: An alternate timeline Gold Rush town…

• Protagonist: Twenty-year old Maddy Gant finds herself appointed deputy sheriff in 1865 Deadwood, South Dakota.

• Conflict: When the beloved sheriff is killed, Maddy must step up to solve his murder and take charge of this powder keg of a town where everyone has a gun and an explosive land battle is brewing.

• Stakes: With a lynch mob forming and her brother as the prime suspect, Maddy has to bring the real killer to justice and tamp down a riot before she finds her own neck in the noose.

• (Bonus) Uncertainty: Some hint of how the story’s central problem is impossible to resolve or of a difficult choice a character may be forced to make.

COOK:

• Relevant writing credits or writing-related activities.

• Something interesting about you as a person. If it relates to your story in some way, great!

BONUS OFFER TO SEE IF ANYONE READS THIS STUFF: THE FIRST THREE PEOPLE WHO CONTACT ME WILL RECEIVE A FREE “PRE-FLIGHT QUERY PACKAGE” REVIEW. TAKE A LOOK HERE FOR DETAILS.

GET IN TOUCH HERE IF YOU’RE INTERESTED. YOU CAN RESERVE A SLOT DOWN THE LINE IF YOU’RE NOT READY YET. SORRY FOR THE SCREAMY CAPS.