Query Guru: MG Horror

A great query, but it's not ready to send to agents

*If you’re looking for my latest newsletter full of writing news and resources, it’s here!*

Today’s Query Guru post:

Welcome to another Query Guru post! Today we’ll look at the query letter of Middle Grade horror novel. This query is amazing and I love it so much. But, in my opinion, the author isn’t ready to query. Why? Because the pages need work. And I’m guessing if the first two pages need work, the rest of the manuscript does, too.

Querying too soon is one of the biggest mistakes an author can make when trying to get an agent. You want to make sure your book is as good as it can possibly be before you send it to agents. Most of the time you only get one shot sending a project to an agent. Once they reject it, that’s it. You can’t send them a revised version and say, “oh, actually, read this one instead.”

So, we’ll look at all the great things this query is doing, and then we’ll see how the author can improve the pages. The story itself has a lot of promise, so I think once the pages are improved this will become a stand-out submission.

The query letter and first pages were submitted by a subscriber to my newsletter (thank you, author, for submitting!). If you would like a chance to receive feedback on your query letter and first page, fill out the following Query Guru form. You do not have to be a paid subscriber to receive feedback, though you do have to be a paid subscriber to read the feedback I give to others.

And, if you’re looking for a comprehensive guide to how to write a query letter in the first place, check out my in-depth post: How to Write a Stand-Out Query Letter.

Here’s the amazing query: