Query Guru: Pretty Good Isn't Good Enough

Adult literary fiction

(If you’re looking for my latest free post full of writing news and resources, you can find it here.)

Today’s Query Guru post:

Welcome to another Query Guru post! Today we’ll look at the query letter of an adult literary fiction novel. The first time I read this query I thought, “this is pretty good.” I wasn’t surprised the author had received 3 full requests in 18 months of querying.

So the problem might be with the first pages, not the query. Although, to be honest, I thought first two pages weren’t bad either.

Here’s the sad truth: a pretty good query and pretty good first pages… in today’s querying climate, that’s just not enough to make a submission stand out in the slush pile. Certainly not enough to get a busy agent to make an offer.

But not to worry, I have suggestions for both the query and the first pages that will take this submission from good to great!

This query letter was 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.

The query: