Length of query letters

Sure, if it's a great letter, no one will count the words. But it had better be a really great letter.

Agents these days are getting 100s of letters a month. Maybe a week. They're just looking for the reason to say, No, and move on to the next one.

Do you really want yours to be longer than everyone else's?

The point is, you're trying to grab their attention and show them what a great idea you have. It doesn't take long to do that.

250 for the body should be your goal. No, you're not going to lose many agents if you run a bit longer, but you run the risk of losing some as your letter expands.

None of them are going to bother to count, they'll just open the e-mail, gasp at how long the query is and look for a quick excuse to pass on it rather than read an epic query. 325 is only 50% long. You could probably get away with that, if every word counts, if it's edited to hell, and damn near perfect. Otherwise you're only hurting yourself.

Pepperman said:

Some of my earlier posts referred to the number of words in a query letter. I recently spoke with a friend, who is is a NYT best selling author. (14 novels) He had an interesting comment. "Any agent who adheres to an absolute number of words, is someone you do not want to represent you. If your query is 325 words--so what? If it's a great letter--no one will be counting words." What does everyone think?

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I think your friend may be a highly successful writer, but he certainly doesn't know all the agents and editors out there. Some of the very best absolutely want you to adhere to a strict word count.

And why not? If you can't do this basic thing, if you can't keep something as simply as a query letter to 250 words, why should an agent or editor believe you can do anything else right?

If an agent or editor says "One Page Only", or
No more than 250 words", there isn't a reason in the world to send more than one page or 250 words, other than an inability to say what you want to say using one page or 250 words. This is a bad sign.

If it's a great query letter, you never, ever need more than one page or 250 words.

A great query letter often sells the book with a single sentence, and sure doesn't need anywhere near 360 words, so why take the chance?

RE: "Any agent who adheres to an absolute number of words, is someone you do not want to represent you. If your query is 325 words--so what? If it's a great letter--no one will be counting words."
I totally agree with this caveat: keep it to one page. Whether it's 500 or 325 words is not at issue. Here's the issue: If you can't hook your first reader-the agent-with this letter, they think (& rightly so) you have trouble writing compelling prose. Your query letter is the first sample of 'compelling prose' the agent reads.
For interested writers, visit my website & The Writer Magazine--query letter critiques are my specialty. I offer them free at my site and in my Critique My Column @ The Writer Mag.
Marla Miller

I've tried both -- the shorter one definitely got more nibbles

I don't think I'd counted mine until just now

For what it's worth, mine turns out to be 278 words. If the agent I am querying has sold a book I have read recently, and it's relevant, I add a sentence saying so. If I absolutely had to, there's about 20 words I could cut out of my bio paragraph.
Bryan

I would be intrigued to see your query pavtbr.

You've got 50 posts so the gates of "Share your work - query letter hell" are now open.

Respectfully,

Ergo

FUwriting said:

I've tried both -- the shorter one definitely got more nibbles

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Yes. Same here. Agents and editors are very busy. My queries which over the years have ranged from MG to adult, are usually only one paragraph (about six or seven sentences) about the novel, one paragraph (about four sentences) about my published writing, and a final "thank you etc" paragraph (maybe two sentences). I've gotten many requests for partials from them, and in 2006 got an agent. I'm back at querying again and I'm getting requests for partials from my queries.

Ergo said:

I would be intrigued to see your query pavtbr.

You've got 50 posts so the gates of "Share your work - query letter hell" are now open.

Respectfully,

Ergo

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Preparing to wander over there now Ergo. BTW, I've sent you a PM with a copy of my query letter. Always looking for whatever I can do to make it better. Thanks!
Bryan

I recently read a Query Shark post (by Janet Reid, queen of the 250-word query rule) where she commented on a fantastic query that was 384 words and said she wouldn't cut a single word. I think it depends to some degree on the complexity of your book. If 250 words would short-change the big picture story or your credentials, I'd go longer, just as long as every single word was 100% essential.

Pepperman said:

"Any agent who adheres to an absolute number of words is someone you do not want to represent you."

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I agree that this is not the sort of philosophy I'd follow when deciding if an agent was right for me. Yes, one would want agent flexibility in terms of manuscript edits and business/writing relationship, but, in the end, agents know the industry better than most writers who are seeking agents. The query letter shows the hook and the parts the author thinks would draw in readers. I guess agents are influenced by that when submitting to publishers. Just as with the one-page-synopsis rule, agents set preferred limits to the size of query letters to see if authors can follow personal submission guidelines.

I'd take it as a challenge (in a good way).