Query Letters

I was talking to a self-published author friend of mine, and he commented that most agents don't accept submissions, so everything was hopeless, blah, blah, blah.

True or False?

True, most (if not all) agents don't accept full manuscripts. But...
most agents accept queries.

So get off your duff and write one!
Except ten out of twelve writers agree that writing a killer query letter is harder than writing a novel.

What goes in a killer query letter?

1. An introductory paragraph about why you're approaching this particular agent.
2. A synopsis
3. A paragraph about you

IM (not so) HO the best queries fit on a single page, especially when querying agents that represent MG and YA.

For help on writing a query letter, visit literary agent Nathan Bransford's two part blog titled the anatomy of a query letter:

nathanbransford.blogspot.com/2006/11/anatomy-of-good-query-letter.html

AND

nathanbransford.blogspot.com/2007/05/anatomy-of-good-query-letter-ii.html

Next up:
How to get your query letter critiqued
Where to send your query letter
Tips on submitting query letters

Stay tuned.