Ann Rose is a typical Taurus—loyal but stubborn, which means being an author is perfect. While asking the private group chat for ideas on what to include in this bio, Ann was reminded that some of her greatest qualities are her awesome best friends from high school—a fact she couldn’t argue with. She loves dark chocolate, sarcasm, her family, tacos, and her cats—obviously not in that order. Ann also writes young adult novels under the pen name A. M. Rose.

Landing an agent feels like it takes a touch of magic. Who are we kidding? These days it can feel like you need to unleash the power of an entire coven. But I’m here to tell you it isn’t as difficult as it seems—with a few exceptions (but I’ll get to that).

Query letters are hard. Period. There’s no amount of fairy dust or sugarcoating it to try to convince you otherwise. However, I’m here to tell you that the only “magic” you need in crafting one is right here in this article, and I’m going to attempt to break it down as simply as possible.

First, let’s get some basics out of the way.

A query letter is a professional tool used to entice an agent into wanting to read your story. It is comprised of five parts.

Opening or Introduction

Here you will tell the agent why you chose to query them. Did you meet them at a conference? Maybe saw a MSWL post online? Awesome, mention it. But don’t worry, this doesn’t have to be anything special, and if you can’t think of anything it’s okay to skip this step.

Summary

Here is the “meat” of the query where you tell us about the story* (more to come on this in a moment).

Meta-Data

Here is the genre, word count, age group if it’s kidlit, and your comp titles. (Yes, you should use comp titles and if they are within the last three years the better.)

Bio

Here you will tell a little information about YOU and maybe what inspired you to write this book.

Closing

Here you will thank the agent for their time.

On the surface it sounds easy enough, but number two is the part most authors get stuck on. How do you sum up an entire novel in 250-350 words? It’s not easy. I’m not going to lie and tell you that it is. But I will tell you that there is a cheat code for getting this information out and in a way the agent needs.

I can hear you now… well what is that? Don’t worry, I’m about to tell you. In order to craft the perfect summary you need to ask yourself four questions about your manuscript.

Who is the main character? (This one is pretty straightforward unless it’s multi POV but we will get to that in a moment.)

What do they want? (What are their overarching goals? Don’t worry if this thing changes halfway through the novel. Think about what it is that they want at the start of the story.)

What stands in their way? (These are the obstacles. What obstacles are stopping them from achieving their goals. Remember conflict is key to any story.)

What happens if they fail? (STAKES? This is the most important part! What do they risk losing if they fail to achieve their goals.)

Now let’s get into some of the nitty gritty. If you have multiple POVs—this happens a lot with romance where both love interests have a point of view—the simple trick is to do it for both. Lots of romance novels have back cover copies that do this seamlessly, so consider studying some of those to help you. (You will still want to be in that 250-350 word limit, so getting to the point as quickly as possible is key.)

Where things get tricky is when you have more than two points of view. Now the simple answer is to highlight one or two of them and just note in the “meta data” section that the book is told in XX points of view or “multiple points of view.” This works the best when you are highlighting a POV that the book starts with. If the query tells the agent about Sally and Mary, but the book opens with Rodger they are going to be confused.

Another (not magical) trick is to be specific about your story. You do NOT want this query letter to be able to be used for any other book than YOURS! So while your story may use familiar tropes—a girl must team up with her nemesis to save the world and not fall in love in the process—you want to make sure you show how your book if different from all the others doing the same thing. So while being “vague” might feel like the way to go because it “feels” more intriguing, really it doesn’t allow your story to standout the way you need it to in the query box.

The most important thing needed in order to find that “magical connection” with an agent, is to make sure that you are doing your research before querying. Don’t spaghetti approach this—throw everything at the wall and see what sticks—be thoughtful in why you are choosing the agents you are querying.

Unfortunately, in this day and age the dreaded “scam” is always possible, so I think we should talk about some dark magic (aka red flags) when it comes to querying.

You should NEVER pay a reading fee. EVER!

You will want to check to make sure the agent/agency has a solid reputation and sales record. New agents/agencies pop up from time to time, but you want to make sure to do your due diligence.

Let me explain.

Being a new agent with an established agency isn’t a bad thing. That agent should have the resources and mentorship they need to succeed.

Having a new agency isn’t a bad thing. Especially if that agency was started by an agent (or agents) that have been in the business for a while and have a solid track record.

Approach a new agency with new agents to the industry with caution. Agenting is very much a mentorship type of career, and no book or amount of studying can replace practical on the job training.

Lastly, look out for scam agencies using real agent names. This has been unfortunately a growing trend.

Writers Beware is an amazing resource for writers. Victoria Strauss is an absolute gem in this industry! Another great resource is the AALA.

That’s it. There’s no special potion or incantation that will be able to magically get you signed with an agent. So before you break out the sage and start the seance circle, come back to this article and remember the only magic you need is inside yourself.

A Hexcellent Chance to Fall in Love by Ann Rose

Everyone loves The Dead of Night Halloween store, but no one sees it being set up or torn down. Pepper White was cursed five years ago to serve as the Keeper of the Store after falling for the previous Keeper’s trick, meaning that she disappears from the world and peoples’ minds when the store goes away. Pepper doesn’t mind this fate until Christina Loring walks into the store. Sparks fly from the first time they lock eyes, but to pursue this newfound love, Pepper must do what she swore she wouldn’t—trick someone else into taking on the curse.

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