Writing Tools
What Is a Query Letter?
A query letter is a one-page pitch writers send to literary agents asking for representation. It must introduce your novel, show the central conflict, and position the book clearly in the market.
Best for
Who is the query generator for?
Writers with a finished draft who need help turning their manuscript into a clear pitch for agents.
- Novelists preparing for agent submissions
- Writers who know the book but cannot summarize it cleanly
- Authors revising a weak query before another batch of submissions
Query checklist
- A compelling hook that names your protagonist and the central conflict while displaying your literary voice
- Clear, specific stakes: what the protagonist stands to lose if they fail
- Comparable titles published within the last three to five years, in your genre
Checklist
What Makes a Strong Query Letter?
The strongest query letters stay specific, market-aware, and easy for literary agents to scan in under a minute. They adhere to tone and formatting conventions. Remember, this is the beginning of a business partnership.
Historical Fantasy
Example Query Letter
See how a strong fiction query letter introduces a distinctive premise, builds tension, and lands on clear market comps.
Dear [Agent Name],
I am seeking representation for my debut novel, THE LAST HEIR OF CAMELOT, a 95,000-word historical fantasy in the tradition of Kiersten White's The Guinevere Deception and Lev Grossman's The Bright Sword.
Comps
The metadata comes first: title, word count, genre, and two Arthurian-adjacent comps that give the agent a clean market frame before they read a word of the pitch.
Arthur has spent his life being the wrong son: a gambler, a drunk, and a reliable embarrassment at court. But when his older brother Cador, Camelot's golden heir, falls to his death from the city walls, Arthur becomes next in line to a throne he never wanted.
Hook
Opens with character, conflict, and a dramatic change in status. Arthur's voice and position are both clear within two sentences.
The court calls it an accident. Arthur knows better. Retracing his brother's final days, he uncovers the truth: Cador had been searching for the Holy Grail. Not a relic of faith, but a source of political power strong enough to put Camelot in the hands of whoever claims it.
Plot
This paragraph pivots from death to mystery and gives the Grail a concrete political function, which makes the story feel specific.
Determined to learn who killed his brother, Arthur begins an investigation from the shadows of the palace itself. But the deeper he digs, the clearer it becomes that powerful men want the truth buried. The knights of the Round Table mistrust him, his father the king would rather preserve order than expose scandal, and the killer is still close enough to strike again.
The Close
Escalates the pressure around Arthur from every direction and makes the danger feel immediate inside the court itself.
Arthur has spent his whole life being dismissed as a coward. Now he must prove them wrong by uncovering his brother's murderer before they seize the Grail for themselves and turn Camelot's greatest legend into the weapon that destroys it.
Stakes
Ends on a concrete threat, not just an internal feeling. The query closes by showing exactly what Arthur must stop and why it matters.
I hold an MFA in Creative Writing from [University], and my short fiction has appeared in [Publication].
Author Bio
Brief and relevant, with credentials that support the pitch without taking over the letter.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely, [Author Name]
Dear [Agent Name],
I am seeking representation for my debut novel, THE LAST HEIR OF CAMELOT, a 95,000-word historical fantasy in the tradition of Kiersten White's The Guinevere Deception and Lev Grossman's The Bright Sword.
Arthur has spent his life being the wrong son: a gambler, a drunk, and a reliable embarrassment at court. But when his older brother Cador, Camelot's golden heir, falls to his death from the city walls, Arthur becomes next in line to a throne he never wanted.
The court calls it an accident. Arthur knows better. Retracing his brother's final days, he uncovers the truth: Cador had been searching for the Holy Grail. Not a relic of faith, but a source of political power strong enough to put Camelot in the hands of whoever claims it.
Determined to learn who killed his brother, Arthur begins an investigation from the shadows of the palace itself. But the deeper he digs, the clearer it becomes that powerful men want the truth buried. The knights of the Round Table mistrust him, his father the king would rather preserve order than expose scandal, and the killer is still close enough to strike again.
Arthur has spent his whole life being dismissed as a coward. Now he must prove them wrong by uncovering his brother's murderer before they seize the Grail for themselves and turn Camelot's greatest legend into the weapon that destroys it.
I hold an MFA in Creative Writing from [University], and my short fiction has appeared in [Publication].
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely, [Author Name]
Comps
The metadata comes first: title, word count, genre, and two Arthurian-adjacent comps that give the agent a clean market frame before they read a word of the pitch.
Hook
Opens with character, conflict, and a dramatic change in status. Arthur's voice and position are both clear within two sentences.
Plot
This paragraph pivots from death to mystery and gives the Grail a concrete political function, which makes the story feel specific.
The Close
Escalates the pressure around Arthur from every direction and makes the danger feel immediate inside the court itself.
Stakes
Ends on a concrete threat, not just an internal feeling. The query closes by showing exactly what Arthur must stop and why it matters.
Author Bio
Brief and relevant, with credentials that support the pitch without taking over the letter.
Two ways to start
Query Letter Template or Free Generator
Use the generator for a faster first draft, or use the template to write your own query letter by hand. Both follow the same format literary agents expect.
Upload Manuscript
Upload your novel as a .docx or .txt file. We analyze the manuscript to understand your plot, characters, and voice.
Select Your Genre
We tailor the query letter to the conventions literary agents expect in your genre.
Get Your Query
Get a complete query letter, including recent comparable titles that fit your book.
Dear [Agent Name],
[Hook: one sentence naming your protagonist, the central conflict, and the impossible choice.]
[Plot paragraph: establish the setup, what your protagonist wants, and the turn that changes everything.]
[Stakes paragraph: put your protagonist in a no-win position and end on the question that makes the agent keep reading.]
[TITLE] is a [word count]-word [genre] novel that will appeal to readers of [Comp 1] and [Comp 2].
[Brief author bio, if relevant. Keep it to one or two lines.]
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely, [Your Name]
Inkshift
Why Writers Struggle with Query Letters
- It's difficult to condense years of work into a single page
- Literary agents have specific expectations that take time to learn
- A single weak sentence can end a query before an agent requests pages
- Most writers have no idea how their book reads to someone seeing it for the first time
Inkshift analyzes your manuscript the way an agent would. The result is a query letter based on what is actually on the page, not what you meant to put there.
The difference
From Vague Pitch to Query Hook
The strongest query letters get specific fast: protagonist, stakes, and comparable titles.
Typical opening
My book is about Arthur, a prince whose brother dies mysteriously, and he starts looking into what happened. Along the way he learns about the Holy Grail and gets pulled into court politics that make him question everything he thought he knew.
Inkshift-generated
Arthur has spent his life being the wrong son: a gambler, a drunk, and a reliable embarrassment at court. But when his older brother Cador, Camelot's golden heir, falls to his death from the city walls, Arthur becomes next in line to a throne he never wanted.