Many people who post queries in Queries, synopses, etc. make a few very basic mistakes. Flagging and fixing the same basic issues means spending time on lower-level editing, which takes time away from higher-level editing. So here are some suggestions:

1. Read this.
2. Read the basic breakdown here, plus this, this, this and this. Ensure that your query follows those rules and suggestions.
3. Check these other resources, including for pitch contests.
4. Check out Query Shark for sentences and facts you should avoid including in your query because they won’t help it.
5. Check out the Successful Queries database. Compare your query to the successful ones in your genre and age range. Emulate the successful ones.
6. This may mean deleting your query and starting over. That may seem singularly heart-breaking, but if you do everything in your query incorrectly, people will tell you so. Instead of having that happen, check out everything here and then consider whether you should simply start anew with more guidance than you had before.

Examples of things the average successful query doesn’t include:

A. “The book starts.” Why? Because “the book starts” takes us out of the frame of the book. Some successful queries do this, but the bulk do not.

B. “Will make you laugh.” Successful queries don’t tell the reader (the agent) how the book will make them feel. Instead, successful queries make the reader laugh, or they comp funny books, as in “with the humor of [a funny book].”

C. “New Adult.” New Adult is no longer a thing. An agent will tell you to age it (and your book) down for YA or up for adult.

7. Check out my guides:

Active versus passive verbs

Active versus passive protagonists (also covered excellently here by Sunyi Dean Âû)

The difference between a query and jacket/cover copy

Long modifiers beginning a sentence

Long phrasing

Nouns and verbs

Plot element lists

Ending with a question (most agents say not to, so just don’t)

8. Post your query, having fixed surface-level and other structural problems.

And get ready to revise.

9. Once you have a winner, tailor the parts to the agent.

Some agents insist that you put the genre, word count and other elements of the query at the top so they know immediately if a book is something they rep. Others want you to begin “Dear agent, EVERYTHING IS ON FIRE! AND GAY! AND SCIENCY!” Researching an agent’s preferences will keep you from being Form Rejected simply because you didn’t follow rules you didn’t know about.

Every aspect of life and civilized society has rules, from where to wear shoes to where to stick your book’s word count. Following those rules keeps you from being rejected for reasons that have nothing to do with substance.

Yes, this is a lot. But beginner query writers make a ton of mistakes. And that’s to be expected — the query is an unusual document. Your high school, college and other writing courses didn’t cover it. And here you are having to squeeze 30,000 words into 200. It’s hard. That’s why so many people are here to help.

FAQs:

This video covers book length.