With the digital age upon us, agents and editors have started to accept email queries.  Like with any submission, proper formatting is important when submitting a query via email.  Curtis Brown agent and blogger Nathan Bransford wrote a terrific post this week showing you exactly how to do this by using his post as a query in and of itself. 

You can find the full post HERE

The query he created to illustrate his point is copied below:

Dear Blog Readers,

This is how you format an e-mailed query letter. Note that I did not begin with the recipient’s address or my address or the date, as that is not customary for an e-mail. I also am not indenting because indenting and e-mails do not mix.

I am using block formatting. I double space between paragraphs but otherwise the query is single-spaced. It is written in a default font, it is left-justified, and the font is a normal size. If I have copied from a word processing program or past e-mail I am careful to make sure the fonts and sizes match. I haven’t added pictures or tried to get fancy with anything because I want the agent to see that I’m confident in my words and don’t need any gimmicks to make my query stand out.

Believe it or not, less than 25% of the e-queries I receive are properly formatted. While you won’t get rejected if your query is incorrectly formatted, if you accomplish this simple task correctly you will convey an indispensable aura of professionalism. And remember: the amount of time you spend formatting, coloring, bolding, italicizing, and adding pictures to your query is inversely proportional to how professional it looks when you’re finished.

Sincerely,
Nathan Bransford (note that I didn’t leave space for a signature since it’s an e-mail)

My address
My phone number
My e-mail address
(optional: my website/blog)

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Two wonderful posts this morning that are very enlightening with regard to understanding why some books get rejected.

In the first, literary agent Janet Reid of Fine Print Literary Management breaks down the 124 full manuscripts she requested this year into offers (2!) and rejections and then breaks the rejections down again into groups showing why they were rejected.  Read it here.

The second, and similar post, is by Del Rey  Editorial Director  Betsy Mitchell over on the Suvudu blog and she does the same thing.  Read that one here.

Of particular note – the reason most books were rejected from both the agent and the editor?  Simply just not good enough.