What Editors Want in a Query Letter

Craig Pyette editor with Random House Canada, and Robyn Read editor with Freehand Books, recently spoke at Humber School for Writers on the topic of query letters. What gets an editor’s attention?

Short is better. Shorter than one page.
Mention recent publications.
Include appropriate experience that directly relates to the book you’ve written.
If there’s humour in the book, then a little humour in the cover letter is nice.
Short fiction is a hard sell. Why is yours different? Why will this collection rise above all the rest?
You must present the project as complete, not make it sound like you want an editor to do all the work of assembling it.
Don’t narrow your book to one season – a Christmas book. It’s hard to make money on just one season.
Be accurate. The title in the query letter should be exactly the same as the title on page 1.
How will this book be relevant to today’s reader?
Does your cover letter suggest a clear trajectory? What’s the story arc?
It’s good to mention your mentors because they might be willing to write blurbs.
If a press turns the project down, don’t get discouraged. Perhaps they just put out a book on mental health and that’s their quota for the year.
Don’t refer someone to a webpage to view your work.
How is your book a new take on immigrant fiction?
Why mention extensive travel when the novel does not have any travel in it? Biographical details must be relevant to this novel.
Use the phrase, “This novel is about...” Don’t tell the editor to imagine. Imagine a world ruled by whales except nobody knows it’s ruled by whales except the whales...
The pitch should focus on one aspect of the novel.

One question from the audience elicited different responses from the two editors: In the query letter, should you mention that your book is similar to another person’s book? For example, This memoir is like Eat, Pray, Love but with a twist. It’s not Tuscany; it’s Whitehorse...

Robyn Read gave it a thumbs down. You have one chance to grab an editor’s attention. Why are you detracting from your own work by mentioning someone else’s? Craig Pyette gave it a thumbs up. It’s one of the first things book stores want to know. Where are they going to shelve it? It’s more to do with marketing than anything else. Knowing your market is good.