11 Words You Should Absolutely Know Before Querying an Agent
Essential Vocabulary for Serious Writers - 5 Part Series
Querying is about selling yourself as much as it is selling your story. And it’s not a one-sided audition: it’s a relationship. It is so, so, so important to take the time to research each agent you query and ask yourself: Do we align? Would I trust this person to represent my work in the world? This is a two-way street. Getting a yes, isn’t the endpoint, you’re inviting a creative partnership. It’s also a lot easier if you have clarity on a few terms, so let’s go over the words every writer should know before querying an agent.
As of today May 9th 2025, I am actively querying my manuscript Astral Academy. In the following post, I have used direct examples from my query letter. Beta readers can read Astral Academy Here.
The Basics:
Query Letter – A one-page email that pitches your book to a literary agent. It should include an intro, comps, the pitch ( a hook with a short summary), and a bio. I also like to include a sentence on why I’m querying this specific agent, but this is a preference. (Side note: these do not have to be in this order! I have had editors prefer the pitch at the front, after intro, and have had critiques to lead with your comps.) There is no perfect order, but the best order is the one that feels organic and true to you.
Intro : Seeking Representation for…(word count) + (genre) + Novel or (nonfiction, collection of short stories, or hey maybe even a poetry chapbook—we can dream.)
Bio: Your query bio is a bit different than a typical bio, it should answer what makes you the right person to tell this story. Don’t be afraid to show a bit of personality.
Comps (or Comparable Titles) – Recent, and well-known books (or even movies/shows!) that resemble yours in tone, theme, or audience. It’s good to specify what attribute of the work your story resonates with.
Pitch : A short, compelling summary of your book, often used in pitch contests or live agent events. This is your ‘book-jacket’ pitch.
A. I’m seeking your representation for Astral Academy, an 80,000-word speculative novel with metaphysical elements.
B. My background combines scientific rigor and creative exploration. I earned a Bachelor’s degree in Arts and Sciences for Pre-Veterinary Medicine from Georgia State University before discovering my true calling in Emory’s Creative Writing Program. These dual perspectives, scientific inquiry and storytelling, form the foundation of Astral Academy. When I’m not writing (novels, poetry, and philosophical essays) I run Sanity Ranch, a small animal sanctuary in North Georgia
C. Readers who enjoy the grounding science of Blake Crouch, the magical realism of The Midnight Library, the academic setting of The Magicians, or the thought-invoking philosophy of Three Body Problem, will find much to love in Astral Academy!
D. Natasha Stepanov expected very little from life. She certainly didn’t expect to inherit an empire. But after the death of an estranged father, she’s dropped into the center of the complex world of ChudaPharma; a three-part powerhouse of a company: pharmaceuticals, research facility, and university. A company that her father, Dr. Stepanov, sacrificed any semblance of normalcy to, in an attempt to prove the Astral Realm's existence. His work was nearly realized before his death, but now his entire legacy is at risk postmortem; mainly threatened by the company’s profit-driven CFO, Tony. Natasha, highly skilled in reading people and creative solutions, sees what her father never could: the answer lies in community. The proof arrives by assembling a diverse team of gifted students, or Astralnauts, to explore the Astral Realm effectively.
Is the Astral Plane just a fantasy, concocted from a mentally-ill scientist? Or, is it the biggest discovery of the nature of our reality as we know it?
Synopsis – Ideally a one page summary of your story, including the ending. It proves you’ve written a cohesive, well-structured manuscript. This is not the paragraph on the back of a book. It is a filled in—but concise—outline of your book. Two pages is okay, but one is better.
Manuscript – Your completed, and very polished, novel. Fiction must be finished and edited before you query, only nonfiction can be in the form of a proposal.
Logline – A one-sentence description of your story that hooks attention by stating the protagonist, conflict, and stakes. Think of it like a movie tagline.
A woman inherits her late father's secretive research facility, and launches an academy to finish his life’s work—exploring the Astral Plane and proving it’s existence to the scientific community.
Genre – The category your book fits into (e.g., literary fiction, psychological thriller, upmarket women’s fiction, speculative YA). Agents want to know where your book sits on the shelf in a brick or morter. It’s entirely possible that your book fits in several genres, but pick one, maybe two that are the most prevalent.
Agent Responses
(and we faithfully hope they grace our inboxes)
If you get a response, it will likely come within the hour—5 months, and in one of the following forms:
Partial Request – The agent asks to see a portion of your manuscript (e.g., first 20 pages is pretty standard) based on your query.
Full Request – The agent wants to read the entire manuscript. A sign you might be close to representation. I hope you have the manuscript in the best possible condition.
Exclusive – The agent asks to review your work without you submitting it elsewhere for a certain period. Always clarify the timeline, and two-four weeks is pretty standard.
Form Rejection – A generic rejection without personalized feedback. It stings, but it’s not a reflection of your worth.
Personalized Rejection – A rejection with specific feedback. These are gold—consider them a signal you’re close.
R&R (Revise & Resubmit) – An agent requests changes with the possibility of offering representation if the revision works. Work quickly!
Bonus! Where the Query Lives before Acceptance:
Submission Tracker – A spreadsheet or website like Query Tracker where you log who you’ve queried, when, and their response. Essential for staying organized. You may query a handful of people at a time, I personally aim for 3 a week or 5 every other week, but I would not query people at the same agency.
Slush Pile – The digital stack of unsolicited submissions agents read through. Most debut authors start here. Getting noticed is part timing, part polish, part magic.
F I N A L T H O U G H T
Querying is part craft, part courage, part matchmaking. Don’t rush! And you don’t have to settle. Keep showing up and you will find the right partnership.
Did I Miss Anything? Agents, any nuggets to add?! Lets hear it in the comments please.
Coming Next Week:
20 Words You Should Know Before Workshopping Your Writing
This is a 5-Part Series: All links will be updated and banked here once posted.
25 Words You Should Absolutely Know Before Writing Fiction
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Before you start your bestseller, learn the vocabulary that will help you shape stronger plots, deeper characters, and more intentional and effective prose. And no, this isn’t about sounding fancy or well read. Mastering craft language helps you take ownership of your stories, and talk about your work with confidence.
22 Words You Should Absolutely Know Before Writing Poetry
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Before you sit down to write your first next poem, take a few minutes to learn or brush up on the language used to shape emotion, sound, and ultimately, meaning. This list isn’t about how to write poetry “correctly,” it’s about having all the tools (aka. the language) available to support your craft. Poet-to-Poet? Learn the rules, so y…
20 Words You Should Absolutely Know Before Workshopping
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Workshops, hybrid educational programs—like Pocket MFA, peer critique groups, or even a feedback session with a trusted friend or mentor. They all fair better if you learn the workshopping language. Below are only 20 terms and ideas to add to your word bank. They will help you articulate your critiques, and interpret the feedback y…
20 Words You Should Know Before Submitting to a Publisher
If this resonated with you, please tap a heart onto it, it’s a cute metric, but it really helps me grow as an artist. There are examples of a few query letters that won over agents in the comments.
This is great!
Query Letter Example That Landed an agent (Source: QueryTracker):
Dear X,
I’m looking for representation for my 38,000 word literary horror novel, Owls Don’t Have Teeth. Haunted by otherworldly creatures and the crushing weight of motherhood, Rowan’s body and mind unravel as she struggles to understand what is happening to herself and her children. Owls Don’t Have Teeth sits in the lovely liminal space between feminine dread and surreal body horror with prose that leans poetic and visceral. I like to think you’d find it on a bookshelf alongside Rachel Yoder’s Nightbitch, Megan Hunter’s The Harpy, and Samanta Schweblin’s Fever Dream.
Rowan is a mother. She is certain of that much, even when everything else - her memories, her children, her body - feels unreliable. When a six-foot-tall owl appears in her home and her eldest son’s baby teeth grow back in jagged and sharp, Rowan suspects something is deeply wrong. But she has learned, like all mothers, to endure, to stretch herself thin, to convince herself that things are normal when they are anything but. As her house becomes a labyrinth, her flesh hardens into something other than skin, and her youngest son looks up at her with knowing eyes, Rowan is forced to confront the truth before she disappears completely.
I am a 27-year-old British woman living in Vancouver, Canada, who recently completed the Faber online writing a novel course. I’ve had poetry published in Moss Puppy and Lavender Bones literary magazines, and was drawn to query you because of your interest in explorations of female rage, and voice-led perspectives. I’m very interested in unique voices, and love playing with structure in order to blur poetry and prose. Owls Don’t Have Teeth explores the insidious ways women are expected to surrender their autonomy, their ambition, and, eventually, themselves.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my submission,
K. Ward