Generally speaking, when editing your query, remember to:

Include the three mandatory sections: About the Book, Metadata, About Me. These are the three main things your query needs to do: introduce your book in a way that will grab your reader’s attention, tell your reader where your book fits in “The Market,” and let your reader know who wrote the book. Hopefully the Query Generator has helped you with that.

Use business letter formatting. 12 point font. Single spaced. Left alignment. A space between paragraphs. If you’re emailing the query, stick to your email service’s default font and size. In Gmail, this is: “Sans Serif” and “Normal.”

Keep it short. 250-400 words. Remember your goal: to get the agent to read the first chapter. You don't need to explain your fantasy world's entire magic system to do this. Agents can receive hundreds of queries in a week. They don’t have time for wasted words and they might not wait for you to get to your point. Be efficient.

Highlight your writing ability with narrative voice. If your story is funny, make sure your query reflects that. If the writing is lyrical, your query should be too.

Leave themes out of it. Don’t say this is a story about “friendship and the power or love,” or “children will relate to this story of bullying.” Don’t analyse your manuscript for your reader. Let the story speak for itself. If you want the main theme of your novel to come across, make sure the conflict your protagonist is facing reflects it.

Use active language. Don’t use phrases like “this story is about” or “the main character is.” Again, let the plot and the character’s actions speak for themselves.

Try not to throw in too many proper nouns. If you’re querying Harry Potter, you’ll want to use Harry’s name in the query, but Aunt Petunia and Uncle Dursley can be “his cruel relatives.” It’s a writer’s instinct to want to call things by the creative, world building names we’ve given them, but the more names, locations, and special terms in your query, the more difficult to follow it will be.

Congrats! Now here are some extra things to do before you send it off:

Have someone else look over your query before you send it out. Share it with the smartest person you know: an old English teacher or a writing website like r/writers. Have them judge it on clarity and quality.

Use a site like QueryTracker or Manuscript Wishlist to make a list of agents to send your query out to. Query Tracker will even help you track who your query has gone out to, how long it’s gone out, and how long it typically takes for that agent to respond.

Have someone look over the first few chapters of your manuscript while you’re compiling a submission list. Your query can be the best query in the world, but it doesn’t matter if your first couple of chapters can’t match it. Figure out the largest selection the agents you’re querying want attached, and polish those chapters. Make them shine. Find a trusted friend to look over them. If you don’t have any writer buddies, find a friend with similar tastes and give them a few pointed questions to get the feedback you need:

• Does the opening paragraph hook you?
• Do you feel like you’re entering the story too early? Too late?
• Do the characters feel real and relatable? Why or why not?
• Where is your interest piqued? What parts did you enjoy the most?
• What paragraphs are you skimming? Where are you bored?
• Do you have any trouble following the story? Where are you confused?

Make sure your ENTIRE manuscript is ready. Don’t start sending queries with the expectation that it’ll take a few months to get responses, and that you’ll be able to finish your book in that time frame. It’s possible you’ll get a full manuscript request the very day you send your query out. It happens, and you don’t want to miss out on a dream agent because of it.

It’s okay if the book isn’t perfect--no book is, but it should be both 100% complete and as good as you’re able to make it without editorial advice from an agent/editor.

Triple-check the agents’ name is spelled correctly. While some are lenient about a mistake this, others aren’t. Don’t give them a reason to discount your query in the first line.

Triple-check the agents’ submission requirements. Every agency will probably have slightly different requirements, so make sure you’re following the right directions.