Q & A 42 What's a Query?

After much research, I am confused as to the exact nature of a query letter. Some of them seem to be more like a mini-synopsis, whereas I had thought the query was supposed to pitch the novel. Could you please clear this up for me?

Apparently your research didn't include Q & A's 3 and 4 in this blog (early May). Or perhaps it did, and you felt Evil Editor's hilarious answers were uninformative.

Few query letters result in requests for manuscripts. It makes sense that those that are successful are the ones that are well-written, and describe books with reasonable thoroughness. You have a product to sell. So does everyone else. The more information I have, the easier it will be to determine whose I want to buy. Whether you pitch your book in a brief letter and attach a synopsis, or include the synopsis in the query letter, depends on how much paper you need to describe the book. If you read all of the "Revised Versions" of query letters on this blog, you'll find varying styles. If the person to whom you're writing hasn't specified exactly what is wanted, do what feels right for your book.

Also, I am submitting to agents that have represented works similar to mine. I had been told that I should mention which book up front, since agents want to know I have done my research and why I am contacting them, but now some writers are telling me not to mention this.

This also sounds familiar. Q & A 22? Late May.

You should be asking an agent this question, but here's my two cents worth.

Who is the final word on whether a book is similar to yours? You? Evil Editor doesn't trust any author, with the exception of Kaavya Viswanathan, to know what author she writes like. That's because Evil Editor has yet to encounter a query in which an author claimed to write like Author X, and found himself in agreement with said author. An agent may well have a different take on this. Know any who answer questions?