A query letter is a formal letter sent to

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

editors,

literary agents A literary agent is an agent who represents writers and their written works to publishers, theatrical producers, film producers, and film studios, and assists in sale and deal negotiation. Literary agents most often represent novelists, screenwri ...

and sometimes publishing houses or companies. Writers write query letters to propose writing ideas. For example, a standard requested format for a manuscript query letter to a literary agent could be approximately 200–400 words, expressing the following information: * The topic of the work * A short description of the plot * A short bio of the author * The target audience The literary agent would then decide whether to contact the author and request to see the manuscript, based on the contents of the query letter. In this sense, the query letter is an author's first step toward getting his or her manuscript published.

See also