Customize your query letter. ... Tell me that you can send a full book proposal and a sample chapter, for instance. End with a particular ‘ask’ so I know how to follow up. ...

Cover of Query Craft and the logo of the Castle Talk Podcast, used by permission. The query letter is a single page—usually closer to half a page—whose purpose is to explain who the writer is ...

Time was, bad writers wrote bad query letters. Like the Washington Generals of exhibition basketball, these writers hammed up—telegraphed, shall we say—their lack of talent and know-how.