Query letter generator: build your letter, check it, send it
If you searched for a query letter generator, this one builds the letter around your own words and doesn't write the pitch. You write a hook, a pitch of around 200 words and a short bio. The tool adds the greeting, the line with your title and word count, and a closing, then counts every part and flags fifteen common faults.
Our worked letter below runs 321 words: a 36-word hook, a 178-word pitch, a 34-word bio and 73 words of greeting, reason, housekeeping and close. It can't judge your story or read an agent's rules for you.
How to use the query letter builder
It overrides anything here.
the agent's name, your title, word count, genre and two recent comparable books.
"No publications yet" is a complete answer.
A query letter generator that does not write your pitch: what it does instead
The letter runs in this order: "Dear" and the agent's name; your reason, if you gave one; your hook; your pitch; a housekeeping line ("TITLE IN CAPITALS is an 84,000-word genre that will find its readers among those who finished your comps"); your bio; a short closing that offers more material on request; and "Sincerely," with name and contact placeholders. Blank boxes are skipped, bracketed placeholders show what's missing, and your hook, pitch and bio are used exactly as typed.
Counters sit beside each box (hook 25 to 60, pitch 150 to 250, bio 20 to 75), with a total and a count of things to fix. Words are counted as in our word and page count tool.
The fifteen checks fire on: no comps; a hook outside 25 to 60 words; a pitch outside 150 to 250; a bio over 75; a whole letter over 500; a hook that opens with a rhetorical question; "fiction novel"; an exclamation mark; a bio that explains when you started writing; a universal readership claim; words in full capitals outside the title; "my first novel"; a manuscript over 130,000 words; a novel under 50,000; and no agent name.
It never reads for meaning. A clean result means no rule on a short list fired, and the other half, whether the pitch makes someone want chapter one, is yours.
A clean result means no rule on a short list fired, and the other half, whether the pitch makes someone want chapter one, is yours.
What each part of the letter is for
Jane Friedman's guide to query letters names the same ingredients, with personalization optional.
Agent and reason
Name the person. Add a reason only if it's specific to this agent.
Hook
One or two sentences. Who wants what, and what stands in the way of getting it.
Pitch
Setup, turn, cost of failure.
Housekeeping and comps
Title, word count, genre and two recent comps. Two is enough, says Friedman.
Bio
Publications and relevant expertise only. With no credits, invent none and don't apologize.
Close
A short thank-you and an offer of the manuscript.
Worked example: one letter, counted
Every count here came from the tool's own code. The book, the agent and both comps are invented. The inputs: agent Ms. Okonjo; title The Winter Ledger; 84,000 words; historical novel; comps The Salt Ledger and Winter at Fort Reliance; reason "your list includes several historical novels set in the American West."
The hook (36 words): "In 1893 a schoolteacher with a borrowed name reaches a Colorado mining town in the dead of winter, hoping to disappear. A child hands her a stolen ledger page, and staying hidden stops being an option."
The pitch (178 words) opens: "Nell Hartigan arrives in Silverton with a trunk, a map to a claim that may not exist, and a name that belongs to a dead woman. The town needs a teacher more than it needs another stranger, and it makes sure she knows which one it thinks she is."
The bio (34 words): "I teach high school history in Durango, Colorado, and I have spent eleven summers as a volunteer archivist at the San Juan County Historical Society. My short fiction has appeared in Western Literary Review."
| Part | Words | Band |
|---|---|---|
| Hook | 36 | 25 to 60 |
| Pitch | 178 | 150 to 250 |
| Bio | 34 | 20 to 75 |
| Everything else (greeting, reason, housekeeping, close, sign-off) | 73 | n/a |
| Whole letter | 321 | flag above 500 |
That's 36 + 178 + 34 + 73 = 321, and the tool shows 0 things to fix. The housekeeping line it builds reads: "THE WINTER LEDGER is an 84,000-word historical novel that will find its readers among those who finished The Salt Ledger and Winter at Fort Reliance."
A weak letter shows the other side. A hook of "What if a teacher found a secret?" (7 words), a pitch of "A teacher finds a secret. Everyone will love it!" (9 words), a bio of "I have always loved writing." (5 words), no agent and no comps gives 8 things to fix: no comps, a short hook, a short pitch, a rhetorical question, an exclamation mark, an origin-story bio, a universal readership claim and no agent name. The whole letter is 58 words.
A clean score doesn't make a letter good. It means none of the listed faults is in it.
How long should a query letter be? The published ranges
Advice on length varies, so here are the ranges we read, as of 2026.
| Source | Whole letter | Story part | Bio part |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jane Friedman | about 200 to 450 words, and brevity is advised | 150 to 300 words | usually 50 to 100 |
| Writer's Digest | one page, 300 to 500 words, three to five paragraphs | the second paragraph | the closing paragraph |
| This tool | flags above 500 words | flags outside 150 to 250 | flags above 75 |
Writer's Digest says one page. The range runs from about 200 to 500 words, and 250 to 400 is a comfortable target. The tool flags at 500. A letter at the top of every band (60, 250 and 75 words) plus our sample's 73 other words comes to 458, under the flag. An agent's own page overrides all of this.
Book length matters too. Friedman calls 80,000 words standard for a debut novel, 120,000 and up a challenge, and 50,000 the usual minimum. The tool flags over 130,000 and, for a novel, under 50,000.
What to send with the letter
From Andrea Brown Literary Agency's submission guidelines. Don't generalize from one agency.
Fiction
For novels, Andrea Brown Literary Agency asks for the first 10 pages of text. For a picture book it asks for the full text manuscript.
Nonfiction
The same agency asks for a proposal and one to three sample chapters. Agents sell nonfiction on a proposal, so this letter is a cover note. Our post on how to write a nonfiction book proposal covers the proposal itself.
One agent or many
That agency asks you not to query several of its agents at once. Friedman suggests rounds of 5 to 10. The agent's page wins.
The ending: what the pitch should and should not give away
Our house line is simple. The query should give an agent enough to judge the book, including the stakes: what the character stands to lose. The full ending belongs in the synopsis, unless an agent's guidelines say otherwise.
Three documents, three jobs. The query makes an agent want to read. The synopsis tells the whole plot, ending included. The blurb is retail copy for readers. Some agents want an ending in the query, so follow the page. Our posts on how to write a book synopsis and crafting a compelling synopsis go further.
Some agents want an ending in the query, so follow the page.
Common query letter mistakes
Rhetorical question openings
"What if a teacher found a secret?" is a common opening.
"Fiction novel" or "my first novel"
Both read as inexperience.
An origin-story bio
When you started writing is not a credential.
"Dear Agent"
Name the person, and check the name and genre for mail-merge slips.
Old or enormous comps
Use recent, real books close to yours.
Claiming everyone will like it
An agent can't position a book for everyone.
Too long
The tool flags over 500 words.
Trusting the score
The checks catch mechanical faults, not weak stories.
Tips by situation
First novel with no credits
Keep the bio to expertise you really have. One true line about your work or research beats an invented credential, and "No publications yet" is a complete answer.
Nonfiction and memoir
Agents sell nonfiction on a proposal, so the letter is a cover note. The tool's closing line offers more material on request; change it by hand to offer the proposal.
Children's and picture books
Check the agency page first. The tool's manuscript-length flags are written for novels, so ignore them for a picture book.
Small press or no agent
Our house reads every submission, charges no reading fee and replies in writing, so you can submit your manuscript.
Related guides on the Author Resources hub
- How to find a literary agent: the full path, from need to offer.
- Self-publishing vs traditional publishing: deciding whether to query at all.
When a letter needs a second pair of eyes
Agents often decide on the first pages, so a developmental read before you query shows whether your opening works. We read a sample before quoting, and a free quote comes inside 24 hours.
Questions we get asked
Is this a query letter generator?
No. It doesn't write your pitch. It builds the letter around the hook, pitch and bio you write, adds the housekeeping line and closing, and flags common faults.
How do you write a query letter?
Open with the agent's name and a specific reason. Give a hook and a pitch of about 150 to 300 words, then title, word count, genre, two recent comps and a short bio, all on one page. Our guide to finding a literary agent covers the whole process.
How long should a query letter be?
One page. Published advice runs from about 200 to 500 words, and 250 to 400 is a comfortable target. Check the agent's page, because it overrides any general figure.
How long does it take a literary agent to respond to a query?
From days to never. Our guide says three months without a reply is normal, and many agencies say silence after a set period means no.
What are the odds of finding a literary agent?
Low and uneven. The commonly quoted figure is fifty to a hundred queries per manuscript, which isn't a verdict on quality.
How many comparable books do I need, and how recent?
Two is enough, according to Friedman. She says within a few years is best; Writer's Digest says two years, and the tool's label says five.
Is a query letter the same as a synopsis or a blurb?
No. The query is the pitch that gets an agent to read. A synopsis tells the whole plot, ending included, and a blurb is retail copy. See the section on the ending above.
Is this the same as a query letter at work?
No. "Query letter to employee" means a workplace document. This tool is for pitching a book to a literary agent.
Does the tool save or send my letter?
No. It runs in your browser and stores nothing, so copy the letter before you reload. The code makes no network requests.
Keep going with the next tool
- Title and blurb workshop: the retail description.
- Author bio builder: for a book bio. The query bio is a different, shorter job.
- Word and page count: the manuscript word count the letter asks for.
- All author tools
Tools will only take you so far
Send what you have. Even a half-written manuscript is enough for a reader to tell you what it needs.