The Query Letter: How to Submit Your Book to Hellebore
Query letters: the important yet nebulous necessity for authors looking to send their manuscripts to agencies. The internet has a plethora of resources that can guide your query letter writing, but all that information that sometimes contradicts itself can feel overwhelming and frustrating. We at Hellebore Literary Agency want to make the process as streamlined as possible for you (and us!), so we have written a query letter guide for you.
If you are querying or have queried other agencies, note that your query letter to Hellebore may look a little different. Hellebore is a specialized agency focused on helping self-published authors reach international audiences by selling their translation rights to publishers across the globe. Because of this specialization, we ask for a couple of details that other agencies may not initially be as interested in.
Another way that Hellebore differs from other agencies is that our current business model is set up so that all four agents will be working with you rather than just one. We each have different roles that we play to help your book find its target audience.
Before You Submit
Clicking through our website and social media to learn a little bit more about Hellebore and the agents who run it can only benefit your query letter. You’ll get to learn more about who we are, what we do, and what books we’re looking for.
Also, what we look for in our letters will likely change over time, so check this page for any changes before you submit.
Salutation and Intro
Begin your query letter with “Dear Hellebore Literary Agency” or “Dear Rebecca,” since she is our client coordinator. All of us will be reading your query letter, but Rebecca will likely be your main point of contact.
If you know one or more of us from meeting us somewhere in the wild—at a publishing event, from school, from work, etc.—include that in the beginning of your letter. If you know someone who knows us, go ahead and include that in your intro. If neither of these apply to you, that’s completely fine and will not count against you! Just go ahead and omit the intro; jump right into the next, and arguably most important, parts.
Description
Tell us about your book! We agree with Jane Friedman about keeping the word count here between 150–300 words, and her advice for describing your story is sound too. To summarize: we want to know the usual details (title, word count, main characters, setting, plot), and we want to know what makes your book stand out from the rest.
To put a fantasy spin on Friedman’s example: if you’ve written a novel that is a princess retelling, you’ll need to include in your synopsis not only how your story is different from the original, but also how it is different from the numerous retellings that are already available. If you pitch your book as a Beauty and the Beast retelling with the twist that the captor is a mythical creature, like a fae…well, that’s been done many times. But if you then go on to say that the fae in question is actually an evil queen and the imprisoned woman must choose between the one she loves and the realm…now you have our attention! For more inspiration and examples, we recommend checking out the back cover copy of other books within your genre.
We also recommend not just copy-and-pasting your own back cover copy or digital book description. We can look that up ourselves. Describing your book in your own words will tell us what you think are the key selling points of your book. Just make sure to include anything that makes your book unique, and don’t be afraid to give away the ending. If there’s a juicy plot twist, a heart-wrenching death, or a steamy climax (so to speak 😉), knowing that that’s coming up is going to be what makes us want to keep reading.
A Note about Comp Titles
Many agencies ask for comp titles in query letters. Comp (which could stand for a variety of words, but “comparative” works) titles, or comps, are books that are similar to yours from not only a content standpoint but also a marketing standpoint. Many aspire to be the next Stephanie Meyer or Suzanne Collins, but those cases are few and far between. Showing an agency that you know your market—and that you know the market is modest—can help assure the agency that you have realistic expectations for your book.
I (Jackie) have an opinion about comps: I don’t think that authors should worry about them. I think that the agency should be able to identify the book’s market without the author having to consider it. Authors should certainly have realistic expectations for their books, but that can just be a conversation between the author and the agency.
All that to say, the answer to the question “Should I put comp titles in my query letter?” is “You don’t have to, but if you do, there’s no need to consider the sales data when choosing them.” Pick one to three books that are similar to yours in plot and highlight those similarities. Comps can certainly serve as an interesting hook, and you should use this strategy if you feel it will benefit your query.
Bio
Help us get to know you. Here are some key details you should include in your bio:
Info about you. Is this your debut publication or have you published before? Have you always self-published or have you worked with a traditional publisher? Have you written for other publications, like newspapers or magazines? Do you have a bookish social media presence? Do you have a website?
Info about the book you’re querying. On what platform did you self-publish? How many sales have you made or how many readers do you have? In what media (hardcover, paperback, ebook, audiobook) is your book available? Have you done anything in the way of marketing for this book and/or do you have any ideas or leads for doing so? Which countries do you expect would be interested in your book and why?
Include your social media handles, website, or any other ways we can find you on the internet so that we can learn more about you and your books.
Don’t feel pressured to answer all of these questions. These are just some things that, if you do have relevant answers, would be helpful for us to know as we’re considering your submission.
Finally, Formatting
You now have all the components of a successful query letter to Hellebore! Please email us a Word document or PDF of your letter along with a digital version of your book whenever you’re ready to submit. Try to keep the letter to one page. See below for an example.* We can’t wait to hear from you! ✿
*Disclaimer: This is a fictional query letter that I invented for example purposes. I used the plot of the book for the example, but the letter itself has nothing to do with the real Rebecca Yarros or Fourth Wing.
