My Form Query Letter

This blog has been something of an journal of my writing activities, I thought it appropriate to post my form query letter for my latest novel. This is the letter that I am sending to agents. If you happen to be a literary agent and you haven't gotten your own personal copy with all of the information filled in then there are several possibilities. I may not know about you. I may know about you but I read the statement on your website that says something like "I'm making so much money with my existing clients that I don't want to look for more." Of course it could be that I just don't like you very much. If you want your own copy, you're welcome to ask for one, but for the rest of you, this is all you get.
Timothy Fish
[My Address]
[My City, State Zip]
[My Phone Number]
[My E-mail Address]

[date]

[Agent’s Name]
[Agent’s Company]
[Company Address]
[City], [ST] [Zip]

Dear [Agent’s Name],

I am seeking representation for Cowtown Homecoming, an 82,000-word mystery novel aimed at Christian adults.

Fort Worth businessman Fox Jacobs is king of the world around him, but as the book opens he is mourning the death of his four grandchildren. A homeless woman comes to his home with a girl she claims Fox’s daughter-in-law left in her care prior to a fatal accident that occurred twelve years earlier. Torn between a desire to separate himself from people he sees as undesirable and a fear of losing yet another grandchild, Fox takes the woman and child into his home. With the help of others, Fox investigates the events that surrounded the death of his daughter-in-law while trying to keep the admitted con-artist from ingratiating herself to his son and walking away with the family fortune.

I am a resident of Fort Worth and a native of Missouri, which are the two primary locations of the story. This is the fifth book and fourth novel I have written.

Below you will find the first ten pages. At your request, I will send the complete manuscript.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Timothy Fish
[My Address]
[My City, State Zip]
[My Phone Number]
[My E-mail Address]

[Sample Pages]

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