A query is a page-long letter to an editor or agent asking them to publish or represent your novel (or, rarely, your comic book– Dynamite Entertainment asks for an  ”inquiry letter” before you send the script). 

The main aspect of the query letter is a paragraph or two laying out your story and why they should want to read it.  I highly recommend talking about your story rather than making claims like “this is the next Harry Potter” or “this is like work X meets work Y.” 

1.  The main thing a comparison to another work says about YOUR work is that it’s derivative and/or a ripoff.  That’s not the message you want to send.  Talk about your work and maybe the editor will think “okay, I could maybe see this selling to Harry Potter fans” or whatever. 

2.  If it’s a minor work, the reader might not be familiar with it.  If it’s a major work, they’ll make the association on their own.  Either way, you don’t gain much by explicitly referencing the comparable series.  There’s not enough space. 

3.  You may come off as presumptuous.  If you claim that your book is the next Twilight or Spiderman, you’re setting standards far beyond what you can justify.  And they know that. 

4.  You can’t assume that they like the work.  For example, if Jane likes vampire novels but feels that Twilight is too mushy, you can only screw yourself by comparing your vampire novel to Twilight.  Particularly in novel publishing, a prospective author needs to run a gauntlet of people, any one of whom can kill the proposal.  Don’t assume that the publisher’s assistant, the editor, the acquisitions editor and the acquisitions committee all love Twilight/Harry Potter/etc.  In comic book publishing, please be aware that staffers at small and medium publishers might not be impressed by super-successful series.  Ahem– if they thought that Spiderman and Wolverine were the pinnacle of what a comic book creator could aspire to, they’d be working for Marvel. 

5.  The comparison distracts from what makes your book unique.  Twilight and Harry Potter are already on the market.  If your book is a second-rate knockoff of either, you’re probably dead in the water.  Make a positive case for yourself rather than trying to piggyback on successful series. 

6.  The comparisons generally do not make a good first impression.  Don’t worry!  You’ll get your chance to discuss other works in the ”Competing Works” or “Comparable Works” section of your full proposal.  (Specifically, you’ll focus on why readers would buy your book rather than those books).  However, to convince a reader to ask for the full proposal, you have to interest them.  Talk about your story.  What makes it interesting?  How can you show that?

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