My Query Doesn’t Look Perfect. How Concerned Should I Be?

Don't fret if the styling of your query isn't perfect, whether in an email for or when submitting to QueryTracker or an agent's custom form. Formatting for online text is notoriously difficult and agents understand this.

• Styling: 
  • Jane Friedman: https://janefriedman.com/query-letters/
    • Write your query in Word or TextEdit. Strip out all formatting. (Usually there is an option under “Save As” that will allow you to save as simple text.)
    • Send the query without any formatting and without any indents (block style)
  • QueryLetter.com [link]
    • Lastly, don’t fret too much about the formatting. Since you’ll be cutting and pasting your book synopsis and sample pages from another document, the formatting will almost certainly have some minor issues. Literary agents understand that this is a challenge, so don’t feel obligated to make everything look perfect. Just make sure it’s readable.
  • Reddit: [link]
    • They know you’re copy pasting and it’s going to look weird.
    •  as long as you aren’t like using papyrus 6 point font and it’s consistent and legible, I think agents in general are not going to be massive sticklers about minor text formatting issues in email.