"Well, I wrote a whole book!" You might be saying to yourself. I was there, I thought the same thing. Easy, peasy. NOT.
AgentQuery.com is a great site to find agents. They also have this advice on query letters:
"Query Letter Basics
A query letter is a single page cover letter, introducing you and your book. That’s it. Nothing more, nothing less. It’s not a resume. It’s not rambling saga of your life as an aspiring writer. It’s not a friendly, “Hey, what’s up, buddy. I’m the next John Grisham. Got the next best selling thriller for ya,” kind of letter. And for the love of god, it is NOT more than one-page. Trust us on this.
A query letter has three concise paragraphs: the hook, the mini-synopsis, and your writer’s biography. Don’t stray from this format. You won’t catch an agent’s attention by inventing a creative new query format. You’ll just alienate your chances of being taken seriously as a professional writer. A query letter is meant to elicit an invitation to send sample chapters or even the whole manuscript to the agent. It’s not meant to show off how cute and snazzy you can be by breaking formatting rules and going against the grain. Keep it simple. Stick to three paragraphs. The goal is to get the agent to read your book, not to blow you off because you screwed up the introduction. "
Some of the best advice I have read are from literary agents. Not only about queries, but opening chapters...we'll get to that another time.
Check out some of my favorite QUERY info sites.
Gally Cat
Janet Reid, Literary Agent for FinePrint Literary Management is a highly respected agent, check out her blog QueryShark and READ it ALL!
Writers Digest: How to Write the Perfect Query