Query Letters are one of the tried and true ways of getting your script read.  A query letter is like a cold call on paper.  Production companies and talent agencies are flooded with queries from writers on a daily basis but they are sometimes the only way to get your script read – particularly if you live outside of Southern California.

You must put your best foot forward.  You have to gain the reader’s attention immediately and entice them to want to read your material.  Typos, rambling, poor grammar, offering up too much detail, comparing your script to successful movies (our worse, unsuccessful ones) will get your letter tossed into the round file before the ink is dry from your printer.

Your query letter represents you.  If your query letter is poorly written, the reader is likely to think: If he/she can’t write a single compelling page…how good can their 120 page screenplay possibly be?

There’s a right way and a wrong way to do a query letter.  Let’s take a quick look at some examples:

More than 25 best-selling thriller authors shared their wisdom and experience with writers at CraftFest July 10-11 in Manhattan.

CraftFest, part of International Thriller Writers Inc.’s ThrillerFest, offered 27 lectures by names such as Lee Child, David Morrell, Steve Martini, R.L. Stine, Andrew Gross, Heather Graham, James Rollins, Allison Brennan and more on topics from the business of writing to query letters to plotting and character development.

“To write a successful book is like taking a knife and opening a vein and letting it all run out,” said Lee Child, author of the popular Jack Reacher series, the latest of which is “Gone Tomorrow” ($27; Delacorte Press)

Some writers mistakenly believe a query letter should ask permission to send their script. That sets you up for a lot of rejection. Your query letter has a much more subtle purpose — to identify those who will respond to your movie.

HOW TO BEGIN

Format: Query letters run one page or less, single-spaced in a readable font on businesslike stationery. Salutation: Write to a targeted individual, not a company. This target should be someone appropriate for your story. Often, you don’t personally know the target and they certainly don’t know you. Put them at ease by answering the first question on their mind –

WHY ARE YOU BOTHERING ME?

Your opening paragraph should clarify why you have chosen to query this particular person. Define how the script might meet their needs. If an established film professional referred you to this person, tell them this up front. Then answer their next question –