How do I query nonfiction and memoir vs fiction?
- Fiction and most memoir sell on a completed manuscript.
- Most nonfiction sells on a proposal, before the book is written.
- Nonfiction queries emphasize platform and credentials.
- Memoir straddles both: finished manuscript, but platform helps.
- The query's emphasis shifts with the category.
Query fiction and memoir with a completed manuscript and a query that leads with the story and hook. Query most other nonfiction on the strength of a proposal (concept, market, platform, outline, sample chapters) rather than a finished book, with the query emphasizing your platform and authority on the topic. Memoir sits between: it needs a finished manuscript like fiction, but a strong platform helps it sell like nonfiction. Match your query's emphasis — story vs platform — to the category.
Chapter i·Why it matters
Authors who query nonfiction the way they query fiction (or vice versa) signal inexperience and misjudge what agents need. Nonfiction agents want to see a marketable concept and an author who can reach readers, often before the book exists; fiction agents want a finished, compelling manuscript. Memoir's hybrid nature confuses many. Understanding how the path and the query's emphasis differ by category lets you pitch each correctly, dramatically improving your odds.
Chapter ii·What to include
- Fiction and memoir: a finished manuscript.
- Most nonfiction: a proposal, not a finished book.
- Nonfiction queries emphasizing platform.
- Fiction queries leading with story and hook.
- Memoir as a hybrid: manuscript plus platform.
- Query emphasis matched to the category.
Chapter iii·Example
A writer querying a memoir finishes the full manuscript and leads with her story, but also notes her platform. A friend querying a business book queries on a proposal — concept, market, and her speaking platform — with the book unwritten. Each matched the path and emphasis to the category, instead of using a one-size-fits-all fiction query.
WriteLoom's Pitch studio keeps your query, proposal, and platform details together, so you pitch each category the right way.
See the Pitch studio