Bonus Q&A

Hey friends,

Last week was busy and I missed sending you a Q&A Thursday. I hate it when newsletters are all sorry I haven't posted in a while!!!! because tbh we're all kinda ok with not getting 100 email newsletters a week. BUT this is different because you pay for this one and I am dedicated to giving you the most bang for your newsletter buck. Thank you to all you paying subscribers that make my work here possible and if you'd like to be among them, you can sign up here – >

I also haven't done an intro in a long time and we have quite a few new subscribers lately, so here goes. I'm Kate McKean and I've been a literary agent for almost 20 years at the Howard Morhaim Literary Agency. I'm also the author of WRITE THROUGH IT: An Insider's Guide to Publishing and the Creative Life, which came out this June from Simon Element. In May 2026, my debut picture book PAY ATTENTION TO ME will come out, too! I'd been trying to get a book published, just like you, for over seven years, and you can read all about it that first book I linked above. This newsletter, Agents & Books, started in 2019 because I wanted to get more publishing information out there where more writers could find it. (Don't sleep on the archive!!!! There's so much in there!) More knowledge = better books. So, thanks for joining me here to talk agents, books, writing, and more. Now, on to today's BONUS Q&A!

Greg asks: <full paragraph describing his novel and the historical events it's based on, which I have deleted for space and also, you don't need to know what it is to understand the question, except that there is a legal aspect to the story.>

I don't have much of a social media presence outside of my job as a lawyer. However, I am heavily involved with the American Bar Association, and I believe they would help publicize the book if it's published. Although I don't have an MFA, nor have I published any short stories, I have been published in legal publications, such as a law review, and I'm editor in chief of a treatise that is published by Bloomberg. What advice do you have for what to include in my query letter and what might help spark the interest of agents? The book is written similarly to the Patrick O'Brien Master and Commander books, but it's about the practice of law in the 1780s instead of being about the British Navy.

Congratulations, Greg! You already know what to write in the bio section of your query letter! You did it right up there. I think the relevant information is: 1. you're a lawyer. 2. You're active in the ABA and you think they'll help promote. (This counts as part of a platform BTW!) Readers of Patrick O'Brien will also like your book! That and a clear pitch of your book–what happens and what's at stake–makes for a strong query letter.