Below is a complete fantasy query letter written by our editorial team to model what works in this genre — followed by line-by-line annotations and fantasy-specific querying norms. The book and author are invented; the techniques are what we coach in real reviews. For the underlying structure, start with the complete query letter guide.
The example letter
Dear Ms. Hollis,
Your wishlist asks for "secondary-world fantasy where the magic has a price the protagonist can't afford" — which is, almost word for word, the book I've written.
THE CARTOGRAPHER'S DEBT is a 112,000-word adult fantasy that crosses the scheming city-states of The Mask of Mirrors with the reality-bending cartography of The Cartographers.
In the river-city of Vel Tamar, licensed mapmakers don't record the city — they revise it. Redraw a bridge, and by morning the stones comply. Surveyor Iyen Saru is the best forger in the Cartographers' Guild, paying off her dead master's debt one illegal map at a time. Then a client commissions a map of a district that doesn't exist — and pays in advance with a deed to Iyen's own childhood home, a house that burned down twenty years ago and now, impossibly, stands again.
Each map Iyen draws for the client makes the false district more real, and the people who move in remember lives no one gave them. When the Guild's auditors start disappearing into streets that weren't there last week, Iyen realizes her client isn't building a district. He's hiding one — and her master's debt, the fire, and the house were the first three lines of a map someone has been drawing around her since she was a child. To erase it, she'll have to surrender the only proof that her former life existed at all.
I'm a GIS analyst by day, and this novel grew out of ten years of watching maps quietly decide what counts as real. My short fiction has appeared in two speculative magazines. THE CARTOGRAPHER'S DEBT is my debut and is complete at 112,000 words.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Rell Antova
rellantova@email.com
Why this query works
- The hook fuses job and magic system. "Mapmakers revise the city" delivers worldbuilding, occupation, and rules in one sentence — no paragraph of lore required.
- Word count is stated and in-range (112k), which matters more in fantasy than any other genre: it's the first viability check agents run.
- The stakes are personal, not cosmic. Saving the world is wallpaper in slush; "surrender the only proof her former life existed" is a choice an agent can feel.
- Worldbuilding stays on a leash. One city, one institution, one rule. Pantheons, maps (ironically), and appendices wait for the manuscript.
- The bio converts a day job into authority — a GIS analyst writing cartographic fantasy is a marketing hook in itself.
Querying fantasy: genre-specific advice
- Name the subgenre precisely: epic, romantasy, cozy, dark academia, gaslamp. Agents' wishlists are subgenre-specific — check current wishlists before querying.
- Comp recent fantasy (last ~5 years), not the canon. Tolkien, Rothfuss, and Sanderson comps signal naivety, not ambition.
- Resist explaining the magic system's mechanics; pitch what it costs the protagonist instead.
- If your book opens with a map, a prophecy, and a glossary, your query should contain none of them.
Frequently asked questions
How long should a fantasy novel be to query agents?
90,000–120,000 words for adult fantasy. Epic fantasy can stretch slightly higher, but debuts above roughly 130,000 words face resistance from agents.
What comp titles should I use in a fantasy query letter?
Comp recent fantasy from the last five years, not the canon — Tolkien, Rothfuss, and Sanderson comps signal naivety rather than ambition. Name your subgenre precisely (epic, romantasy, cozy, dark academia, gaslamp), because agents' wishlists are subgenre-specific.
Should I explain my magic system in the query letter?
No. Resist explaining the magic system's mechanics — pitch what the magic costs the protagonist instead. Keep worldbuilding on a leash: one city, one institution, one rule.
Is this a real query letter?
The letter was written by the QueryAcademy editorial team to model what works in fantasy queries; the book and author are invented, but the techniques are what we coach in real query reviews.
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