I found this online after following a link to a different post by the same person:

"there is a sweet spot in query word count between 250 and 350 words. Anything shorter than 250 usually (but not always) seems too short and anything longer than 350 usually (but not always) seems too long."

Flash fiction writers should be able to fully understand the length (and depth) of this size of a query.

I read more of his blog and found this:

"Tight, concise three sentence opening paragraph. Tells me the plot, genre, and leaves me wanting more."

The link above is to a query letter he pounced on right away. It's different than I'm used to, with a one-liner, one sentences asking a question, then one more link explaining the word count, genre, and basis of the book.

I followed a few more links and see that he, in particular, likes queries that have this format in there:

My XXX,000 word {type of} novel, TITLE, explores or follows {what}.

He also says this:

"A good flow is perhaps the most important aspect of any good query. Whenever I come across an awkward turn of phrase (like "I've written a 100,000 word historical fiction.") or extended passive voice ("the main character was betrayed and has decided to not be a sucker anymore"), or if there's a poor word choice where it's clear it's not a typo, 99% of the time I reach for the rejection button. Professional writers just don't make mistakes like this -- the sentences wouldn't look right to them."

He also wants the quest and the conflict clearly stated.

And this:

"Then in the third paragraph she brings it home by giving a nice sense of the themes. At this point I wouldn't even have needed the writerly qualifications in the fourth paragraph"

But I am concerned by his liking people who mention his blog. I research agents carefully, and will certainly read their blogs, but to me it sounds like fawning.

And since I'm already there and reading it, let me continue with the Query Letter Mad Lib:

First I'm going to need these things:

[Agent name], [genre], [personalized tidbit about agent], [title], [word count], [protagonist name], [description of protagonist], [setting], [complicating incident], [verb], [villain], [protagonist's quest], [protagonist's goal], [author's credits (optional)], [your name]

Again with the "personalized tidbit." Huh. I thought these were out of date?

He goes on to say:

"if you can't fill this mad lib out in two seconds and craft a pretty decent query letter, something might be wrong with your novel.

These are the ingredients that absolutely positively completely totally must be in your query -- if they are not, something is wrong."

Meanwhile, here are things to leave out of a query letter

I thought this stuff was useful, and you can follow all of the links to read everything for yourselves...

Jenn