4 Ways Querying A Novel Is Like A Religion
Most agents, especially in America, like query letters. These are somewhat formulaic introductions to your novel’s characters and plot, that give the agent a feel for your writing style and story.

(I’ve heard ones in the UK and other places like cover letters? But I fear what those might entail, and have never studied their holy scripture.)

1 – Adherents should follow certain tenets
Like most types of religious doctrine, there are different sects, but they agree on a lot of the basic tenets.
The Basic Tenets of Querying
Include at least 2 short paragraphs about the novel
Include a paragraph with the novels stats
Include a short author biography
Try to keep the query under 250 words or 1 page
Avoid rhetorical questions – they’re overdone and not compelling
Avoid ‘in character’ queries – they’re confusing and trite
What they don’t agree on? Everything else.
2 – Different Sects Have Different Rules
If you ask 20 agents what a query should look like, you’ll get between 10 and 20 different answers. Some will overlap, and some will contradict everything the other said.
Querying Doctrinal Differences
If the stats paragraph goes at the start or the end
If you should include a single pitch sentence, or just get to the story
If personalization is something desirable or feels like trying too hard to be friends
The length of the story section of the query (1, 2, or 3 paragraphs)
3 – Ritual Observance
To offer the best odds for a query to succeed (i.e. result in additional pages requested, the story sells itself), many query practitioners concoct different rituals.

Querying at specific times and days of the week, month, or year
Tweaking the query based on #mswl or other stated preferences
Following and commenting on the agent’s social media in the hope of connecting such that they recognize your name in a fond way when you query (in a RESPECTFUL and NON-STALKERISH way)
Selecting agents based on the assumed personality extracted from their profile
Number of queries sent at a time
Number of outstanding queries at any time
Number of query rejections between revamping pages and/or their query
4 – Heretics!
There are heretics who hate the formula and strive to stand out, to be different, to break the mold and catch an agent’s attention.

They’ll write from the character’s point of view
Send the letter as though they were writing a friend
Send a stream of consciousness message
Talk about why they wrote the book and themes, (rather than letting the story demonstrate these things itself)
Go on for pages
Write 3 lines and their salutations
Write in verse — iambic pentameter, haiku, or free verse
I’m not saying none of these will ever work with any agent, ever. I’m just saying, most agents like the formula for a reason. And if the agents are bored by the formula, that just means your opening pages count for more.

Do you have any rituals I missed?

Which query sect do you belong to?