Query Guidelines

Thank you for your interest in querying The Zack Company, Inc. Please use the following guidelines to prepare your query:

One- to two-page queries are preferred. (Please visit our How to Write a Query Letter^ page—please note this is a PDF file and you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to open it—for more information.)

Ten Things You Can Do (or Not Do) to Make Your Query Better

1. Please do include a #10 self-addressed, stamped envelope (self-sealing is appreciated) for a reply.^*

2. If you live outside of the United States, skip the #10 SASE and just include a current email address.

3. Please do date your query.

4. Go to www.usps.com and put your address in. Use what comes back as your address on your query and return address, because no matter what you think your address is, the USPS only cares about the one in its database. This will help your mail get to you faster.

5. Please include your name and complete return address on your query letter at the top of the letter.

6. If your query goes longer than one page, staple the pages together.

7. Don't use type smaller than 12 points.

8. Please don't use fancy fonts or formatting.  It's the writing that counts.

9. Don't use margins smaller than one inch.

10. Don't send your query in anything bigger than a #10 or #11 envelope.

How Long Will It Take Us to Read Your Query Letter

Well, if we aren't interested, you will usually hear from us within a week or two.  However, generally speaking, we will not respond positively to a query letter requesting materials unless we are relatively sure that we will be able to review those materials in a timely manner. Thus, we may be interested, but holding onto your query because we have a lot of works to review on hand.

If We Respond Positively to Your Query Letter

When we respond positively to a query letter, we generally request one sample chapter (not to exceed twenty-five pages) and a detailed synopsis (not to exceed five pages, double-spaced).  Please do not send us any sample chapters unless and until we request them.  A sample chapter and a synopsis allow us to accurately evaluate your writing and your storyline. Please include a self-addressed, stamped #10 envelope for the return of the material, just in case it isn't right for us. Because of increased security by the US Postal Service, we cannot put anything over thirteen ounces and bearing stamps in a mailbox.  Since we don't want to weigh anything and since we request such a small amount of material, we will respond in the #10 envelope and recycle the rest.

Full manuscripts should only be sent upon request by the agency.  Please note that if, the agency decides against representation, we will be unable to return the manuscript and ask that you only include an self-addressed, stamped #10 envelope for a reply.^** 

For information on preparing your manuscript, please visit the Manuscript Preparation Guidelines Page.  For a guide to the book proposal for a nonfiction work please visit the Basic Guide to the Book Proposal page.

In no event can The Zack Company, Inc. be held responsible for returning any materials.

No material should be sent overnight unless specifically requested by the agency. We are aware that submitting material to agencies can be an expensive and at times frustrating process. Therefore, we will make every effort to read material promptly. You should know, though, that the agency handles almost fifty current clients and their needs come first. Thus, it can easily be three to six months before we reply to a full manuscript.

Again, thank you very much for your interest in submitting to The Zack Company, Inc.

Andrew Zack
The Zack Company, Inc.
PMB 525
4653 Carmel Mountain Rd, Ste 308
San Diego, CA 92130-6650

Geez, You Sure Are Picky About These Guidelines

Very true.  And we wish we didn't have to be.  Unfortunately, it often seems that everyone who owns Microsoft Word or WordPerfect, or a typewriter, or a pen and paper, is writing a book.  And they are querying us about them!  So, to save our own sanity and leave us time for our lives, families, eating, drinking (lots and lots of drinking!) and sleeping, we had to come up with a system and some guidelines.  After going through thousands and thousands of queries and submissions, we've discovered some common denominators that work for us.  And we really, really appreciate your following these guidelines!

^courtesy of THE WRITER magazine

*If you do not include an SASE, you will most likely not receive any response whatsoever. We receive about twenty to thirty query letters a day and simply cannot afford the time or money required to respond when there isn't an SASE.  Even an e-mail takes more time than simply using an SASE, so you are unlikely to receive a response by e-mail, unless you live outside the United States. We understand it can be difficult to get US postage outside of the US and will respond to foreign inquiries by e-mail. Note, though, that this does not mean you can submit by e-mail, only that the response may be by e-mail.

Also, when we say stamped, we mean with stamps.  Please do not send us an envelope that you ran through your postage meter.  The Post Office may not take a letter with a "stale" meter date on it.  Also, please don't use Stamps.com or other internet-based postage program for an SASE either, as the postage is dated and it's just like using a postage meter.

**Why can't we return the full manuscript?  Blame the US Postal Service. They won't let us put a package weighing over 13 ounces bearing stamps into the mailbox.  They require us to go to the Post Office and wait in line to mail back manuscripts we aren't interested in representing.  We simply can't wait in line for hours every week to do this.  Sorry.