Nathan Bransford - The Forums

This may not be what people usually post query letters for, but this coloring book has a theme, a story, and characters that learn and develop. It just happens that you can color their adventures and learn from the activity pages.

That said, here's my first try at writing a query letter! Thank you to Nathan for all this tips and everyone else who posts their own queries. I really learned a lot about my own letter by reading yours!

Dear [agent]

“Eco Kids: Level 1” is the first in a three part series of Activity and Coloring Books that teach kids about living Eco-Friendly. Grounded in science but accompanied by endearing characters and compelling narrative stories, Eco Kids is sure to become a staple at home and in the classroom.

Milly, Shaun, and Daniel always spend their summer vacations together, but this year they meet some unlikely new friends: a sea turtle named Olive, Gray the squirrel, and Cerul, a rare but friendly bird, who each have something to teach the children about living with pollution and what humans can do to make it better. When the children go back home they start recycling and using sustainable products to help protect their animal friends and the rest of the world.

Eco Kids Level 1 takes the three R’s “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” and makes it fun for the whole family with 33 pages of illustrations and activities to color and keep kids engaged as they learn.

All facts and figures present in Eco Kids Level 1 were taken from the EPA, and the content and activities were edited by Heidi Sims, who has taught first grade for 11 years.

Thank you very much for your consideration,

Considering I'm here trying to get feedback for my own query... it sounds great to me. I'm far from an expert on query writing. It sounds like you included all the necessary information about the book, and the characters sound adorable for the age group they are trying to reach.

This is such a good idea! I think the query is OK, but if it were me I would start by only sending it to people who specifically say they publish or represent coloring books. Also I might put the page count at the beginning of the query.

I know nothing about this stuff!
Your coloring book series sounds interesting, fun, & useful.
Shouldn't you indicate the target age/school level/reading level/whatever?
I would leave out the second sentence of the first pgh.
I don't think you need to tell the agent who the editor is--unless he/she subsequently asks for this info. It makes it look as if you're insecure about your own credentials. If you have teaching/homeschooling/other relevant experience, I would include it here.
Hope you get some solid interest on this!