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Originally Posted by Dean F. Wilson  The way I look at it is that the cover letter is designed to be formal, and to show how professional you are. |
I look at a query letter as being designed to entice the agent/publisher to read the enclosed material (whether it be a synopsis or sample pages from the manuscript).
I view the pitch as being similar to the back cover of a novel. Short and intended to make the reader want to read more rather than telling all of the plot points. I'd start by asking myself the question: why would anyone want to read this novel?
That said, I'll also note that I mostly query American agents, and what goes into a query letter will change from country to country and from individual agent to individual agent. Always read the submission guidelines and adjust the query as needed.