Well, I didn't win the query letter contest (www.kidlit.com). The folks who did wrote very good query letters and deserved to win. However, I found it interesting that only one of the winners wrote a query letter following the style Mary Kole, the agent who sponsored the contest, suggested in an article on her site. My conclusion: It doesn't matter whether one follows the style she suggested as long as you write a damn good letter, which makes sense. The winners did. Congrats to them!