I'm trying to draft a query letter and wondering about this. The novel I'm querying is actually my third, but the previous two were not published (the first one I queried half-heartedly just to see what the process was like, knowing that it likely wasn't of publishable quality, while the second one I trunked immediately for the same reason). That being the case, it feels disingenuous to say 'this is my first novel'. Can I put something like 'I have never been published' or 'I am not yet published' instead? Thanks!
I'd say if you're unpublished, it doesn't matter. First, third, or 12th has no bearing on whether the particular product you're pitching will sell, which is all the agents care about.
