diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 401304c..203290a 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -23,22 +23,25 @@ func main() {
 
     ... snip ...
 
-    now := time.Now()
-    mq := &tsplot.MetricQuery{
-      Project: "bitly-gcp-prod"
-      MetricDescriptor: "custom.googleapis.com/opencensus/fishnet/queuereader_fishnet/messages_total"
-      StartTime: now.Add(-time.Hour * 2) // start two hours ago
-      EndTime: now
-    }
-
-
-    // enable cross series reducer
-    query.SetReduce(true)
-
-    tsi, err := mq.PerformWithClient(client)
+    start := time.Now().Add(-1 * time.Hour)
+    end := time.Now()
+    mq := &tsplot.NewMetricQuery(
+      "bitly-gcp-prod", // GCP project
+      "custom.googleapis.com/opencensus/fishent/queuereader_fishnet/messages_total", // metric descriptor
+      &start, // start of time window
+      &end, // end of time window
+    )
+
+    // disable cross series reducer (MEAN reduction is default)
+    query.Set_REDUCE_NONE()
+
+    // set different alignment window. (Default is 1 minute)
+    query.SetAlignmentPeriod(time.Minute * 2)
+
+    tsi, err := mq.PerformWithClient(client) // client is provided by user
     if err != nil {
         fmt.Printf("error performing query: %v\n", err)
-        os.Exit(1)
+    }
 }
 ```
 
@@ -53,6 +56,7 @@ func main() {
 
     ts := tsplot.TimeSeries{}
 
+    // optionally iterate over returned time series
     timeSeries, _ := tsi.Next()
     ts[metric] = ts.GetPoints()
 
diff --git a/tsplot/query_test.go b/tsplot/query_test.go
index e7c7604..2ef438b 100644
--- a/tsplot/query_test.go
+++ b/tsplot/query_test.go
@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@ package tsplot
 
 import (
 	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	monitoringpb "google.golang.org/genproto/googleapis/monitoring/v3"
 )
 
 func TestMetricQuery_BuildRequest(t *testing.T) {
@@ -36,3 +39,60 @@ func TestMetricQuery_BuildRequest(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}
 }
+
+func TestMetricQuery_SetQueryFilter(t *testing.T) {
+	expectedFilter := "some advanced query"
+	st := time.Now().Add(-1 * time.Hour)
+	et := time.Now()
+	query := NewMetricQuery("bitly-gcp-prod", "", &st, &et)
+	query.SetQueryFilter(expectedFilter)
+
+	tsr, err := query.request()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Error(err)
+	}
+
+	filter := tsr.GetFilter()
+	if filter != expectedFilter {
+		t.Fatalf("query filter not overriden. got: %s, expected: %s", filter, expectedFilter)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestMetricQuery_SetAlignmentPeriod(t *testing.T) {
+	expectedAlignmentPeriod := time.Minute * 10
+	st := time.Now().Add(-1 * time.Hour)
+	et := time.Now()
+	query := NewMetricQuery("bitly-gcp-prod", "some metric", &st, &et)
+	query.SetAlignmentPeriod(expectedAlignmentPeriod)
+
+	req, err := query.request()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Error(err)
+	}
+
+	alignmentPeriod := req.GetAggregation().GetAlignmentPeriod().GetSeconds()
+	if req.GetAggregation().GetAlignmentPeriod().GetSeconds() != int64(expectedAlignmentPeriod.Seconds()) {
+		t.Fatalf("alignment period not overriden. got %d, expected: %s", alignmentPeriod, expectedAlignmentPeriod)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestMetricQuery_AggregationOptions(t *testing.T) {
+	st := time.Now().Add(-1 * time.Hour)
+	et := time.Now()
+	query := NewMetricQuery("bitly-gcp-prod", "some metric", &st, &et)
+	query.Set_ALIGN_NONE()
+	query.Set_REDUCE_NONE()
+
+	req, err := query.request()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Error(err)
+	}
+
+	aggregation := req.GetAggregation()
+	if aggregation.GetPerSeriesAligner() != monitoringpb.Aggregation_ALIGN_NONE {
+		t.Fatal("aligner not overridden")
+	}
+	if aggregation.GetCrossSeriesReducer() != monitoringpb.Aggregation_REDUCE_NONE {
+		t.Fatal("reducer not overridden")
+	}
+}