Today is the day! Whoever signed up will post their query letter, and then we will all jump around and critique each others. We hope this will be an excellent learning experience for all involved. Now, I up to this point, have not talked about the querying that I'm doing on the blog. But, I am currently querying HAPPILY NEVER AFTER, which you may have guessed by now. ;) So, I'm going to share my query letter, which has been quite successful so far.
Dear [Agent name spelled correctly],
[Something very personalized, like mentioning a specific blog post where they expressed interest in high-concept YA, or fairy tales, or something of the like.] As such, I believe you may be interested in my 53,000 word young adult fantasy, HAPPILY NEVER AFTER.
[Something very personalized, like mentioning a specific blog post where they expressed interest in high-concept YA, or fairy tales, or something of the like.] As such, I believe you may be interested in my 53,000 word young adult fantasy, HAPPILY NEVER AFTER.
Sixteen-year-old Kate is trapped in a fairy tale, and if she doesn’t escape soon, she’ll lose all her memories. Or worse, she’ll get killed.
Kate’s brother is dying. Unable to cope with watching him deteriorate, she makes a stupid wish to escape her life in favor of a fairy tale. But the wish comes true. And fairy tale land? Well, it sucks. Kate is forced to obey an unseen, god-like narrator, who makes Kate dress as a prissy Princess while repeating the same story over and over again -- and each time, more of Kate’s memory is lost. Plus, venomous Prince Charming is out to kill her. And that’s just great.
Then Kate discovers the secret to escaping this Magical Kingdom of Torture: true love’s kiss, of course. But the narrator (who is determined to keep Kate trapped) begins to pick apart the story, removing any object, twist, or character that might come to Kate’s aid. The crazy narrator even steals Nathan, the guy Kate thinks she’s in love with, and replaces him with Jace, a dashing rogue Kate can’t keep her eyes off of. Now, as Kate clings to her dwindling memories and tries to forge a new path through the fairy tale, she has to choose which guy she really loves.
If Kate chooses wrong, the narrator will trap her there forever, and she’ll live Happily Never After.
HAPPILY NEVER AFTER is similar to THE WIZARD OF OZ and ELLA ENCHANTED, and I believe it may appeal to fans of both. Though the novel has been written as the first in a planned trilogy, it can also stand alone. I’m an active member of SCBWI, the Florida Writers Association, and YALitChat.
Kate’s brother is dying. Unable to cope with watching him deteriorate, she makes a stupid wish to escape her life in favor of a fairy tale. But the wish comes true. And fairy tale land? Well, it sucks. Kate is forced to obey an unseen, god-like narrator, who makes Kate dress as a prissy Princess while repeating the same story over and over again -- and each time, more of Kate’s memory is lost. Plus, venomous Prince Charming is out to kill her. And that’s just great.
Then Kate discovers the secret to escaping this Magical Kingdom of Torture: true love’s kiss, of course. But the narrator (who is determined to keep Kate trapped) begins to pick apart the story, removing any object, twist, or character that might come to Kate’s aid. The crazy narrator even steals Nathan, the guy Kate thinks she’s in love with, and replaces him with Jace, a dashing rogue Kate can’t keep her eyes off of. Now, as Kate clings to her dwindling memories and tries to forge a new path through the fairy tale, she has to choose which guy she really loves.
If Kate chooses wrong, the narrator will trap her there forever, and she’ll live Happily Never After.
HAPPILY NEVER AFTER is similar to THE WIZARD OF OZ and ELLA ENCHANTED, and I believe it may appeal to fans of both. Though the novel has been written as the first in a planned trilogy, it can also stand alone. I’m an active member of SCBWI, the Florida Writers Association, and YALitChat.
[As requested in your guidelines, the first chapter and synopsis are pasted below. ONLY INCLUDE WHAT IS EXPLICITLY REQUESTED .] [And here I may put something like, "So that you are aware, this is a multiple submission."] Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Holly Dodson
[phone number]
[link to my blog]
----
[pages as requested in their guidelines]
No comments:
Post a Comment