Apr 14, 2009

Query--Doesn't Matter Anyway

Dear Mr./Ms. Agent-for-a-day:

I am writing to gauge your interest in representing, “Doesn’t Matter Anyway,” a 120,000-word (390-page typescript) work of adult fiction. I understand [because of my careful research] that you have a particular interest in literary coming-of-age novels.

Alan is an eleven-year-old boy in a small Midwestern city just starting to understand that the frightening violence his dad inflicts on his mom at night is something he needs to keep secret outside the house. Increasingly resentful and unsure about who to trust, Alan only succeeds in isolating himself—from his best friend since first grade, who is more cool and outgoing and impatient with Alan’s clinginess; from his friend’s parents, who offer a seductive vision of a normal family life; and from his mom, who seems more interested in keeping Alan a little kid than in getting away from the violence. We follow Alan over the next two years as he grows more independent and more confident that he can ride out this situation without anyone else’s help. But he’s unaware of how he is becoming a volatile ingredient to the situation himself, nudging his parents out of their old patterns and into dangerous new territory.

I am a freelance journalist and copywriter and a college writing teacher, and “Doesn’t Matter Anyway” is my first novel. Thank you for your time, and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Yours sincerely,


R. E. Dacted

Query- Everlasting

Dear ________:

When you die, you’re supposed to go to Everlasting. That’s what the souls believe. But Jeanne has been dead for hundreds of years and yet she aimlessly wanders the halls of The Lourve in modern-day Paris.

Her aimlessness ends the day she encounters Etienne Armand, a fashion designer on the brink of ruin. Finding that he can see her shocks her into realizing that she has forgotten who she was and how she died. She now feels compelled to investigate memories of her past with the help of two other souls who have resisted fading. While painful memories of her tragic history slowly emerge, she is inexorably drawn into the world of the living as she embarks on a plan to help Etienne save his failing couture house, and they recognize a mutual attraction with roots in her previous life.

In the beginning of her quest, Jeanne is eager only to find the resolution which will allow her to fade. But, soon it is apparent there is a mystery involved in her identity and the details of recorded history. Is she really the daughter of famous painter, Elizabeth Vigee Le Brun? Did her mother take the place of Marie Antoinette on the guillotine?

Jeanne comes to realize that Everlasting is not just where souls go when they fade, it’s also emotions and relationships that continue through the centuries. With this comprehension, she becomes desperate to stay in the land of the living, but fading is not the choice of the soul.

Everlasting is romantic fiction, with a supernatural twist, completed at 75,000 words for which I am seeking representation. Thank you for your time and kind consideration.

Sincerely,
me

Query- SOCIAL UPGRADE

Dear _______,

I'm seeking representation for my YA sci-fi novel, SOCIAL UPGRADE, complete at 75,000 words.

Max Foster's 16th birthday isn't quite what he expected. Maybe it's the insanely advanced phone his quirky uncle gives him, or the discovery that he has two identical brothers living in...well, they aren't exactly in the Boston area. Or it could be the holographic snakes that no one else can see wreaking havoc at his Starbucks.

Now Max and his newfound brothers Liam and Gabe are in the "game"- at least, that's what Uncle Renard calls it- a mission to stop the wi-fi breeding snakes from spreading a deadly virus that's already claimed thousands of lives around the world. Armed with their phones, they can travel to any city threatened with an outbreak using the TeleTransitSystem, and download any skill they need thanks to the handy Ad-I (Additional Intelligence) widget.

But when they find the source of the virus- a program designed by a scientist-turned-religious zealot- the three boys also discover who- or what- they really are. The program wasn't intended to kill humans...it was designed to kill them. And they may be mankind's only hope for survival.

I'm an ESL teacher, and SOCIAL UPGRADE is my first novel.
I appreciate your time and consideration!

Query- Hollow

Dear [Agent's Name]:

[Personalized paragraph if this agent likes such things]

After Malayka sees her parents kill each other mere feet away from her, guilt threatens to overwhelm her - the guilt threatens the wall she's built around herself to survive all the disappointment and pain she's suffered through in her life. Malayka blames herself for her mother's death. After all, her mother picked the fatal fight because of her. Malayka's father had always started and finished the many fights that came before the last one.

At their parents' funeral, Malayka and C.J. meet the aunt, uncle and cousin they are to live with now for the first time. When they arrive in Blue Crest, Virginia, Malayka is forced into a new life of privilege many would love, but she doesn't want it. Malayka, who deals with the past by not dealing with it and who deals with emotion by not allowing herself to feel any, will be stripped of her defenses. While trying to find a way to be normal and blend in, she will find that the past she seeks to avoid continually plagues her present. When a visitor from her past shows up and threatens to destroy her hopes for a normal future, she is forced to realize that ignoring the past is not a viable way of putting it behind her.

HOLLOW is a 78,000-word multicultural young adult novel. It is a coming-of-age story with plot twists similar to those of a psychological thriller. This is a story about how domestic violence affects an entire family. It is also about healing and moving on after experiencing tragedy in life.

There is potential for both a prequel and a sequel, but HOLLOW is capable of standing on its own. Currently, I do not have any published work to my credit. I hope you have enjoyed learning a little about HOLLOW. Have a wonderful day.



Thank you,

Nicole Green
[Contact Info Redacted]