You gotta keep this on the down-low, the ixnay to anybody, you didn’t hear this from me.
But.
My wife heard from the lovely sister-in-law (she read Adventures of a Sawdust Man a loooong time ago, in case you haven’t kept up with The Saga of Me), who has been inspired to begin her own writing project.
Hello? I call that a win in anyone’s book. Not that I inspired her, but that she’s inspired!
Anyway, she confessed to my darling wife that she never sent her notes, for which I waited so many long, desperate weeks, because she didn’t have any! She felt it was ready to publish.
Funnily enough, you can find it published here.
So, Fred Flintstone and I have been having this confab, you see. My Wilma told me she still sees a million clams in the cards. Now comes this notice of non-notiness from the lovely sister.
Are you thinking what I’m thinking, Pinky?
So, back to how to write a successful query letter.
Step One: Select an agent in your genre.
Step Two: Find an author in your genre that writes somewhat similar so that the potential agent can see your book on the shelf.
Aha, says I. So I have to nail it down that way, does I?
Well, I guess my book is a fantasy, becuase it uses a lot of magic, and it’s historical because it uses a lot of Shakespeare, and it’s Young Adult because one of the protagonists is 17.
So, here’s something to do on a foggy afternoon: do a Google search on the best fantasy novels of 2023.
OMG I’ve never so many lost kingdoms, overrun kingdoms, hidden, secret, forgotten, blah blah blah… not to denigrate the many authors, but it’s all so, so dark.
Finally, after much searching, I found my guy. Liked him right from the git-go. Can’t tell you his name or I’ll screw the pooch.
But, when you find your author, you find their publisher. Dig just a little deeper, and you can find their literary agency.
Yeah, I said it. Literary. Agency.
Boom. Pay dirt. Scroll through the list of agents, pick out that certain someone, pray to the gods of all things printed that they’re open to queries, and go pick up your million clams!
Nobody tells you this, or maybe they do and I’m too stubborn to read it, but, hey, there it is.
Enjoy your million clams!
John D Reinhart 