The Dreaded Query Letter
Nov. 9th, 2024 06:43 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rynlingThe query letter for An Unfound Door has been driving me insane. I have several short pitches for the novel that I've honed to a fine sheen, but the pitch presented by the initial agent query letter needs to follow a specific formula that isn't well-suited to describing this particular story.
Based on my research for comp titles, An Unfound Door is relatively suited to the genre market itself, and its narrative progression follows the "Save the Cat" structure fairly closely. Still, the central conflict is a bit more complicated than the standard pitch formula can accommodate, and its stakes are more difficult to describe than "something important needs to be saved from danger." It's actually not that hard to summarize in 400 words, but 150 words is a challenge.
I've always been working under the assumption that I'm going to face tough odds in finding an agent, but now the reality of the situation is right in front of me. I am nothing and no one, and anything less than a perfect pitch is going to be immediately discarded. I therefore have to confront the very real possibility of this novel never going anywhere at all.
I can always say that I had a good time writing a story that appeals to my interests, and that it was a pleasure to work with so many independent artists as I imagined the characters and their world. Time spent doing something you love is never time wasted, after all. Still, I have a lot of faith in this project, and I'd really like to be able to share it with other people. I also, very deeply and sincerely, want to have a career as a writer.
Before any of that, though, there's just this one very simple but very difficult thing.
Based on my research for comp titles, An Unfound Door is relatively suited to the genre market itself, and its narrative progression follows the "Save the Cat" structure fairly closely. Still, the central conflict is a bit more complicated than the standard pitch formula can accommodate, and its stakes are more difficult to describe than "something important needs to be saved from danger." It's actually not that hard to summarize in 400 words, but 150 words is a challenge.
I've always been working under the assumption that I'm going to face tough odds in finding an agent, but now the reality of the situation is right in front of me. I am nothing and no one, and anything less than a perfect pitch is going to be immediately discarded. I therefore have to confront the very real possibility of this novel never going anywhere at all.
I can always say that I had a good time writing a story that appeals to my interests, and that it was a pleasure to work with so many independent artists as I imagined the characters and their world. Time spent doing something you love is never time wasted, after all. Still, I have a lot of faith in this project, and I'd really like to be able to share it with other people. I also, very deeply and sincerely, want to have a career as a writer.
Before any of that, though, there's just this one very simple but very difficult thing.
