Friday, January 21

I'VE BEEN SIGNED!!!

Carly Watters of P.S. Literary signed me on as a client this morning, and I am freaking out! I really can't even believe it yet! A few of my friends at Query Tracker have asked to see my Query letter, so I have posted it below along with my query stats.

I will post my agent story in the next day or so and plan on posting everything that happens from here all the way through (hopefully) publication, so if you would like to come along with me so that you are ready when it happens to you, feel free to follow! I love online friends!

Last, I wanted to say a big thank you to all my Query Tracker friends! Most of you I never talked to, but I was addicted to QT - like checking it 5 to 6 times a day at least - and reading all your comments really helped me push ahead! I couldn't possibly thank everyone as there are too many of you, but some of the regulars I always took note of were Tarzan, ethers, dlpoet17, aldrnans, NatSanders, PatsFan, raven1, and jlewis. To all you guys, and the rest of you out there too that I didn't name, keep doing what you do, hang in there, my thanks and best wishes to you all!

My Query:



Dear Agent,

Eight years ago, Julia Basham lost her chance at happily ever after - all thanks to her fairy godmother who didn’t show up for work.

Wait, slighted by your own fairy godmother? How can that be? After all, showing up just as you hit rock bottom and giving you everything you need to ‘land your man’, is basically the fairy godmother’s sole job description, right? So we’ve been told… Bibbity, Bobbity, Do-Over, is a 70,000 word, quirky-contemporary women’s fiction novel, where unfortunately, there is no little old lady with wings handing out ‘happily ever afters’.

Julia’s life seemed to be falling perfectly into place. She had a great job, seemingly endless prospects, and a wonderful fiancĂ©, Nick Kerkley, who she was totally in love with. Nick however, while being completely devoted to Julia, did not have the potential or stability to be worthy of someone like her - or at least that was Julia’s sister Lisa’s opinion. Reluctantly following Lisa’s advice, Julia ended the relationship, forcing herself to believe it would all be for the best. Little did she know, that one decision would begin the slow but steady deterioration of her entire life. As the story opens nearly a decade later, Julia is the quiet shadow of the woman everyone thought she’d be, who’s once fulfilling life has fallen into a stale and safe existence. Her shell of a world is thrown into upheaval when she finds out that the financial planning team she works for has taken on a new client; a now successful and very rich Nick Kerkley. Stuck in a horribly awkward situation, Julia makes a decision - take charge, step up, and find her own happy ending. However, she quickly realizes that fairy tales aren’t as strait forward as we’ve been brought up to believe. Sometimes, to get to happily ever after, you have to stop waiting for fate, take charge, strap on a pair of wings, and be your own fairy godmother.

Jane Austin’s Persuasion, is one of my all time favorite novels, and it makes me sad that it has taken something of a backseat in the world of classic literature. Bibbity, Bobbity, Do-Over puts a modern yet whimsical spin on Austin’s classic love story, and serves as my personal tribute to that amazing, yet somewhat under-appreciated work.

As for me, I am 27 years old and live in Chicago with my husband and two daughters. While this is the first novel I am seeking publication for, I would love to one day make writing my career.


Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,


Marian Lee


My Query Stats:

Queries Sent: 75
Rejected on Query: 33
Closed/No Response: 27
Queries I had yet to hear back on: 8
Partials Requested: 6
Rejected on Partial: 2
Partials I have yet to hear back on: 3
Fulls Requested: 2 (One form Carly, the other from an Editor at Kensington)
Offers: 1

Moral of the story:

Never Give Up!

7 comments:

  1. From one QT follower to another- CONGRATULATIONS!! Best of luck on your journey to publication!

    Angela (aka write2live on QT and AW)

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  2. Ditto Angela.

    As another QTracker aka cdcoff,
    Major Congrats!!!

    Love your stats, btw. It gives me hope :)

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  3. This is so exciting! Congrats again, and I will absolutely stop in here from time to time to follow your journey to the bookshelves!

    This sounds like and AWESOME book. And good job on the query letter!

    Anita (a.k.a. raven1 from QT) :-)

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  4. Congratulation's! Your story sounds darling--For the record, Persuasion is my favorite Austen novel, too.
    I'm peddling my first YA novel and getting great feedback--hoping I can add a posting like yours very soon.

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  5. OUCH. My query is only 300 words long and four (short) paragraphs. I thought it needed to be SHORT and succinct. It seems one can never be too sure what will fly versus what will get shot down.

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  6. Dana - the general rule is one page, 12pt, single spaced with a space between each paragraph. Shorter than that is fine, but it should be no longer. Enough to give them a good idea of the plot.

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  7. I was halfway reading through the query thinking it sounded like Persuasion and busted into a smile. I absolutely adore Persuasion. I would read this in a heartbeat. Congrats on getting an agent!

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