But the truth is, it's a much more complex path than many imagine, with many alternate routes from which to choose. From the moment I completed my first manuscript, I've been trekking the route to representation. On this path I submit query letters to literary agents whom I think will like what I have to offer. With perfect timing, a captivating hook, and luck on my side, the agent asks for a partial of my manuscript, then the full manuscript, and then ultimately offers me representation (with a possible rewrite there at the end to see how I work with others). I've been down this path to the very end, through the rewrite, only to get the breakup letter that lowers the spirits of any writer. In fact, I save all of my rejections in a folder so that one day when I sign with an agent or publisher, I can hit "delete" in a grand purge!
I've had a lot of success with my query letter, and I'm grateful to so many blogs and articles that have helped me strengthen it. The first round of queries, I sent this letter in a shortened version, but when I began to shop around last summer (the summer of my literary ailment), I added a paragraph on marketing. This was after I received a rejection that contained something like, "I love it, but I don't know how to make it stand out in a busy market." So I decided to address that concern upfront.
I'm not naive enough to believe my query is perfect. However, it's effective. So if you're wondering just what a query letter looks like or maybe just what this novel I've been ddiscussing is all about, I offer you the generic form of my query letter for Sweet Divinity.
Dear Reader,
Based on your interests and the clients you represent, I feel certain that you will enjoy my commercial women’s novel of 95,000 words titled Sweet Divinity.
Amanda Jane Roberts swore she would shed her country ways and never look back to the Georgia farm where she was raised. But now that she’s discovered her husband’s affair (in a movie theatre, no less! How tacky!), she’s packing her bags and her precocious five-year old daughter and heading home. And home hasn’t changed one bit. Her feisty mother who shoots squirrels from her attic with a shotgun, watches her preachers on television, and tosses her son’s marijuana plants out the window (replacing them with useful herbs, of course) is still the independent, wise woman she always knew. Her best friends, young mother Dana and closeted David, are ready to pick up where the friendship left off. And the country boys are still gentlemanly and sincere.
But Amanda soon learns that although home may not have changed, she has. The girl who once loved working outside, cheering on the local high school football team, and baking sweet goodness in her mother’s kitchen has become a city girl whose girlfriends love high heels, overpriced coffee, and air conditioned comfort. She has forgotten the politics of small town life, and is quickly thrust back into a world where people are judged on their ability to hold with tradition.
Against this backdrop, Sweet Divinity is the story of a woman searching for her true identity and the strength to make a life of her own. Starting over as a single mother, she longs to find her place. Through taking on the challenges of living with her opinionated and idiosyncratic mother, establishing herself as the town’s most sophisticated (and still southern!) baker, and explaining to her daughter why life is disappointing but ultimately rewarding, Amanda begins to realize that although she may be “citified”, perhaps there is a little bit of country girl deep down, hollerin’ to get out. Thus the novel raises a universal question: how much of who I really am is defined by the place I call “home”?
Sweet Divinity will be my first published novel. While studying English at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina, I was fortunate to be selected for an independent study in novel writing under the mentorship of Gap Creek author Robert Morgan. I received my MA degree in English from The College of Charleston/The Citadel and currently teach high school literature and creative writing courses in South Carolina.
I am very excited to send you the manuscript of Sweet Divinity (named for the essential southern sweet—I can send you some of it as well!). The authentic Southern voice fills what I see as a gap in a women’s market full of metropolitan voices or stereotypically “southern” twangs. Women want authenticity and relatable qualities in their protagonists, and my heroine, Amanda, appeals to southern women in an authentically regional manner, but also to every woman in the universality of her experience. Having lived and studied in three southern states, I can attest that there is a rich market here waiting to be tapped by a sassy southern voice. I look forward to traveling and promoting my work in my region, but also sharing a bit of this place through national marketing. I believe in Amanda Jane.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Megan P. Koon
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