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The Stars Were Right Query

The Stars Were Right

I had a few requests for me to post my query for The Stars Were Right like I did with Coal Belly when I posted my two projects. So here it is, it’s still a work in progress – I find I’m always tweaking this thing. Feel free to offer feedback, leave a comment, whatever, if my skin isn’t thick enough to handle it, it needs to get thicker.

Dear AGENT NAME,

Caravan Master Waldo Bell didn’t expect to return home a criminal. He just wanted a relaxing month off between jobs so he could explore the city of Lovat, enjoy a soft bed, and acquire a few decent meals. Instead, he was arrested — accused of hacking off body parts and killing old friends.

Escaping custody and on the run, Wal becomes a citywide fugitive fighting to clear his name. As the body count rises, a shadowy assassin emerges as the true killer, and the trail begins to grow more and more bizarre.

Enlisting the help of some unexpected allies, Wal begins his own investigation into the very heart of Lovat itself, leading him to a cult of religious zealots and a plot led by an ancient demi-god.

THE STARS WERE RIGHT (87,842 words) is The Fugitive meets Lovecraft, combining mystery and monsters, chases and cults, and an ancient evil in a world that is similar but not quite like our own.

Thank you in advance for your consideration.

Regards,
K. M. Alexander

So yeah. There it is in all it’s querying glory.

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Running the Numbers #3

Small update – not much new that I haven’t posted about before – anyway, here’s the numbers for Coal Belly. I keep plodding along – staying busy with other projects while I play the waiting game. I know things are going to get more complex as I start adding in the numbers for The Stars Were Right (which I just finished.)

  • Total Agents Queried: 84
  • Unanswered Queries: 46
  • Query Rejections: 33
  • Partials Requested: 5
  • Outstanding Partials: 1
  • Partials Rejected: 4
  • Fulls Requested: 0
  • Fulls Rejected: 0

Oh! Almost forgot, I also submitted my full Coal Belly manuscript to the Harper Voyager‘s open call for manuscripts, not something they do very often, obviously if something comes of that you’ll be the first to know.

Keep on keepin’ on.

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Pardon me while I take a victory lap…

Boom.

Finished.

Seven months later The Stars Were Right is now a complete rough manuscript at just over 80k words. Right in the sweet spot as planned. Sorry I’ve been heads down, spending most of my time working on my manuscript and avoiding the internet.

It’s a great feeling, but now the hard work begins. First I need to do a secondary pass just to make sure everything is in it’s place plot-wise and along the way I’ll correct any mistakes I happen to stumble across. (I’m sure there are plenty.) Then I have a query to write and a few synopses (in various length, because some agents like short synopsis and some like longer ones.)

I’m pretty stoked, but man there’s a lot to do. I need to write the outline for my next manuscript on top of dealing with all the writing that comes after finishing a manuscript. So much to do, got to focus and stay busy!

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All Quiet

Things are so quiet lately. I blame summer.

I was going to do a running the numbers post – was planning on doing one a week – but those are boring without significant changes. My last rejection was a week ago, and one rejection isn’t enough to warrant a whole post. As a result everything feels like it’s in a lurch. At least with rejections something is happening, my query, my synopsis, my manuscript is working – it’s moving though the industry. Silence feels like nothing is happening.

I plod along.

I think I just wrote a post about nothing. Larry David would be proud.

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Running the Numbers #2

I’ll try to do these running the numbers posts as long as I have new data to share. For even more up to date info: follow me on twitter. I tweet about a lot of things, often my writing. Not a huge swing in the count this week. I had a new partial request (yay!) and one rejection (boo!) anyway… the numbers as they stand today:

  • Total Agents Queried: 81
  • Unanswered Queries: 51
  • Query Rejections: 30
  • Partials Requested: 4
  • Outstanding Partials: 3
  • Partials Rejected: 1
  • Fulls Requested: 0
  • Fulls Rejected: 0
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Running the Numbers

I figured it might be of interest if I started documenting the numbers surrounding my hunt for representation. I keep all this in a spreadsheet, recording the agent’s name, their business, their email, and the date they were queried. It’s handy and helps me keep track of everything.

So without further ado, the numbers:

  • Total Agents Queried: 81
  • Unanswered Queries: 51
  • Query Rejections: 30
  • Partials Requested: 3

10% positive interest in my manuscript. Not bad. I’ll take it.