S.D. Reeves's Blog, page 9

Query Letters: From the Writer’s Drawer

Shh! Quick, come inside. Did anyone follow you? Good, good.

Now, don’t let anyone know I told you this, but we’re going to be talking about Query Letters today.



Few subjects give writers the chills like this one. You see, after the last page is inked. After the rough draft is done, and the beta readers, editors and such have had their pound of flesh, comes the time to sell your book. This marks the end of the creative process and beginning of a third that’s rather synonymous with marketing. We’ll leave the further aspects of that for another post. Query letters are our game today, and unless you are Self-Publishing, the first stop on Highway to Hell.

Alright, maybe that is an exaggeration, but I know of very few authors who like writing these – with good reason; down this road lays rejection. And these bad boys? They will give you lots of experience with that. Query Letters occupy such a mythical quality in the minds of many authors, that there are groups, blogs, and you name it devoted to dissecting the various types of rejections, reading the droppings of ‘sad’ like tea leaves .

That said, they are a necessary evil to hone your skills for the other tasks that will come. But you won’t be alone, no, together we will stare this monster in the face, dissect its ugly parts, and maybe, just maybe, learn how to survive hitting that send button. So, let’s look at one, or more specifically, one of mine:

Dear *,

Sixteen-year-old Niena wants nothing more than to attend an elite bardic college, but when the dragon that shattered the empire awakens again she finds herself on the run, through the fey realm of Fairhome, to the city where she was born. On her trail are her army veteran grandfather, thrown into a commander’s role he doesn’t want, the lord of the fairies, trying to steer her to his own ends, and the husband she won’t meet for fifteen years. If she kills the dragon, she’ll save everyone she holds dear. But if she kills the dragon, she’s cursed instead to become it.

Curses of Scale is a 75,000-word fantasy novel in the vein of Scott Lynch or Joe Abercrombie.

I’ve had short fiction published by numerous zines including The Blotter, Chantwood, Yellow Chair Review, and The Writer’s Drawer, and in the past I’ve reviewed books for the Oxford University Press, including Micheal Newton’s Victorian Fairy Tales.

Thank you for taking the time to consider my work. I look forward to hearing from you.

Regards,

Stephen Reeves

Opening salvo

While there are many different views on what makes up a good letter, or even how to start one. Yet the majority seem to agree; be concise. Short and sweet is the bill, and so by that logic, keep it to around 250-350 words. Of those, none are more important than the opening few lines.

As alluded, agents often make up their mind on a book within the first few lines. So, your hook can be the difference between a form rejection, or a request to see your sample chapters. Now, let’s look at mine:

Sixteen-year-old Niena wants nothing more than to attend an elite bardic college, but when the dragon that shattered the empire awakens again she finds herself on the run, through the fey realm of Fairhome, to the city where she was born.

I start right off with the synopsis, letting the story sell itself. One caveat: I am not perfectly happy with what I did here, but it was successful, which is all that matters. As it were, there are some key things to note:

1. Avoid opening with a question (ex. What if you were being hunted by wombats but needed to get to the Starbucks for the final ingredient in your summoning ritual?).

2. Let them know the stakes. You have this one chance to nab their attention, so don’t hold back on important details.

3. Keep away from superlatives. Just like when writing your back blurb (more on that in a later post), don’t go off into tangents describing how they should feel about your novel, ex: this book is the thrilling conclusion to last years apple pie recipe.

4. Stay to one or two paragraphs, the shorter the better.

Still reading? Good, because you are really past the hard part now.

The Technical details

The synopsis is out of the way and your dream representative hasn’t offed themselves. Good job. So, let’s discuss your book. This part can be the shortest – outside saying hello – section. Just state the details: genre, and word count.

Curses of Scale is a 75,000-word fantasy novel in the vein of Scott Lynch or Joe Abercrombie.

If you want bonus points you can compare your novel’s style against another established author’s work. Remember, an agent doesn’t necessarily care if your book is brilliant, revolutionary, or on the bad end, derivative. Most just want to know if it is sellable. That’s the cold truth. Sellable, can still mean brilliant, but you just must get them to buy into the writing, and you.

The Author Bio

You aren’t going to be able to avoid this. Reason? As I mentioned, you aren’t only selling your book. You are selling yourself. Philosophical debates about prostitution aside, this part can be handled a lot of different ways. My suggestion is to play up whatever publishing history you have, any awards you may have won, or otherwise.

I’ve had short fiction published by numerous zines including The Blotter, Chantwood, Yellow Chair Review, and The Writer’s Drawer, and in the past I’ve reviewed books for the Oxford University Press, including Micheal Newton’s Victorian Fairy Tales.

If this is your debut piece – though I always suggest starting with short stories first – don’t panic. A catchy paragraph (gah, adjectives) about yourself will serve just fine, and really, that’s what most expect anyways.

Once you’d rambled on about your love of cats, or distaste of cats, wrap the letter up with a formal thank you.

Thank you for taking the time to consider my work. I look forward to hearing from you.

Now, some things to consider for the whole shebang:

1. Unless otherwise requested, never send your sample chapters or Long-Form Synopsis with the Query Letter.

2. Don’t beg. Just don’t. If you ask the agent to ‘give you a chance,’ they won’t.

3. This ties into #2; sound confident. If it is non-fiction, you want the agent to come out of this thinking you are an expert in the subject matter. If you are a fiction writer, you want to sound literate; an effective communicator (not like this blog post).

That about wraps things up. If there are any other thoughts you guys might have, feel free to add them in the comments. Hopefully, some of this has been useful.

Next time around we will be digging into the meat of marketing.

Davy Crockett Recording

This month’s recording is a bit of Davy Crockett. The waterfall was recorded about a block from my house. First time trying to insert video, hopefully I can get a better camera down the road. Anyways, it runs about 12 minutes. Enjoy!

Ghost Dinner, read by S.D. Reeves

Just in time for Valentines, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbI7_... .

Lovely little old southern folk tale. Enjoy!

A Review of Crimson & Cream, by C.M. Skiera ****

Crimson & Cream by C.M. Skiera

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


When I first pulled this book off my to-be-read pile I was honestly a bit worried. The title gave me the impression of a romance, the cover-art a standard fantasy affair. And the character names, Flotsam and Jetsam, a naval yarn. Deep down I feared it would be some sort of unholy trinity. Thankfully, I can say I was wrong. Crimson & Cream is in truth a Young Adult Fantasy novel that is at times clever, often atmospheric, and never boring.

Most importantly there are no sea-shanties.

The tale follows the troubles and adventures of twins Eadriel (Jetsam) and Elvar (Flotsam) in a land that has outlawed magic and uses orphans as slave labor – seriously, it is as if someone transported every critic of Oliver Twist over, and said “go, have fun.” And as orphans to a pair of esteemed teachers at a magic school, Flotsam and Jetsam are in double trouble.

Though personal politics probably doesn’t matter when you are living in a sewer, scavenging for your daily bread. Until it does. After an ill-advised rendezvous the twin’s lives are turned upside down. Cue the set-up for 283 odd pages of escapes, battles, and adventures through lost cities.

And a pleasant little tale it is. Unlike many modern writers, C.M Skiera appreciates the art of setting a scene, and his prose can catch one quite unawares. The writing will continue in plain meter, lulling the reader into the misapprehension of simplicity, before crashing along with a vivid description. This has the effect of lending scenes more gravity, and making certain phrases stick.

The plot on the other hand is straight forward; the highs come at the right places, and the lulls are well-paced to give added measure for the drama. There is nothing too jarring or experimental in the setup, though this has the consequence of not being one of those novels that pushes the envelope. Still, it is a successful bit of storytelling.

Where the novel succeeds less is with the cast, and in some way, the dialogue. Characterization is at times, choppy. Dialogue too simple. I felt that the protagonist needed more personalization, often exhibiting thought processes that were either very predictable, or in some cases, too off-point. Part of this could be due to the age group this is meant for, or just very plainly, a plethora of characters in a short novel.

Perhaps, with the sequels these nitpicks may lessen- at the time of this review, the Oxbow Kingdom Trilogy has been completed, and is available. I believe there is enough here to warrant a further look. So, despite my problems with the characterization, I will be picking up the continuations. Happily so.

Final verdict: Crimson & Cream a solid, atmospheric Young Adult fantasy novel, with all the timeless and adventurous trappings that readers are sure to love.


View all my reviews

A review of Curses of Scale, from Diary of a Difference

Not every review out there will be glowing, unless it is radioactive. Or came from New Jersey, but I am told that is apples-apples. Some people simply won’t be floored by your work, and that is OK. Ivana over at Diary of a Difference took the time to review Curses of Scale, and even though it is only a 3/5 star review, it is quite a nice one. Check out the review and her blog here: https://diaryofdifference.com/2019/01...

What’s happening, or not happening. That.

I always seem to be behind the times, technology wise. Which is quite odd, considering my day job is with IT. Any who, you all can find me here: https://www.instagram.com/evercharm_s...

Next month I plan to continue the Chronicles of a Writer series (I need to come up with a better name for that). As well, as record a few more readings. Twas the Night Before Christmas did quite well, view wise, but I am not sure I want to deviate from telling Southern Folk Tales, too much. so it might be a one-off.

Other than that, not much is new. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas, and I will see you all next year

Twas the Night Before…

A little belated, but for those who are interested, I’m reading “Twas the Night Before Christmas” this month: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCCEZ....

First in Category, Red City Review, Young Adult

I have some wonderful news, Curses of Scale won first in Category for Young Adult in the Red City Review Awards

Interview with Darrel Nelson

Darrel Nelson was kind enough to interview me for his blog. The format is a little interesting, a sort of after-the-review, follow up. I think it is a rather interesting read, with his own take on my answers https://darrellbnelson.wordpress.com/2018/10/18/s-d-reeves/.

Launch of YouTube channel

Sometime ago I mentioned that I was working on narrating some short stories, mostly old Southern Tales and what not. Well, I am happy to announce the launch of my YouTube channel, Evercharm stories. Starting it off with a classic: The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County. Take a gander, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSt2T...