K.R. Gastreich's Blog

Seaside Proverbs

Just a few months ago, I was walking barefoot along the beach. Salty mists buffeted my face. Cold waves stung my toes. I had arrived here for Dollbaby Week, a gathering of women writers and friends.

Once a year, the Dollbabies come together at Virginia Beach. We share stories, laughter, love, and tears. We celebrate our triumphs and mourn our losses. In mutual support, we forge new beginnings from fallen ashes. We eat delicious food, watch anime movies, and howl at the moon. Most of all, we write. And write. And then, we write some more.

This past spring, all of us arrived a little worn and broken. The grinding pandemic had taken its toll. Everyone had endured tremendous stress; some had suffered significant losses. As the week progressed, we found strength in each other’s company. Our burdens were made more bearable; the edge taken off our grief. I began the week by shedding long-suppressed and bitter tears. I finished by carrying home seeds of joy and hope. This process of renewal is the enduring miracle of Dollbaby Week; it’s why I always go back.

“Sea Dragon” came to me in 2018.

One of our greatest luxuries during Dollbaby Week is the expanse of ocean at our doorstep. Every year when I arrive, I go directly to the beach. The sea embraces me, makes me laugh, even scolds me (gently) for not visiting more often. Between bouts of writing, I walk the shore at least once a day, singing with the waves, spying on shorebirds, and searching for dolphins. Often, the sea offers some small lesson for me, held inside a humble gift.

There was the year, for example, that I threw every perfect shell I found back into the ocean. I had no explanation for this behavior, beyond the certainty I was destined to find something other than a perfect shell, something truly special. After I’d discarded countless beautiful specimens, the ocean offered me Sea Dragon. Seaside Proverb: Only through letting go can we discover what is truly ours.

Then there was the year I saw a whale. A whale! Swimming with a pod of dolphins, just off shore. The sight was so astonishing, it brought me to my knees, stung my eyes with tears. Seaside Proverb: You never know what miracle hides beneath the surface, waiting to breach the waters and play in the sun.

This year, as I wandered Virginia Beach, I searched for sea shells again. All my life, I’ve had the tendency to seek “perfect” shells. I used to define perfection as whole and unchipped. I sought shells whose colors were still fresh. This time, though, I searched only for broken shells. Perhaps the memory of Sea Dragon drove me toward a new and different quest. Perhaps something a friend told me long ago had at last settled in my heart as truth. Nothing is perfect, she’d confided, until it’s been cracked at least once.

I don’t live close to the beach, so I keep part of the beach close to me.

I found many broken shells along the shore. Diverse images hid inside their irregular shapes. Depending on the angle at which I held each one, I could see different things. A butterfly, for example. Or a crane spreading her wings against a cloudy sky. I saw red-tinged waves falling upon a jagged shore. I saw a lace wing, and a pair of angels.

And I saw the Dollbabies, each woman a beautifully sculpted soul bearing the marks of her unique journey. Like the shells along Virginia Beach, we’ve all been caught in the riptides of life, thrown out to sea or pounded against the rocks. When our chipped selves return to shore, we take comfort in each other’s presence. We mourn the old dreams that were beaten away. We contemplate new possibilities revealed by our transformation. Each time the sea drags us back, we become more than we were: More enraged, more courageous, more outspoken, more compassionate. We grow more capable of loving one another and ourselves because experience has taught us what love really means.

I don’t have a moral for this story, no satisfying denouement. If it were in my power, I’d take away every agony my friends have ever suffered, every loss or disappointment we carry in our hearts. I’d restore all our spirits to their original pristine states. Then I’d set everyone in a safe place, far away from the whimsical and cruel power of that great sea. I like to believe I would do all this without a second thought, without looking back. And yet…

And yet.

This past spring I walked barefoot in the sand along the beach. I collected only sea shells that had been broken and sculpted by the waves. Only the shells that bore marks of a larger journey seemed authentic to me. Everything else felt less than perfect.

Eolyn: Legends and Lore (Episode 2)

Hidden Heritage

In my previous installment of Eolyn: Legends and Lore, I wrote about the origin of the Silver Web, including insights into Akmael’s parentage. The history of Eolyn’s parents, Kaie and Eoghan, is more obscure. In the series, we don’t learn much about Kaie or Eoghan because most of the people who knew them are dead by the time Eolyn’s story begins.

Eolyn herself does not learn the truth about her mother until after Kaie disappears and the Mage King destroys their home. Eolyn escapes the King’s wrath by fleeing to the South Woods. There, she meets the hermit, Ghemena who reveals part of Kaie’s hidden history. From Chapter 2 of the novel:

“I knew your mother.” Ghemena sucked a sharp breath through yellowed teeth. “Of course! I see the resemblance now. She was a maga warrior, one of the best of her generation.”

Eolyn’s gut lurched. It was not possible, not in the darkest of worlds, that this old hag had known her mother. “What’s that? What’s a maga warrior?”

“A maga is a woman who knows magic,” Ghemena replied. “A maga warrior is also trained in the arts of war.”

The term “maga” is derived from the Spanish word for female magician. I’ll come back to the magas of Eolyn’s world in a later post.

Ghemena met Kaie when the maga warrior served at Berlingen, a great abbey and library of magic. Ghemena was Abbess of Berlingen, and Kaie posted to the guard, when the young Prince Kedehen arrived at the gate petitioning to study magic. The Old Orders had long enforced a prohibition against royalty entering the Orders of Mages and Magas, but Kedehen eventually found a tutor in the wizard Tzeremond. Thus the road to conflict began. When Kedehen, fully initiated into High Magic, became King, Kaie and the other magas rose up against him. They found allies among the mages, a handful of nobility, and importantly, the Wizards and Warriors of Galia.

Eoghan came from Galia, a kingdom to the south of Moisehén. Although Galia assisted the magas in their cause against the Mage King, Galian royalty had long since incorporated magic into their own lineage. A rigorous code of ethics among Galian nobility was meant guard against abuse of magical power. So, while Galians were not opposed the idea of royalty wielding magic, they knew the dangers. They united against Kedehen out of fierce loyalty to the Order of Magas, with whom they had enjoyed a generations-old partnership in magic.

Kaie and Eoghan met and fell in love during the war against Kedehen. When the war ended and the purges began, they were forced into hiding. They considered fleeing to Galia, but Kaie, steady in the faith that women’s magic could be restored, did not want to abandon her people. Hoping to outlive the terror, she and Eoghan settled in the remote province of Moehn, where they started a farm and conceived Eolyn. Kaie would not live to see her dream of restoring women’s magic realized, but that dream would be carried forward by her daughter.

I’ve noticed a recurring theme of hidden heritage in many of my manuscripts. I suspect this is a reflection of my own life story, characterized by a family history that is at once well-articulated and yet filled with secrets and shrouded truths. For example, I’ve known since I was a young that the surname “Gastreich” dates to the 14th century and is derived from old German for “taster of wines.” On the other hand, it wasn’t until relatively late in life that I learned I have Roma heritage.

Eolyn’s knowledge of her family is even more limited by her circumstances. There are some things she will never know because her parents died before they could tell their stories. For example, the Galian sword Kel’Barú, which plays an important role in the saga, is bound to the bloodline of Eolyn’s father. This is why only Eolyn can hear and understand Kel’Barú’s voice, even though she has little knowledge of sword play when she first encounters the weapon.

Where we come from influences who we are, whether or not we are fully aware of that history. As the Silver Web Trilogy progresses, the memory of Eolyn’s mother inspires her leadership in magic, while the legacy of Eolyn’s father guides her in battle. Kaie and Eoghan’s stories may be partially hidden, but they have a full and lasting impact on Eolyn’s gifts and aspirations. Their struggle, hope, magic, and passion live on through Eolyn and her allies.

The Negative Review

For the published author, a negative review can sting hard. We tend to confer disproportionate power on bad reviews, allowing a single sour note to negate all the wonderful things readers have said about our work. For this reason, many of my friends and colleagues resolve not to pay attention to reader reviews, but let’s be honest: it’s hard not to sneak a peak once and a while.

Every published author faces negative reviews at some point in their journey. If you have any doubts about this, check out 1- and 2-star reviews of your favorite novels; you will be surprised how some readers perceive authors who’ve been your greatest inspiration. Because negative reviews are commonplace, it’s important to have appropriate tools for managing the impact. Here, I provide some guidelines that have worked for me.

First, listen. It’s good (and humbling) to open up to the experience of someone who didn’t connect to your work. Once in a while, you might find advice worth keeping; feedback that helps improve future manuscripts or even revisions of your present work.

Second, don’t respond. Never engage directly with someone who’s posted a negative review. Responding to a negative review accomplishes little beyond further antagonizing the reader, and will ultimately reflect poorly on you as an author. If you must talk about the review, vent with friends. In the rare event a negative review appears to be spam and/or written by someone who did not read the book, report to the appropriate authorities and then let them handle it however they see fit. Even if that means the review stays up forever. Let. It. Go.

Do consider the potential merits of a negative review. Readers sometimes see important shortcomings in our work that we’ve missed. When reflecting on a negative review, ask yourself this question: “If I’d received this critique before publishing, would it have changed the way I wrote the book?”

In my case, the answer to this question has invariably been, “No.” I suspect it will be for many of you as well. The reason is simple: Often those who write negative reviews are disappointed because the book we wrote is not the book they would have written. If a reader’s personal literary goals aren’t realized in your novel, they may get upset or even angry. I’m not saying this to undercut the value of the reader’s experience; on the contrary. But as authors we need to recognize a reader’s response to a novel is impacted by multiple factors that go beyond the quality of our writing and the authenticity of our story. One of my favorite authors, Carlos Ruiz Zafon, put it this way:

“A story is…a conversation between the narrator and the reader, and just as narrators can only relate as far as their ability will permit, so too readers can only read as far as what is already written in their souls.”

Labyrinth of the Spirits, p. 748

This quote resonates deeply with me. As an author, I work to ensure my novels reach those who already have the story of Eolyn written on their souls. On the whole, my reviews indicate I’ve been successful. But there have been, and will always be, occasional readers who cannot connect to the narrative – And that’s okay. I need to respect my readers’ journey, just as I hope they learn to respect mine.

I have more thoughts about this, but already the post has turned out longer than anticipated, so I’ll pause there for today. I do hope this has been a useful reflection, and I’d love to hear your thoughts and tips regarding negative reviews.

May the next fantastic book you read – the one already written on your soul – be just around the corner!

Eolyn: Legends and Lore

My 2021 mini series on The Query Letter was a lot of fun for me, and well-received by my followers. So, I’ve decided to do another series for 2022, centered on a theme I haven’t discussed in a long time: the mythological and historical foundations of Eolyn’s world. With each post, I’ll reveal hidden backstories and little known facts that aren’t always apparent in the novels. Followers who have read The Silver Web are bound to learn something new. For those who haven’t yet started the books, no worries: I will avoid spoilers! As part of the series, I’ll connect each topic to a broader discussion of my creative process.

I’m very excited about this new endeavor. I hope my posts will generate interest and discussion from readers and writers alike. Please fill up the comments with any ideas and thoughts that come to mind as you read each post!

Today, we’ll begin with the Origin of the Silver Web.

The Silver Web as envisioned by ARavenDesign.com

To understand why the Silver Web exists, we must return to one of the great atrocities of the Mage King’s reign: the massacre at East Selen. At Midwinter’s Eve, a powerful family of magic known as the Clan of East Selen had gathered deep inside their forest home. Their celebration was bright and full of hope. A truce had recently been declared with the Mage King Kedehen. The war, they thought, had ended. No one expected an attack, but Kedehen, driven by fury and fear, decided to crush them all.

In Chapter 32 of Eolyn, Mage Corey, who escaped the massacre as a child, gives this account many years later:

“Kedehen’s men came at night. They dragged my people out of their beds and murdered them on the doorsteps. Men, women, and children. No one was spared. I thought I was trapped in a nightmare. My mother…” Corey paused and cleared his throat. “My mother suffered much before she died. My father was hacked to pieces in front of my eyes.”

Only two people survived: the child Corey and his older cousin, the witch Briana. Both were captured by Kedehen. In exchange for sparing Corey’s life, Briana agreed to become Kedehen’s Queen. She soon gave birth to Kedehen’s only son, the Mage Prince Akmael.

Briana’s relationship with Kedehen was complicated. She hated him for the massacre, yet before the war, they had fallen in love. Briana first met Kedehen as a young prince, when he began his study of magic. Because of his many elder brothers, Prince Kedehen was certain he would never ascend to the throne, nor did he want to. But fate had other plans. When Kedehen became King, insurrectionists who did not want a wizard crowned took up arms against him. They fought a long and brutal war. After the war ended, Kedehen, anxious to protect the peace, sought to stamp out any remaining opposition.

Throughout the war, Briana tried to stay neutral, but the nature of the conflict demanded everyone pick sides, and the brutal aftermath made it impossible for her to support the man she once loved. While she did not willingly become Kedehen’s Queen, her capitulation was seen as a betrayal by the handful of witches who escaped the ongoing purges. When Akmael was born, Briana’s destiny, and the destiny of the Clan of East Selen, became bound to Kedehen’s lineage.

It is sometimes said that in a world controlled by men, a woman’s only defense is the curse. As Kedehen systematically systematically eliminated women practitioners of magic, Briana found herself cornered and without hope. While Kedehen maintained tight control over her magic, the Queen managed to craft a curse disguised as an amulet. This was the Silver Web, made to put an end to the line of Kings that had destroyed Briana’s heritage and betrayed her sisters in magic. Before she died, Briana gifted the medallion to her own son.

My earliest conception of the Silver Web was not as a jewel but as a tapestry. I envisioned Queen Briana imprisoned in her tower, weaving a tapestry that foretold the story of her son and Eolyn, the last daughter of the witches of old; the girl who would bring forth a new era of magic. (Remembering this, I find it very interesting that artist Autumn M. Birt’s 2021 rendition of the Silver Web resembles a tapestry!) I abandoned the idea of a tapestry because it became clear to me prophecy has no place in Eolyn’s world. As skilled as Briana is with her magic, she cannot write the future; she can only weave intention.

Just as Briana’s relationship to Kedehen is complicated, so too is the intention woven into the Silver Web. Briana seeks to break the power of her son’s lineage, but not through conflict or bloodshed. Rather, she hopes to redeem Akmael’s soiled heritage through the transformative power of love.

I can’t say whether Briana’s wish is fulfilled without some major spoilers. In any case, readers might argue the question is left open at the end of the trilogy. Whatever the final outcome, the Silver Web plays a powerful role in the saga, uniting Akmael and Eolyn in an enduring bond of friendship and respect. To discover how that bond impacts the future of magic and the many characters with whom their fates are interwoven, you’ll have to read the novels!

QOTD: What roles do prophecy, curses, and magical intention play in stories you have read or written? Do you think curses always bad, or can they be used as a tool for justice?

Age of Omicron

This month, we began our fifth (!) semester under the Covid pandemic. I still remember when, two years ago, the news of Covid19 broke in China during January of 2020. Inside a couple weeks, cases hit 80,000 – a number that seemed phenomenal at the time. I remember thinking, “This could be it. This could be the big one.”

By The Big One, I meant the emerging infectious disease that would succeed in dispersing itself across the globe. For decades, scientists had been expecting – and trying to prepare – for the next pandemic. As an evolutionary ecologist, I understood a modern pandemic was inevitable, given our population density and the increasing opportunities for zoonotic disease. I just didn’t want to be right about that, then or ever.

At the start of 2021, I – like many people – felt optimistic that we were about to turn the corner on Covid19. Medical personnel and frontline workers were being vaccinated. Within a few months, I would be vaccinated too. To this day, I believe one of the greatest achievements of modern science was the speed with which the Covid19 vaccines were developed.

Then last summer, just as we thought we were getting back to normal, the perfect storm hit: Mask mandates and other protocols to protect public health were abandoned while resistance to getting the vaccine remained high. The Delta variant emerged, raged through the unvaccinated population, and left many debilitated or dead. Most recently, Delta has given way to Omicron. Meanwhile, across the globe hundreds of millions still do not have access to the vaccine – reminding us that a global challenge requires a global solution, one we have not been successful at charting or implementing.

Like many people, I spent much of the winter holidays coming to terms with the fact that we are in this for the long haul. For myself and my own health, I don’t worry that much anymore. So far, I have weathered this pandemic in a place of privilege; maintaining my employment while having access to the vaccine in an environment that embraces caring for each other and a science-based approach to public health. But I can see the toll the pandemic is taking on people around me, in my community, and for my country as a whole. This saddens and angers me because all the suffering is so unnecessary at this point. We have simple solutions: Get the vaccine, or wear a mask. In places of high risk, do both.

Until that message hits home, Covid will continue to teach us – force us – to expect the unexpected. I consider this a valuable lesson and one I’ve had to re-learn many times in life.

I remain grateful for my good health and the continued good health of my family – who, although they represent all sides of the political spectrum, have all been vaccinated, and eagerly so. It’s wonderful to be back in class with my students, to go out to restaurants again, and to attend the occasional theater production. These small luxuries have taken on great meaning for me. I feel deeply indebted to the many who have worked very hard to promote adequate public health measures, to develop and distribute the vaccine, and to care for our loved ones who have fallen ill, so we can began to rebuild some of the better parts of our pre-pandemic life.

I wish everyone beginning this new semester – students, faculty, staff, parents, and the communities that support us – renewal and success in this season of uncertainty.

Query Letters: The Author Bio

This marks the fifth installment of an ongoing series on query letters. So far, we’ve covered:

Why query?What goes into a query letter?How do I place my book in the market?How do I pitch my book?

Today we will talk about the Author Bio. Most query letters finish with a single, short paragraph outlining the author’s credentials. This is much more straightforward if you have conventional writing credentials, such as previous publications or writing awards.

If you don’t think you have writing credentials, think again. In lieu of publications or awards, consider the special skills and knowledge that went into your manuscript. Every manuscript has unique elements; that uniqueness reflects who you are and what you know about the world. Consider this question: Why are you the best person to write this manuscript? The answer will give you insight into your credentials as a writer.

It can be helpful to mention your manuscript has been vetted, say through a writer’s group or by a writing coach, but this isn’t necessary. Agents and editors will assume your manuscript has been critiqued by others, revised, and polished – multiple times – before you reached out to them.

Pro Tip: If your manuscript hasn’t been read by anyone else but you, STOP right now. You are not ready to query. You may think you’ve written the best novel in history, but trust me: No matter how talented you are, that’s a sloppy piece of work you just finished. Do your precious gem a favor, and fix it. Join a critique group, find a critique partner, get a writing mentor or coach, hire an editor…You don’t have to do all of these things, but take the manuscript through at least one full round of revisions before you submit. Otherwise, you will be wasting your time, as well as the agents’ time, if you query.

Once you know what credentials you will list in your author bio, organize the paragraph so the most important material is mentioned up front. Resist the temptation to tell your life story. Instead, focus on concrete credentials that speak directly to you as a writer and to the work you are submitting. The author bio is also a good place to mention any writing-related social media accounts. Provide links and handles as appropriate.

Remember it’s okay if your author bio is short. In fact, it’s better to keep this paragraph short. While an agent or editor may take your writing credentials into account, what’s really going to matter is whether they like your story idea and your writing style. For ideas on how to pitch your story idea, visit my previous posts on the Query Letter via the links are at the beginning of this post.

And that concludes my brief series on query letters! You now have the tools you need to write a professional query that can get your foot in the door and hopefully find a home for your manuscript.

Not surprisingly, I have more to say about querying, so I will probably come back to this topic soon. Until then, write on!

2022: Already a work in progress

EOLYN and her companion novels had a makeover in 2021.
Cover design by A Raven Designs

Anyone else feel like there wasn’t much of a holiday season this year? Everything blasted by so quickly.

That’s not to say I didn’t have a nice holiday. Thanks to vaccines and loosened travel restrictions, I was able to enjoy more time with my family. Also for the first time in two years, I attended a live performance at a real theater. The luxury of simply being present in a theatrical space was almost overwhelming. Despite these joys, or perhaps because of them, the holidays were over too soon. I hardly got my decorations up, and now it’s past time to take them down.

2021 wasn’t what I had hoped for 365+ days ago, when I bade farewell to 2020. At the beginning of the year, I expected a time of renewal and reconstruction. There was some of that to be sure, but 2021 also brought significant losses. Like a lot of people, by December I realized I’d spent most of the year picking through rubble and coming to terms with what actually could be recovered. To make things worse, as I picked through the rubble of 2020, the bombers of 2021 were still flying overhead.

Arctic Fox. By Jonathen Pie, CC0 via Wikimedia Commons

My sense from social media chatter is that no one is going into 2022 as naively as we went into 2021. I believe this is a good thing. Naivete has its virtues, but the pandemic is teaching us to expect the unexpected, and prepare accordingly.

For my part, I’m trying not to worry about things I have no control over. For example, where the next Covid variant might come from, or whether my neighbor wears a mask and accepts the science of vaccination. I know this is little comfort to those who want the big problems fixed and fixed now, but sometimes we have to roll with the changes demanded of us; and sometimes change is imposed by complex forces much greater than ourselves.

I can count many blessings from 2021, and I did keep some promises to myself. I finished a manuscript (that I love!) and began querying. (Yes, I know I’ve been slow to follow up on my mini-series about queries. I will get back to that in the coming weeks. Please stay tuned.) I traveled – 3 times! – within the country to visit family and friends.

I ramped up marketing efforts for The Silver Web trilogy, including brand new covers for all three books. And to my surprise, I actually saw results from my marketing. Eolyn topped Amazon’s Kindle best sellers list more than once during the year. It was great to see so many new readers discover her magical world.

Most importantly, I made it through two more semesters (and one summer) of Covid relatively sane and in good health. This was not a trivial accomplishment. Campus life has never been more challenging.

By Mathias Appel – Red Panda, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Some of you may remember that this time last year, I promised to donate my royalties to one of three causes, each cause related to overarching themes in The Silver Web trilogy. I considered several options for my end-of-year donation, the amount of which was based on my total royalties for 2020. My 2020 royalties went, in full, to the World Wildlife Fund. Instinct told me this is what Eolyn would want. Wilderness is the foundation of her magic, and animals are her teachers. WWF has an excellent track record for protecting both. As part of my donation, I made two symbolic adoptions: the arctic fox and the red panda.

Over the next twelve months, I’ll be considering options for my next donation. I’d like to spread the love, so WWF will probably not be on the list again – but who knows? As with all dimensions of life, under the current normal, anything is possible. As always, three themes will drive my donation decisions: conservation, women’s welfare, and peace. I am always open to suggestions, so if you have favorite organizations or projects that speak to these areas, please let me know.

I wish you many blessings in 2022; stability, good health, companionship, and magic. Make some promises to yourself, for yourself – and don’t be afraid to keep them.

The Perfect Magical Fantasy for the Holidays

I’m participating in a number of writer challenges on Instagram. One recent challenge asked: Why is my story important? To answer this question, I focused on EOLYN, Book One of the Silver Web Trilogy.

What drew me into Eolyn’s story was the immense courage and strength she demonstrates when confronting a brutal system intent on repressing her magic – Not only her magic, but the magic of all women. Eolyn never gives up despite the betrayals and bitter losses she endures. Like all of us, she makes some mistakes along the way, but that doesn’t undermine her faith. No matter how big the conflict, Eolyn is always reaching for a non-violent solution, even when everyone else is ready to draw their swords. I learned so much from working with Eolyn as a character. I consider it one of the great privileges of my life to have been able to tell her story, as well as the stories of her allies and enemies.

If you haven’t had chance to read EOLYN, now is a good time to start. This month, 100 free copies are up for grabs on Goodreads. Enter HERE to win your copy.

If you aren’t a member of Goodreads, you can order EOLYN through your local bookstore, request a copy at your library, or read EOLYN on Kindle.

Let the the adventure begin!

Query Letters: The Pitch

So far in this brief series, we’ve covered three topics:

Why Query?

The Basic Structure of the Query Letter

Placing Your Work in the Market

Today, I’ll talk about the pitch. The pitch consists of a few sentences that describe the central conflict of your novel in a compelling manner. The pitch is distinct from the synopsis in a couple ways.

First, the pitch does not reveal the end of the story. Rather, the pitch seeks to hook the reader’s attention so they will want to know more. Think of the back cover blurb found on most paperbacks. The blurb tells the reader just enough to get them to open the book and start reading. In a query letter, the pitch serves the same function: to ignite the interest of the agent or editor, so they will want to read more.

Second, the pitch is usually less detailed and shorter than the synopsis. The synopsis outlines all major plot points of the manuscript, including the end. Spoilers are not only allowed in a synopsis, they are expected. Because of its extended content, the synopsis usually requires at least one page and often several. The pitch is a more concise, often limited to a single paragraph.

Today’s post is about the pitch, not the synopsis. But it’s worth noting that many of the same principles apply to writing both. I may come back to the synopsis in a later post, if I’m feeling ambitious.

Writing a pitch is daunting for a novelist. After all, we tend to use 80,000-120,000 words to deliver one story. The set up alone – let’s say, the first three chapters – might have taken us 10,000 words. How to summarize all that in just a few sentences? It’s like crafting a firework when we’re accustomed to building campfires. Firewords burst bright, fade fast, and make everyone say, “Aaaaah! I want to see more!” Campfires burn slow, but keep you warm – and entertained – for hours on end. Surely it’s not possible to translate our unique, beautiful, slow-burning campfire into a single short-lived firework! Yet this is what we must do in order to market our work.

There are a lot of resources out there for writing a successful pitch. All the ones I’ve read (and listened to) have been useful, and I suggest you consider more than one resource when researching the pitch. As always, my purpose here is not to give you a definitive answer on how to write the pitch, but to provide some guidelines and ideas based on what has worked for me.

First, focus on the main character. What makes them unique, or their life situation interesting, at the moment when the story starts? Try to describe your main character in one to two sentences, focusing on traits the reader is likely to connect to or sympathize with.

Second, identify the inciting incident. In other words, what sets the story in motion? This could be any of a number of things depending on your story: a message, an accident, the appearance of an old love interest. The inciting incident sets up the conflict for your character and should be identified clearly in the pitch.

Third, tell us what’s at stake for the main character. What will they lose if they can’t resolve the conflict set in motion by the inciting incident? Try to be specific as possible, and keep it personal for the MC. “they’ll lose everything they hold dear” sounds big, but it’s also vague. A more specific statement, e.g., “their family estate will fall into ruin,” offers higher stakes and more tension for the reader.

Let’s walk through an example from my novel Eolyn. Here are my responses to the above questions:

Who is the main character? What makes them unique, or their life situation particularly interesting, at the moment the story starts? My main character is Eolyn. At the beginning of the story, she is the sole survivor of a violent purge against women practitioners of magic. The purge is executed by the Mage King Kedehen, who has outlawed women’s magic.

What is the inciting incident? What sets the story in motion? To escape the purges, Eolyn flees to the South Woods. There, she continues her studies in magic. She also meets a young mage named Akmael. Eolyn and Akmael develop a special friendship, but they are destined to oppose each other. Eolyn does not know this because Akmael has kept a secret from her: he is son and heir to the Mage King, the same man who killed Eolyn’s family and sent her into exile.

What is at stake for the main character? Eolyn wants to practice magic, but women who practice magic are sentenced to death. To recover her rights and restore women’s magic to her people, she must fight the Mage King. This means risking her own life while taking up arms against – and perhaps killing – Akmael, the same man she came to love in the South Woods.

In answering these questions, I’ve distilled a 118,000-word story into a few main ideas. Still, what I have so far is too long for a pitch. To write the pitch itself, I need to sew these elements together in a more concise fashion. I also need to add some splash and polish to the wording. Here’s one example of what the final pitch might look like:

In a land ravaged by civil war, the Mage King initiates a ruthless purge of women practitioners. Eolyn, sole heiress to a forbidden craft, escapes by fleeing to the South Woods. There, she meets and befriends the mysterious Akmael. But Akmael has a secret: He is the Mage Prince, son and heir to the man who slaughtered Eolyn’s family. To defeat the Mage King and regain her freedom, Eolyn must take up arms against the man closest to her heart.

Confession: I’m not entirely happy with this pitch. In fact, the hardest part of this entire post was writing the darn pitch! But this brings me to my last point: If you’re like me, you’re a perfectionist, and you can look at the same pitch so many times your eyes start to hurt. For this and other reasons, I suggest you always share your pitch with writer friends who can help you fix and refine it. Don’t just rely on yourself. Knock out the first draft of your pitch, and share with friends as soon as possible.

Just for fun, I invite you to use the comments section to discuss the pitch I composed for Eolyn. What do you like about it? What do you think can be improved, and how? I’d also love to see any pitches you are working on, and I’m happy to provide you with feedback as well!

As a final note, keep in mind that some query letters open by describing the market and ideal reader for the manuscript. Others dive straight into the pitch, saving discussion of the market for paragraph two. Agents may have different preferences with respect to the order of these first two paragraphs. As will all aspects of querying, doublecheck the guidelines of the agent or publisher and make sure you follow them closely.

That’s my take on pitches! In my fifth and last post for this series, I’ll talk about the third paragraph of every query, the author’s biography.

Query Letters: Placing your work in the market

A few weeks ago, I promised more posts on the topic of the query letter. Previously, I discussed why an author should query and went over the basic 3-paragraph structure of the query letter. One paragraph of the query letter is typically devoted to placing the manuscript in the market. Let’s dig into that today.

For many agents it’s critical the author knows the intended market for their work. I’ve even seen agents claim they will not consider the query if an author gets the market wrong.

For me personally, placing my work in the market is intimidating. As an author, I focus more on the creative process than on marketing. I’m not always confident I fully grasp the differences between all the genres and subgenres that are relevant for my work.

For example, if my novel has paranormal elements, does that qualify it as a paranormal novel? What’s the difference between paranormal and urban fantasy? If my novel combines elements of thriller, horror, and suspense, which of these should I focus on when identifying the market for a potential agent? Is “dark fantasy” too general a term when describing my novel?

At the heart of these questions lies a central dilemma: Many of us write across genres. While this might create uncertainty when writing a query, writing across genres can also be used to the author’s advantage.

For example, if your manuscript combines elements of more than one genre, you can tailor each query to emphasize the genre that most appeals to that particular agent. It’s also true that many agents favor manuscripts that cross or bend genres. Look for those agents – they might be your next best friend!

An important point: Word count is part of genre. For example, romance tends to be shorter than epic fantasy. When designating your genre, make sure your word count fits within what’s expected.

In addition to knowing your genre, many agents ask you to identify novels similar to your own. Authors tend to grimace at this because we are convinced our manuscript is totally unique. While it’s true that no one else can write the novel that comes from your individual heart and soul, all of us should be able to identify works that share important characteristics with our manuscript.

To identify novels similar to my own, I raided my bookshelf. I pulled novels that have inspired me and looked for novels that generated the same mood I hope to create for other readers. Not only was this a fun exercise, the stack I produced became a list of works to include in my query letters. Sure, not a single book in that stack tells the same story I did, but at least I can give the agent an idea of where I’m coming from.

While writing your novel – that is, even before you begin to think about the query letter – it’s important to identify your ideal reader. Write for one person rather than a city, continent, or country. That one person you’re trying to reach can tell you about your genre and market. Who is your ideal reader, what kind of books do they prefer, and why? If you can answer these questions, you probably have a pretty good grip on the market for your novel, even if you aren’t always sure what genre label to use.

Once you have all these ideas lined up – genre, similar novels, and your ideal reader – the rest is just mechanics. Write a single paragraph. State your genre, word count, and totally awesome title up front. Then, provide a list of 2-3 similar novels and give a brief description of your ideal reader. Congratulations! You’ve just finished the first paragraph of your query letter.

In upcoming posts, we’ll dig into the second and third paragraphs. I also provide an overview of these paragraphs in a previous post.

Happy October and good luck with your queries!