So, my novel is finished. I feel like there are a couple of things I need to clean up, but it’s finished, and it is time for me to try the next step. The publishing world. I’m not sure why, but I’m not going to waste words on my insecurities. I’m posting my first attempt at writing a query letter which I hope to send out to agents and editors (sounds so easy) and writing this bitch was tough. So, here it is posted and I’m hoping that maybe some of you readers out there wouldn’t mind leaving a comment as to what you think could make it stronger. I know I could try to post it to Janet Reid’s Query Shark, but she scares me. I know snarky is in, but it makes me uncomfortable, I would rather she privately rejected me (Query Shark is a great resource by the way and she knows what she is doing, and her notes are helpful). Anyway please let me know what you think, the more notes the better.
Dear (agent/editor) please consider representing my novel, Žižkov.
Annabelle Harper is a self sabotaging, indecisive, procrastinating, 28 year old international traveler, who has moved to Prague with the hopes that her new city will cure her of these faults, and be the place she can call home, but already one nervous breakdown, a missed train, and neglecting to contact her only friend, in the city has landed Annabelle in Prague at midnight with only a notebook, the name of a bar, and a station full of junkies.
ŽIŽKOV, is a 103,962 word literary novel set in the city of Prague. It is the story of a Annabelle Harper, a young American woman, who has spent the past four years living out of a backpack and wandering across Western Europe in the hopes that some bolt of enlightenment will tell her what’s wrong with her and why she can’t be normal like her female friends back home, and just get a husband, some kids, and a career already. Broke and disconnected from close friends and family, Annabelle decides to take up her friend Marco’s invitation to move to Prague and stay with him. There she dreams of settling into a romantic life style resplendent with a high paying international job and perhaps some romance, but from night one Annabelle and Marco’s lives are anything but romantic; and Marco’s “try anything once philosophy” introduces Annabelle to out of work drunks, drug addicts, and a Norwegian Death Metal band.
I recently earned a certificate in the Mastery of Writing from The Attic Athenaeum, and in 2006 I received a B.A. in English and writing. Žižkov is my first novel based on my experiences living and working with out a visa in Prague. I have been told Žižkov is what happens when Eat, Pray, Love meets Trainspotting.
Thank you for your consideration.
Thanks for any feedback.
An Accidental Vagabond 
Hi Dreen. Your query letter is pretty good in my opinion. I would only change a couple of minor grammatical things. Some of the sentences are a bit difficult to read and tend to run on a bit. So breaking them up might help. I made my suggested changes below. Also, you might want to include any other publications you have or more on your writing experience if you don’t have anything published. I wish you the best of luck and I am eager to read your novel!
Rachelle
Dear (agent/editor) please consider representing my novel, Žižkov.
Annabelle Harper is a self-sabotaging, indecisive, procrastinating, twenty-eight year old international traveler, who has moved to Prague with the hopes that her new city will cure her of these faults, and be the place she can call home. However, a nervous breakdown, a missed train, and neglecting to contact her only friend in the city has landed Annabelle in Prague at midnight with only a notebook, the name of a bar, and a station full of junkies.
ŽIŽKOV, is a 103,962 word literary novel set in the city of Prague. It is the story of a Annabelle Harper, a young American woman, who has spent the past four years living out of a backpack and wandering across Western Europe in the hopes that some bolt of enlightenment will tell her what’s wrong with her and why she can’t be normal like her female friends back home, and just get a husband, some kids, and a career already. Broke and disconnected from close friends and family, Annabelle decides to take up her friend Marco’s invitation to move to Prague and stay with him. There she dreams of settling into a romantic lifestyle resplendent with a high paying international job and perhaps some romance. But from night one, Annabelle and Marco’s lives are anything but romantic; and Marco’s “try anything once philosophy” introduces Annabelle to out of work drunks, drug addicts, and a Norwegian Death Metal band.
I recently earned a certificate in the Mastery of Writing from The Attic Athenaeum, and in 2006 I received a B.A. in English and writing. Žižkov is my first novel based on my experiences living and working without a visa in Prague. I have been told Žižkov is what happens when Eat, Pray, Love meets Trainspotting.
Thank you for your consideration.
Thanks Shell, your feedback is very helpful.