The Winning Query Letters feature showcases queries from
published authors. My hope is that sharing these great queries will help and
inspire writers out there who are struggling with query writing.
Today’s winning query letter is from Medeia Sharif!
Medeia Sharif had already published a few books when she
shopped around for her YA novel, 52 Likes, but being published doesn’t always
mean you’ll land the first agent you query. 52 Likes has scenes and a subject
matter that not many agents feel comfortable with, so she had to write a
perfect query letter to interest an agent. And she did!
Query Letter:
To whom it may concern:
In my paranormal YA novel, 52 LIKES, Valerie is a young
lady with a past and a bad reputation, none of which she deserves. During a
night when she's supposed to go to a party at an abandoned house, she goes to
the wrong address. A man follows her inside and rapes her. He tries to kill her
afterwards, but a bystander steps in and scares him away.
Wanting closure and healing, she has no idea how to go
about achieving those things, especially when she’s bullied about a stupid
thing she did a year ago and harassed about a new rumor—classmates are saying
that during the night of her rape, she had willing sex. A rape counselor, her
best friend, and her loving mom all try to help the best they can but then
someone, or something, reaches out to her.
She receives assistance from the ghostly realm, and these
entities of past victims hover around her and haunt her through her phone and
social media accounts. They have a message about her rapist, their rapist and
murderer, that she must find out who he is. The closer Valerie gets to
discovering his identity, the more likely he’ll come after her to finish the
job.
By day I’m an English teacher, and by night I’m a YA and
MG writer. [brief list of publications] I hope to interest you in my latest
edgy novel complete at 47,000 words.
Sincerely,
Medeia Sharif
Thank you for sharing your query letter with us, Medeia!
3 comments:
Thank you for sharing my query.
You're welcome! :)
You're welcome! :)
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