Monday, June 01, 2009

More Success


Barbara Gordon reports that she has been offered representation after submitting the following query, put together after reading minions' critique and comments on (Face Lift 579) on this blog.

Dear Ms. ,

Fairy tales leave much unspoken. Would a mistreated orphan be beautiful and meek, or scrawny and stubborn? Those heroines wandering the forest, how did they survive? Did they know they were heroines, or did they doubt, and wonder if they would live to see a happy ending?

In THE WILLOW KNOT, a 105,000 word fantasy based on the Grimm tale "Brother and Sister" and set in the late 1700s German Small States, plain, hard-headed Mylla tries to protect her impulsive brother Tyl. It isn't easy, when their unloving aunt uses them as servants and taunts them with their father's execution for treason. To save Tyl from a cruel master, Mylla ignores stories of witches and wicked spells in the forest, and flees to it with her brother. But the tales are true, and when Tyl drinks from a bewitched stream, he becomes a deer--prey to any hunter. Mylla vows to restore him, but though she survives hunger, robbers, and wild beasts, she cannot free her brother. One sure remedy for a spell--kill the one who cast it. But who cast it, and why?

Young king Alard, guiltridden by the discovery of her father's innocence, finds Mylla and makes her his queen. At first grateful, Mylla sees that Alard's kingdom is beset by war without and conspiracy within. Fearful he will turn against her as her aunt did, she doesn't dare tell him the truth about her 'pet deer', or why she seeks out magic, risking accusations of witchcraft. But as she shares Alard's struggle to rule wisely and justly, a precarious love grows between them; so does the threat she poses to her father's enemies, for the one who cast the spell is closer to Mylla and more trusted by Alard than either can guess. Mylla must find the wisdom to rule a kingdom, the magic to unspell her brother, and the courage to trust her husband. But none of these are
easily earned, and her happy ending must be bought with a trial of fire that risks body and soul.

THE WILLOW KNOT is presently on the desk of --------------, acquisitions editor of -----------------, who requested it when I attended the ----------------------- My short story, " ______________, received an honourable mention in__________. I have other novels underway,including a modern YA fantasy about a no-longer-Chosen-One adjusting to life without a guiding Prophecy.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

25 comments:

Matt said...

I can't wait to read it.

Dave Fragments said...

Congratulations. I hope you get this published.

fairyhedgehog said...

It's always good to hear about the successes. Congratulations to Barbara and I hope we'll hear when it's published.

150 said...

Hey, nice job! Good luck with it!

Stacy said...

Congrats!!!

batgirl said...

Major, major thanks to Phoenix and writtenwyrd - this query was the hardest thing I've written, I think, and I was so close to giving up.
Totals: 33 queries, 25 form rejections, 3 requests for partial, 1 offer.
It only takes one!

By the way, I noticed that Twenty Palaces (Face-lift 40) was 'pre-empted in a six-figure deal' by Del Rey. EE's influence spreads far.

Windy said...

Congratulations! Good luck on publication. :)

150 said...

Are you serious, the query with the ruthless vigilante sorcerers landed a huge deal? Whoever wrote the ones with the crazed midwife and the brutal eunuch, you're next!

Robin B. said...

Barbara,

This is great news! Congrats to you!

Chelsea Pitcher said...

Awesome. I remember wanting to read this when you first posted the query. Congrats!

pacatrue said...

Yay, batgirl!! And very nice query.

And are you serious that the vigilante sorcerers got 6 figures? Next thing you know, brutal eunuchs will be on the bestseller list.

writtenwyrdd said...

Great news!

_*rachel*_ said...

Yaay! Let us know on the blog when it comes out!

Anonymous said...

Far out and groovy, batgirl!!!
(That's my way of saying Congrats!!!)

Meri

Ruth (Book Focus) said...

This sounds like such a great story! I've read a lot of queries at various sites (this one, query slushpile, query shark) and this is the first one that's roused me to real enthusiasm. Hope you let EE know when it gets sold to a publisher, too, as I for one can't wait to read it! :)

Phoenix Sullivan said...

Yay, Batgirl/Barbara! Best of luck as it goes out on submission. And thanks for sharing the stats ;o) Hope you're back with more news soon!

Anonymous said...

Wait... Batgirl is really Barbara Gordon?!

Adam Heine said...

Congratulations, batgirl. That's super exciting!

McKoala said...

Great job, Batgirl!

Sarah Laurenson said...

Was that Commissioner Gordon's wife?

Anyway...

Mucho Congrats. It's a great looking query!

ril said...

Ah, another step closer to unfathomable riches. Way to go!

Phoenix Sullivan said...

Sarah: Comm. Gordon's daughter. ;o)

batgirl said...

Yeah, my secret identity is kind of easy to discover.
On the other hand, I'm nearly untraceable by google, hidden among the DC Comics fansites.

In case anyone's wondering, the first thing I was sent was the agreement. The next thing I was sent was a truckload of suggested revisions for the manuscript and a suggested September deadline for the next draft.
There is, as they say, always another mountain.

WouldBe said...

Great! I keep reading that it is often harder to get an agent than a publisher these days. Good luck.

--WouldBe

Sylvia said...

It's so interesting to see the process that took the query from start to finish. Congratulations and well done ! (And commiserations for the summer spent on the rewrites!)