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Thursday, July 1, 2010

the query process

Dear Mr. Me,


While the plot for xxxx is definitely interesting and unique I don’t think it is well suited to Special Edition. With the suspense/mystery elements this story sounds more suited to Silhouette Romantic Suspense or perhaps Intrigue. These lines to my knowledge prefer to receive all proposals and query letters via the mail so you could send your query letter to: xxxxxxx

Thank you and best of luck with your submission.

Sincerely

She gives the name an address of the appropriate editor.
…….….

Previous email (below) included the synopsis which I won’t bore you with. But I want to thank you all for your critique of it, which after I made corrections and submitted led to this series of emails.



Dear Ms. xxxxx,

I noticed my target, Harlequin Flipside, has been retired. I’ve written a contemporary romantic comedy (55,000 words) set in the New York/Philadelphia region and cities. I wasn’t sure which imprint to query, so I called customer service and they recommended starting with Silhouette Special Edition. Also, you and I corresponded about using third person for all characters. If I might trouble you one more time; if you feel this belongs somewhere else, please let me know.

My story, xxxx, investigates the romantic entanglements of male identical twins, one an artist, the other a comedian. Both enjoy the dubious habit of swapping places. Their fiancĂ©es, a lawyer and psychologist, are hell bent on stopping the boys’ shenanigans, and getting them to the altar. The double wedding holds one last surprise.

I have written one screenplay for NBC. I’m now a full time novelist, and have written two novels previous to xxxx. I enjoy the earnest work of my critique group every week.

Thank you for considering my story,

Me, etc.
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Next: is my response to the top email:

Dear xxxxx,

I'm sorry, I should have written a more precise synopsis. The Mafia allusions are just comic interludes to enrich the story and help a character driven plot. Like Susan Mallery's "A Little Bit Pregnant" the break-in scene was much more about Zane and Nicki than getting in trouble.

If you'd like a small piece of the story to see what I'm doing, let me know. Otherwise I'll regroup and investigate the other catagories.

Thank you so much,

Me again

The reference to Mallery's novel was appropriate becuase she writes for their imprint. It's nice to have a thousand (at least) romance novels in my home.
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Stay tuned…