Old Query Letter

Was pulling out content for the new site when I came across my query letter file for Fantasy Lover. Had to share it with you guys. As an FYI, Jen declined this query (it was the third time I’d sent it to her) and didn’t see the book for years afterward until a new agent sent it to her. She bought it then. And as a point of reference, FL is in it’s 17th printing.

September 28, 1995

Jennifer Enderlin
St. Martin’s Press
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010

Dear Ms. Enderlin:

I would like to send you the partial for my paranormal novel, Saving Grace, which will run approximately 100,000 words.

It is the story of Grace Alexander, a sex therapist who has a lot to learn about sex, and Julian of Macedon, a cursed Greek general who has a lot to learn about commitment. But most of all, the two of them have a lot to learn about love.

Set against modern New Orleans, they are brought together by Grace’s best-friend, a pseudo-psychic do-gooder who is convinced that Julian can free Grace from the past that constantly haunts her. But in the end, it is Julian who is saved from a fate worse than death by the kindness and love of one special heart.

I am the author of the nationally bestselling futuristic, PARADISE CITY, which won the 1994 Maggie Award for Best Published Mainstream and placed second in the HOLT Medallion. In addition, it won the Reader’s Choice Award. My other works include the bestselling paranormal novel DAEMON’S ANGEL that went back to press before it was published, and the futuristic, BORN OF THE NIGHT (which was nominated for the SFR’s Best Futuristic of 1996).

I am also the author of two bestselling writer’s reference books from Writer’s Digest: Character-Naming Sourcebook and EVERYDAY LIFE IN THE MIDDLE AGES. Both books went into second printings just weeks after publication, and they are currently in their fourth printings. My next book is REAL FANTASY: A WRITER’S GUIDE TO CREATING FANTASTICAL WORLDS.

I love doing the futuristics and hope to continue them on for quite some time to come, but I’ve been dying to launch my other paranormal series with larger-scoped books that I believe have an even wider appeal. I think SAVING GRACE is just such a book and I hope you agree.

Enclosed is a SASE for your response. I hope you like Saving Grace and I thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Sherrilyn Kenyon