If a query is written to entice an agent to read on, can the same query be used as a blurb at the back of a book (minus all the personal info etc)
Or is a book blurb written differently.
Or is a book blurb written differently.
Teen runaway Sean O’Hara isn't enjoying any New Orleans hospitality: his girlfriend's broken up with him for a sugar daddy, he had his backpack (and all the money to his name) stolen by a gun-toting pimp, he’s down to his last two oxycontin, and he’s already itching for his next fix. A familiar-seeming stranger named Ángel may be his ticket to some quick cash, but only if Sean's willing to help Ángel indulge a high-class john's weird fetish for the night. But as Ángel says, in this city and this business you have to get a little bit weird to survive.
When night falls on the French Quarter, Sean realizes that Ángel and the john want more from him than he was ever expecting to give. What was once weird soon crosses the line into supernatural and sinister. And Ángel, the man Sean had accepted as partner and protector, might also be his otherworldly judge and executioner.
“Cruce de Caminos” is a dark paranormal short story, complete at 15,255 words, that we wish to submit to Riptide’s Love for Sale submission call. The main sexual scenes in this story are gay in nature (m/m and m/m/m), but there is also a peripheral m/f relationship. There is no HEA or HFN for any of these relationships.
Addiction and desperation drive Sean O'Hara to a critical crossroads. Will he make the right decision, or will the floodwaters bound for New Orleans sweep him away?
Street kid Sean O’Hara has never had it easy, but New Orleans has driven him to his knees. His girlfriend’s broken up with him for a sugar daddy, a gun-toting pimp has robbed him of everything but the clothes on his back, and he’s down to his last two Oxycontin. Sean’s no seasoned streetwalker, but he’s not above it either, not when he’s already itching for his next fix.
A familiar-seeming stranger named Ángel may be his ticket to some quick cash, but only if Sean’s willing to help him indulge a high-class john’s weird fetish for the night. As Ángel tells him, in this city and this business, you have to get a little weird to survive.
When night falls on the French Quarter, Sean realizes Ángel and the john want more from him than he was expecting to give. What once seemed merely strange soon crosses the line into supernatural and sinister. And Ángel, the man Sean had viewed as a partner and protector, might also be his otherworldly judge and executioner.
If a query is written to entice an agent to read on, can the same query be used as a blurb at the back of a book (minus all the personal info etc)
Or is a book blurb written differently.
Not the same. A query includes the ending of the story, and a blurb doesn't.
Both are important sales tools. They each deserve an appropriate amount of effort.
Isn't the query supposed to leave the agent/publisher wanting to know more... leaving a little mystery at the end?
Go to a car dealership. Do they show you a pile of wheels, body panels, engine, etc, and then say, "Ok, buy it and we'll show you what it's like when we put it all together."
The query does not hide the ending from the agent...
The blurb does...