Hi, guys.
I've been grinding my gears over my query letter for awhile, and I think my post over in QLH (with the relevant part to this discussion starting in post #61) has brought me to a crossroads. I've been trying the "character, stakes, and plot" formula and even thought I had something workable. It seems to be falling flat, though, which is why I went back in for another round.
As I was explaining my concept, I realized that some of the subject matter is controversial. (I don't want to sound like an idiot here: I always knew it was controversial, but I've been buried so deep into it that I lost the forest for the trees.) I'm wondering if I'm going about this the wrong way because I'm burying the lead. Some of the advice in QLH has been "No, take it out," but I'm wondering if the emotional reaction I evoked is exactly what I need to sell my book. On the other hand, 200 words of a query letter is not enough to get into the background and it comes as a splash of cold water (and perhaps raging fury) to some people.
From a marketing perspective, controversy sells and I also don't want to sell empty promises. If I leave my concept out, an agent who loves my characters and voice might be put off by the controversy. If I put my concept in, an agent who might have passed before might snatch it up. On the other hand, maybe the concept is completely unsellable. I come from a corporate background, so I have to think large publishing companies might not want to be associated with certain ideas. Am I wasting my time even trying to get it published?
I'm just not sure 1) how blunt about it I need to be in the query letter (because I don't want to come off as one of those crazy people) and 2) what the format of the query letter should be.
Updated so people don't have to search through my query thread for the controversy:
The religion I used is the belief that prior to reincarnation, humans plan their lives. Every major life event, especially the traumatizing ones, were chosen by ourselves prior to reincarnating. Death, disease, and misery are all a means to spiritual growth.
I wanted to explore what this really means. In the book, my main character is a guardian angel who watches over three different people. The second person insists on having a bunch of bad things happen to her. One of those things is being raped. I specifically chose this because I wanted to see what it would be like if this spiritual philosophy was true. It's abhorrent to some; this is the reason I wrote it.
I've been grinding my gears over my query letter for awhile, and I think my post over in QLH (with the relevant part to this discussion starting in post #61) has brought me to a crossroads. I've been trying the "character, stakes, and plot" formula and even thought I had something workable. It seems to be falling flat, though, which is why I went back in for another round.
As I was explaining my concept, I realized that some of the subject matter is controversial. (I don't want to sound like an idiot here: I always knew it was controversial, but I've been buried so deep into it that I lost the forest for the trees.) I'm wondering if I'm going about this the wrong way because I'm burying the lead. Some of the advice in QLH has been "No, take it out," but I'm wondering if the emotional reaction I evoked is exactly what I need to sell my book. On the other hand, 200 words of a query letter is not enough to get into the background and it comes as a splash of cold water (and perhaps raging fury) to some people.
From a marketing perspective, controversy sells and I also don't want to sell empty promises. If I leave my concept out, an agent who loves my characters and voice might be put off by the controversy. If I put my concept in, an agent who might have passed before might snatch it up. On the other hand, maybe the concept is completely unsellable. I come from a corporate background, so I have to think large publishing companies might not want to be associated with certain ideas. Am I wasting my time even trying to get it published?
I'm just not sure 1) how blunt about it I need to be in the query letter (because I don't want to come off as one of those crazy people) and 2) what the format of the query letter should be.
Updated so people don't have to search through my query thread for the controversy:
The religion I used is the belief that prior to reincarnation, humans plan their lives. Every major life event, especially the traumatizing ones, were chosen by ourselves prior to reincarnating. Death, disease, and misery are all a means to spiritual growth.
I wanted to explore what this really means. In the book, my main character is a guardian angel who watches over three different people. The second person insists on having a bunch of bad things happen to her. One of those things is being raped. I specifically chose this because I wanted to see what it would be like if this spiritual philosophy was true. It's abhorrent to some; this is the reason I wrote it.
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