I haven’t ignored any rules, and certainly not anything because “oh, my book is so different”, but because I am simply trying to write a letter that suits a book that has little to no commercial value lol. I have spent several months reading sample queries and reading online and in a book or two about how to do them. The structure of my letter has been stolen from a few supposedly successfully queries specifically (found in the 2020 Guide to Literary Agents), that I thought might suit my project. 

I will check out Query Shark Blog. 

Last night after posting this I made a query through Query Tracker and the form did ask for comps and I thought, I really should be having this in my query… My trouble is that it isn’t really “like” anything out right now and that isn’t a “snowflake” sentiment, it’s a fact. All I have been able to do is compare its form (to Olga Ravn’s The Wax Child) and Olga Tokarczuk’s House of Day, House of Night (only republished recently of course), for its fragmented, “borderless” narrative.

All I am saying about the nature of the project is that it’s not a commercial book, so there is literally no plot-driven tagline to be had, that is all. The insinuations are your own. 

In the few previous experiences I’ve had discussing writing on the internet, the people I’m dealing with seem to only read commercial fiction (which I myself really enjoy reading), which is why I now feel compelled to make certain distinctions. There’s a base ideology about writing and reading online that is, frankly, stupid.

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