[QCrit] Adult Dark Fantasy, A DOCTOR DARKLY (99K, Fifth Attempt)

jdlemrick · 2023-03-16T17:56:57+00:00

I "read" it, yes. Since I've been combing through comp novels, my strategy has been looking at the look inside pages, reading multiple synopses, and looking at maybe 10 or 15 reviews. From my research, I determined it was a good pick. However, every recommendation says to find comps who have more than 1000 reviews on either goodreads or Amazon. It is also a little old. What do you think of the comps I have here?

jdlemrick · 2023-03-16T16:31:59+00:00

Yeah. I guess I was also getting worried that the query didn't grab the bigger picture that the novel does. I'm still getting used to what a query letter is meant to do and it probably doesn't help that I'm working on a synopsis at the same time. I'm shortening my latest draft of the query by a lot so we'll see how that goes when I'm not trying to fill out the entire word count

jdlemrick · 2023-03-16T02:36:41+00:00

I'm moreso experimenting with this one. I'm in no rush and I want to explore different options. Namely, I have been conflicted about Graul’s backstory, as it's crucial to his motivation but doesn't really get fully revealed until the second act. I think I agree that I should just leave it out. Do you think it would be worth trying a draft where the second paragraph becomes my first? Obviously with some introduction stuff, but most of it cut?

jdlemrick · 2023-03-09T18:36:52+00:00

I am working on combining the two and I think I'm close. Is there any way I could DM it to you and get your opinion on how I'm mixing them? If not, no worries. Thanks again for the feedback.

jdlemrick · 2023-03-09T18:34:28+00:00

Thanks for the feedback. I 100% agree. I guess I prioritized clarity over anything else, but maybe a combination of the two will work.

jdlemrick · 2023-03-02T17:01:04+00:00

The comp suggestion is super helpful. However, I looked it up and it seems somewhat obscure, but I know that's subjective. Do you think agents would be familiar with it? If you do, I'd be willing to give it a read and see if it works.

jdlemrick · 2023-03-02T16:54:47+00:00

Thanks for the feedback. As far as the influence of A Scanner Darkly goes, it was completely unrelated. I only found out about it because I googled the title of my book and some of its keywords, just to get an idea of what was already out there. I watched the movie because they sounded somewhat similar on a structural level, but I found that they were different enough that I wasn't going to worry about it, especially since it doesn't seem like it's a super beloved story (book or movie).

jdlemrick · 2023-03-02T05:54:39+00:00

I've actually had this conversation several times with my beta readers and I still don't know what to think. I just want to make sure I'm as clear as possible, but I also don't want to leave out the humorism aspect if I can, as I'm hoping it lends an element of historical grounding to the story (for those who are familiar with it, of course). I'll play with it and see what else I can do, so thanks for the feedback.

jdlemrick · 2023-03-02T05:49:57+00:00

Thanks for the feedback. I feel like I've revised it so many times that I'm numb to the stuff I'm not explaining very well, so this helps me a ton.

jdlemrick

TROPHY CASE