The Saturday Slash

Don't be afraid to ask for help with the most critical first step of your writing journey - the query.

I’ve been blogging since 2011 and have critiqued over 200 queries here on the blog using my Hatchet of Death. This is how I edit myself, it is how I edit others. If you think you want to play with me and my hatchet, shoot me an email.

If the Saturday Slash has been helpful to you in the past, or if you’d like for me to take a look at your query please consider making a donation, if you are able.

If you’re ready to take the next step, I also offer editing services.

My thoughts are in blue, words to delete are in red, suggested rephrasing is in orange.

I am contacting you because I am searching for representation for my middle grade novel. I found you through Firstborn by Tor Seidler, a book I read shortly after finishing this one, and after a visit to your website, I thought you’d be a good match. I always tell people not to open with the statement that you are seeking representation... it's kind of obvious. However, the personalization here is nice, so I think it could stay as is and not hurt anything.

Years after a prophecy is first uttered, a wolf pup, Moon, speaks of seeing things in her dreams she’d never encountered in the waking world—a final sign taken by the wolves of Yellowstone to head east, where mountains meet the sea, to escape a certain, or so they think, supervolcanic eruption. Wow, that is a superlong unbroken sentence. Find a way to rephrase this and keep the key components - prophecy, dreams, signs, Yellowstone, escape, volcanic eruption - into two or more concise sentences. Moon befriends Auburn, a runaway house cat, only based on the belief that he is the feline who the prophecy foretells will, albeit vaguely, cast a shadow over the moon and bring peace between the wolves and an enemy they are to meet at their journey’s end. Another really convoluted one here, and I'm confused by the statement at the end - the way it's written it could be interpreted as the peace will be brought both between the wolves themselves, and this unknown enemy, too.

In a time where wild and domestic animals view each other as vermin, the duo’s adversaries are plentiful, from another pack who, fueled by their own prejudice, accuses them both of murder, The murder of who? to the hostile pets at their destination Where are they going? who attack the wolves at any chance they get. Upon a mysterious stranger wolf revealing to Moon the lost ending of the prophecy, which gives the alternate outcome of a war beginning with the quarreling wolves and pets, but spreading so far that it results in the death of half the Earth’s animals, she and Auburn must uncover what exactly he is called to do to prevent this before the deadline it sets. Another really long, really convoluted sentence. You need to take a hard look at every sentence, pull out the relevant elements, and keep the writing more concise.

Like No Place on Earth is a 99,000-word You're already aware that your word count is too high for MG, but the writing in the query itself says a lot about your style. Make sure you're not indulging in convoluted sentences, especially when writing MG. middle grade low fantasy novel that will pique the interest of those who have enjoyed the works of Eliot Schrefer, Katherine Applegate, or Erin Hunter. It blends real-life places with a fantasy world of talking animals whose history and social structures are as complex as ours. It has its low, hopeless points, but not without humor and lightheartedness scattered throughout to balance this. I wouldn't take up all this space explaining that it has humor, and also low points - if the query is doing it's job, you don't have to state these things. Though it is a standalone, it has series potential—I am working on a sequel, following Moon as she goes on another journey, this time across the southwestern United States. I wouldn't bother mentioning a sequel, for various reasons. Say it's a standlone with series potential, and leave it at that.

You need to tell us more about the plot itself. There's a lot of words here, but I don't really know what the problem is -- they are escaping something, there are perils on the way... but what's the goal? What do they want, and what is stopping them from getting it?

The Saturday Slash

Don't be afraid to ask for help with the most critical first step of your writing journey - the query.

I’ve been blogging since 2011 and have critiqued over 200 queries here on the blog using my Hatchet of Death. This is how I edit myself, it is how I edit others. If you think you want to play with me and my hatchet, shoot me an email.

If the Saturday Slash has been helpful to you in the past, or if you’d like for me to take a look at your query please consider making a donation, if you are able.

If you’re ready to take the next step, I also offer editing services.

My thoughts are in blue, words to delete are in red, suggested rephrasing is in orange.

You vs. Gone Girl, The Storyteller’s Bodyguard is a psychological thriller and twisted love story, complete at 80,000 words. I always tell people to put the title, word count, genre, and comp titles at the end. Everyone has those things - start with the one thing you have that distingushes you - the hook for your book. I also don't really know what You vs. Gone Girl actually means. I've seen meets used, but not vs. and it just leaves me confused.

What if the only way to get your happy ending was to let a killer get away with murder? Your hook shouldn't be a rhetorical quesiton, but the concept you've got here is a good one. Rephrase it into a declarative sentence.

Birdie Abel is a survivor. She survived her parents’ abuse and her husband’s violence. I'd combine these two sentences and rephrase for flow. She writes stories to heal her wounds, and they inspire millions of readers, but Until one reader’s admiration turns into a dark obsession. He leaves a note on her own bed: I love you so much that I will kill anyone that has ever hurt you.

The police dismiss her, calling the note nothing but a publicity stunt, just like when she asked for their protection from her husband. Mr. Abel sees it as an opportunity to ask for a second chance. When she insists on a divorce, he hires her a bodyguard to prove how much he still cares. Confused about the marital situation here - are they still married, separated, estranged? Do they live together? What's going on? But as the murders start in her name, What does this mean? Who is being killed? How is it in her name? and the notes arrive more personal with intimate details only a spouse would know, Same question - what does this mean? the bodyguard suspects that the husband is the stalker, a sick attempt to scare her into staying with him to keep his share of her fortune. Except the husband, too, is murdered, and the last note holds a detail he never knew. Only one person other than Birdie did. The bodyguard. This is starting to feel more like a synopsis than a query at this point.

As she discovers he’s orchestrated all these events to ensure she throws herself in his protective arms while he moves from stalker to bodyguard to boyfriend, it’s too late to run. Is it? Why? He kidnaps her, determined to make her his and only his. But there’s one thing he doesn’t know. Survivors aren’t afraid of getting their hands dirty, even if it means murder. For Birdie, it won’t be the first time. So... what's at stake? Whether she kills this guy or not? It sounds like it's not that hard of a choice for her, and also raises the question of who she's killed before. I think we need a better idea of what the goals are here - what does Birdie want? (just to survive, or does she totally want to kill this guy?) And what's standing in her way?

I’ve written over fourteen novels under the pen name (redacted), sold over 300,000 copies and had over 350 million pages read. I’ve been hyping this story to my 20,000 newsletter subscribers and 50,000 followers on TikTok and Instagram, and they’re more than excited to read it. This is a GREAT bio, and will certainly capture an agent's interest.

The Saturday Slash

Don't be afraid to ask for help with the most critical first step of your writing journey - the query.

I’ve been blogging since 2011 and have critiqued over 200 queries here on the blog using my Hatchet of Death. This is how I edit myself, it is how I edit others. If you think you want to play with me and my hatchet, shoot me an email.

If the Saturday Slash has been helpful to you in the past, or if you’d like for me to take a look at your query please consider making a donation, if you are able.

If you’re ready to take the next step, I also offer editing services.

My thoughts are in blue, words to delete are in red, suggested rephrasing is in orange.

For the past fifty years, The Hunt has terrorized the lands with no one able to stop it from turning humans and Fae to stone. Good hook, but IDK if The Hunt is a person, or an event? Yet twenty year old Eliyen only cares for the approval and love of her parents. In her desperation to receive their attention, she sets her sights on ending The Hunt’s brutality the only way she knows how; learning a dead, ancient language that hopefully holds answers. Why would it? If she can bring glory to her family’s name by ending The Hunt, maybe then she will finally earn her parents’ affections. I think you can probably cut this last line, it's just repeating concepts you've already presented pretty well in the lines previous.

Which is why when the Fae King and his Royal Guard stumble upon her doorstep and discover she is able to read a language they’re magically forbidden to know, that's a bit plot convenient. You already stated it's a dead language, so we can assume no one else knows it and she's special for that reason she has little choice but to leave the safety of her home. This makes it sound like she doesn't want to go,b /c she has "little choice," but isn't this exactly the chance she's been looking for? For they believe a tome only she can read holds the answer to ending The Hunt’s savagery… and the glory she so desperately seeks.

The three of them set off to search for the tome in the Fae Lands where their grit, determination, and unity are tested. Tensions arise between the Fae King and Royal Guard, pixies threaten to shred Eliyen to bits, and the tome remains as elusive as ever. Will their group survive long enough for Eliyen to translate the book or will the pressure to end The Hunt’s vicious existence turn them all to stone?

The Hunt, a 95,000 word slow–burn romantasy, where's the romance? I'm not seeing anything like that mentioned above. will appeal to the fans of Divine Rivals and One Dark Window. The Hunt touches upon topics such as the consequences of people pleasing tendencies, the growth of self–worth, and how one’s inner truth may not always appear to be what it seems. I'd strike this entire last line as it makes me want to ask more questions than it does provide answers.

I am currently a stay at home parent of a very active toddler girl. Our days are spent fending off monsters, rescuing Princes, and traversing the metal woodlands (also known as playgrounds to us plebs). Having her has renewed my dream of becoming a published author and I hope one day I’ll be able to show her what it looks like to never give up on your dream no matter how long it takes to achieve. Thank you for your time and consideration. This is sweet, and you can choose to leave it if you want, but I don't think it really adds anything to the query. Personal anecdotes are all well and good - but we all have them, and they don't have anything to do with the quality of your query, or writing. I'd cut everything after the metal woodlands.

Overall this is pretty good, but I feel like I need to know more about The Hunt, since that is the main enemy. Person, place, or thing? Also, it seems like the whole goal is to find a book that will explain how to end the Hunt, but what happens then? How do they end the hunt? The penultimate moment surely isn't just finding the book, but then taking action. Also, the romance really needs to get into the query if you're pushing this as a romantasy. Who is it between? What's the conflict? Why can't they be together? Is this enemies to friends? Star-crossed lovers? What's the plot there?