✨ Jackie Khalilieh shares her inspiring journey to publication ✨

Plus, another tip-packed 📕Books with Hooks🪝, and a modern retelling of one of the best selling novels of all of time gets its "Yes!" in The Query Lab

Happy Friday friends!

It’s been another inspiring week here at The Shit No One Tells You About Writing. First up on the podcast, Bianca, Carly and CeCe discuss two upmarket queries (including one in a genre we don’t see a lot of!), followed by Bianca’s interview with young adult author Jackie Khalilieh (which we’re particularly excited about because we know a lot of you out there are writing YA, and giving the people what they want is one of our favourite things 😉).

And even if you don’t write YA, there’s lots of comfort and inspiration to found in this one, particularly when Jackie explains how, after her first manuscript (“the book of [her] heart” ❤️) didn’t land, she kept going until she eventually got her agent with her third. We know the querying process is grueling, and hope this is a good reminder that you will come out the other side one day, as long as you keep trying. (Editor’s Note: I think a lot of first manuscripts are books of the heart, the story that’s been building inside us for years or even a lifetime, and there’s even more reason to be encouraged by Jackie’s story—but you’ll have to tune in to find out what I mean!)

Also this week, we’ve got another round of The Query Lab, this time with a letter that’s a great example of how clearly articulated stakes and the right comps can help you get that “Yes!” (and all in under 400 words👏👏👏 ).

Thanks for reading!

The Shit No One Tells You About Writing Team

P.S. Still not sure about upgrading to paid? Check out our Tuesday Teaser below to see what you’re missing!

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This Week’s Podcast✨🎙️✨

This week on the podcast (listen to it here!), Bianca, Carly, and CeCe critique two upmarket submissions, one of which is in the gothic genre, during📕Books with Hooks🪝. They discuss:

• The reasoning behind placing your metadata at the top of a query

• Avoiding unnecessary detail in your query

• Avoiding slipping from pitch to synopsis

• The need for interiority, particularly interiority that will surprise the reader

• Taking the opportunity to use plot points as curiosity seeds whenever possible

• Avoiding performative dialogue

• Being mindful about word choice in your query so as not to confuse your reader

• Avoiding withholding too much plot in your query; and

• Falling into the 'previously on' trap.

“Start your query letter with a paragraph that includes all the metadata. Title, genre, word count, comps, and of course the hook. Why do we ask for comps up top? Why do we ask for that information right out of the gate? It's really because it sets the stage for the plot paragraph. It's something we talk about a lot on the podcast and, in my opinion, makes a huge difference in setting a query letter apart.”

— CeCe

After which, Bianca interviews YA author, Jackie Khalilieh. They discuss:

• Jackie's journey to publication for her debut novel, Something More

• The inspiration behind the novel

• Her revision process

• The necessity of tying wants to stakes

• Writing a main character that is neurodivergent and how that may diverge from reader expectations of genre

• Jackie's experience with beta readers and being true to her own experience and intentions for her novel; and

• Jackie's advice to YA writers on how to accurately portray the emotionality of younger people.

“My agent once said to me, “You write the things that people think but would never say out loud.” And I took it as a compliment … I want to be honest about the feelings because most of the time they're universal. And why not put it out there?”

— Jackie 

More information about Jackie can be found here. She's also on Instagram.

You can purchase Something More on our Bookshop.org affiliate page here. Buying books through this link supports a local indie bookstore, as well as The Shit No One Tells You About Writing 📚❤️

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The Query lab 📝🖊

Welcome to The Query Lab where each Friday for the next few months we’ll be
sharing a successful query letter that got an author their agent AND their book deal.

Today we’ve got a query from Hailey Alcatraz, author of Up In Flames 🔥:

Dear [AGENT NAME],

I am seeking representation for UP IN FLAMES, a 100,000 word coming of age story that explores the issues of privilege, hard work, and love through the eyes of a second-generation immigrant and mixed race Mexican American heroine. I believe this story is an excellent match for your passion for [INSERT DETAILS FROM MANUSCRIPT WISH LIST THAT I CONNECTED WITH].

Strong and stubborn Ruby Ortega comes of age as her world burns to the ground. Set in modern-day southern California in an affluent community wrecked by wildfires and tensions over immigration, Ruby is not only propelled into a battle to save her family’s livelihood and legacy, but for the first time in her life she comes face-to-face with the reality of racial discrimination—something her fair complexion and comfortable lifestyle had previously sheltered her from.

She will stop at nothing to preserve the Ortega name—even if that means toiling in the ashen wasteland herself, rallying with the ostracized immigrants whose hardships are exacerbated by the natural disaster, or even befriending unlikely characters she despises, including the hopelessly optimistic girlfriend of the man Ruby loves or her father’s young, intriguing and altogether aggravating business associate who mysteriously appears in her life to simultaneously lend a helping hand and stir up trouble. Despite all her efforts, Ruby isn’t sure she’ll recognize her world—or herself—after the smoke clears.

For fans of smart and diverse contemporary retellings in the vein of Anna K by Jenny Lee and Ana of California by Andi Teran, UP IN FLAMES takes the iconic, flawed, and undeniably problematic Scarlett O’Hara and gives her modern context: Hispanic roots and the opportunity to use her resilience to be a force for positive change in her community. As a Mexican-American woman, an English teacher for mostly Hispanic students in South Phoenix, and a lover of powerful female protagonists, I am uniquely qualified to tell this story of a mixed race young woman blazing her own trail.

UP IN FLAMES is my first novel and I hope you will have interest in reading it; I’ve attached a document containing my query, synopsis and first three chapters. May I send you the completed manuscript?

Thank you in advance for your time. I look forward to hearing from you.

Hailey Alcaraz

You can purchase Up In Flames on our Bookshop.org affiliate page here 🥰

Click below for the downloadable version of Hailey’s successful query!

Up In Flames Query Letter

59.2KB ∙ PDF file

Download

Download

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Tuesday Teaser 😉

In next week’s newsletter exclusively for our paid members, Ananda Lima, who’s a poet, translator and fiction author, shares a video about the research process she undertook for her upcoming debut short fiction collection, along with some great insights she learned along the way, including how to know when those fascinating details you’ve uncovered are helping or hindering the story you’ve set out to tell.

We’ve also got another great author Q&A, this time with award-winning writer Elizabeth Stix, who shares a so-bad-it’s-almost-funny rejection letter a friend once received and what it inspired her to do, as well as some very helpful advice on not turning yourself into your own gatekeeper.

Not a paid member? Don’t miss out—upgrade today! Here’s what you get every week (plus we always have new ideas percolating!):

For just $8USD a month or $80USD a year:

• an exclusive newsletter on Tuesdays featuring bonus author Q&As and other exclusive content from industry experts

• weekly access to Carly Watters and CeCe Lyra’s written notes on queries from the podcast’s Books With Hooks feature

• monthly bonus podcast episodes, AND

• regular Ask Me Anythings / Q&As with Carly, CeCe, and Bianca Marais.

If that doesn’t kickstart your writing journey, we don’t know what will!

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Be Part of Carly’s Masterclass 😍📝

Carly’s class includes 10+ hours of writing and publishing video lessons you have lifetime access to, monthly Q&A sessions, and fresh content every quarter. Did we mention there’s an app, too? You can keep learning on the go. Don’t miss a minute of Carly’s top career advice for aspiring, emerging and published writers. Get the writing career you’ve always dreamed of.

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That’s all for this week’s news! If you enjoyed it, why not share the love? 🥰

Until next week, happy writing! Tune in again then for more invaluable wisdom from our wonderful hosts! 😍

❤️ The Shit No One Tells You About Writing Team

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Carly Watters and CeCe Lyra are literary agents at P.S. Literary Agency, but their work in this newsletter is not affiliated with the agency, and the views expressed by Carly and CeCe in this newsletter are solely that of themselves and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, policies, or position of P.S. Literary Agency.

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