Sky Horse Press — Blog

With Anna Hecker's WHEN THE BEAT DROPS just two weeks away (omg!), I wanted to share her fantastic query letter, for those of you who are out there pitching.

I did this with Samira Ahmed's query, and a lot of you seemed to like it! So, let's do it again!

If you find Anna's query helpful, feel free to pre-order (or order, if you're reading this sometimes in the future) her book! It's available wherever books are sold, and of course, on:

Anna's query came to me where most projects do... in the query box! And on my birthday (best present ever). Those of you who think it's impossible to catch an agent's eye the old school way, you're wrong. Cold pitching works!

Let's dig into this, and talk about why it's such a great query letter.

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Dear Eric,

Since you seem to have a special place in your heart for the intersection of heart-pounding music and YA lit, I thought you might be interested in WHEN THE BEAT DROPS, a coming-of-age story set in the Electronic Dance Music scene.

In When the Beat Drops, introverted jazz nerd Mira wants nothing more than to ace her audition to the prestigious Fulton Jazz Conservatory. She plans to spend her summer practicing trumpet and composition, but her popular older sister drags her into a different world: one of underground warehouse parties and packed music festivals, endless beats and outsized personalities. Mira falls in love with the music (and with Derek, a gorgeous 21-year-old promoter with an interest in her burgeoning DJ skills), but her sister’s more into taking molly and partying all night.

With her conservatory audition looming and her DJ career blowing up, Mira needs to choose between the dream she’s always wanted and the one that could make her a star…and find a way to slow her sister’s roll before it’s too late.

This 75,000-word YA contemporary is Pitch Perfect meets This Song Will Save Your Life, set against the gritty, glittery and wildly popular backdrop of EDM.

I’m looking for a partner who can help me grow my career with original works in both YA and up-market women’s fiction. You’ve mentioned that you love contemporary that can make you cry, and I’d like to think that this could eke out a few tears (and maybe a little laughter, too).

I’m thrilled about what the future might hold!

Regards,

Anna

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Okay! So, why does this work?

In that very first paragraph, she specifically digs into my particular interests. I do love music-filled YA reads, and can be frequently seen tweeting about my favorites. So, right away, she dishes why I might be interested, and shows that she's done her agent research.

She sums up the story SO nicely, in just two quick paragraphs, and then follows up with an EXCELLENT hook.

"This 75,000-word YA contemporary is Pitch Perfect meets This Song Will Save Your Life, set against the gritty, glittery and wildly popular backdrop of EDM." - So here, we've got the word count, the category, and the genre, as well as some PERFECT comparative titles. Great example of a solid hook there.

And again, she wraps it up with a bit about why this book might be perfect for me. There was a bio section here, but I snipped it, due to some discussion about her ghostwriting work.

Note, you should TOTALLY mention that sort of stuff. It shows an agent that you've got those writing chops! But, I'm not going to publish that part of Anna's letter here, for very obvious reasons. Sorry!

So, let's break it down.

The Hook: Has a great one.
The Book: Sums up the entire novel in two paragraphs.
The Cook: Redacted for the blog, but detailed her writing experience.

There you have it. Perfect pitch!

It's been an interesting year.

I started 2017 in Richmond, Virginia. My darling wife and I had moved to Richmond from Philadelphia to hit reset, and see what a new place could offer us. We ended the year halfway across the country, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and now have a three month old, Langston.

Amazing, what can happen in the span of a year.

I was lucky enough to see two new books published in my author life, Brandedwith Bloomsbury (the sequel to Inked) back in May, and the adoption-themed anthology I curated, Welcome Homewith Flux in September. I went on a mini book tour, and I'm just so thankful for everyone who contributed to the scrappy little book and helped support it. Truly.

And the agent life? It has been a rollercoaster.

P.S. Literary decided to promote me from associate agent to agent this year (thank you!). I was lucky enough to see a dozen of my projects get picked up, and three of my authors had books publish this year. Rebecca Phillips' These Things I've Done, Dave Connis' The Temptation of Adam, and Lindsey Smith's Eat Your Feelings.

Next year brings more surprises. The week Langston was born, several of my authors received offers on their books, including one offer the DAY he was born, and I've yet to announce a number of them. There's been a running joke about him being a good luck baby, and I couldn't agree more.

But much like last year, this year came with some big lessons. Even if you're not an agent, I'm hoping you can learn from some of these.

Let's go.

The PoC Pub meetup at BEA 2017

Importance of Community: One thing that agents and editors and just about everyone in publishing will stress to writers, is the importance of being involved in the bookish community. Whether you're establishing a network with booksellers, librarians, fellow authors, or behind-the-scenes industry folks, that community is so key in helping boost yourself up.

And it isn't just because you're trying to sell your book. That boost can be emotional, as well as eventually be financial.

For me, the emotional boost was so key this year. Having moved from Philadelphia in 2016 to Richmond, and then leaving Richmond just as I was getting settled to Ann Arbor... well, that's not easy. I hide it well, but being far from friends, whether they were old or new, takes a toll. Starting over, especially as you get older, isn't easy.

This year, I was endlessly grateful for the work publishing friends did with PoC in Pub (hi Patrice!), events like #DVPit (hello Beth!), and Facebook communities, like the Kidlit Alliance (hi Heidi!). Through these, I ended up meeting so many people, some in-person, most online.

My Google Chat these days, as well as my DMs on Twitter and Facebook, tend to be pretty full. And it keeps my heart afloat on days I'm feeling a bit lonely.

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It me.

Burning the Candle at Both Ends Sucks: Edna St. Vincent Millay is great, and so is that poem, but my goodness, pushing yourself until you crash is a bad idea. I talked a bit about that last year, but I didn't really learn my lesson. I'm still that agent who responds to emails within minutes. I don't take my time. I push like books are suddenly going to stop being published next week.

Whether you're working on other peoples books or your own, it's okay to take a breath. Relax. You can say no to a conference, you can pass on something you simply don't have time for.

This year, I took paternity leave when Langston was just about here, from September until, well, now. I closed for queries for all that time, and I open back up come January.

But still. Over the course of my paternity leave I was still working. I sold some books. I tweeted jokes about it. Lots of my industry friends saw through it though and dove into my private messages to tell me to relax.

Remember what I said about community?

It's a lesson I'm still trying to learn. And now that Langston is here, and feeling so present as he gets older day by day... the way he smiles at me, how he laughs, the way he stops crying when he hears my footsteps coming...

Sorry guys. I'm going to say no to lots of things, and yes to him. <3

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Stick the landing

Persistence Pays Off, But It's Also Okay to Let Go & Refocus: I'm a believer in running projects into the ground. I tell all my authors this when we decide to work together. I don't like to let go of things. And I think it shows, especially when I have projects I've been pitching around for years that go on to sell.

Rebel Girls by Elizabeth Keenan was acquired by Harlequin Teen after nearly two years on sub, and Mike Chen's Here & Now & Then got scooped up by Mira in a two book deal after the same.

But it's also okay to step back, and do some thinking about why something isn't landing. What's missing? Why isn't it clicking with editors? There's a difference between pushing until you stick a landing, and pushing until you crash and burn.

I feel like this a huge lesson I learned, particularly with Mike's amazing project. It's a book that straddles family-drama and sci-fi-thriller really carefully, and that balance was a really hard one to pitch and maintain. He edited a lot. He worked with legends like Kat Howard (hire her, writers!), and eventually, it paid off.

But if it wasn't for taking those breaths, hitting the pause (hey Mike that's a joke about your next book) button, we might not have gotten here.

Refocus so you soar. Don't crash.

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How about it? Via We Heart It

"No" is a Complete Sentence: I've heard this a number of times from friends in tech world, oddly enough. And I've seen it on t-shirts and coffee mugs. And it's one of the tougher lessons I've been grappling with. I get a lot of brain-pick requests. Sometimes it's to scope out a query letter or maybe read an entire book, from people that maybe don't talk to me as much as they used to... but now need something.

It's okay to say no.

Let me repeat that. Mostly for myself. It's okay to say no.

Look. I genuinely don't mind when a friend asks me for advice. I don't. I've helped polish up plenty of query letters for pals, sometimes volunteering myself when I notice them talking about it on social media. I've even read sample pages for buddies. I like helping good friends. But it's those out-of-nowhere ones that kill me.

Remember, you don't owe anyone anything. Your time is valuable. YOU are valuable. People who don't respect your time or you, are simply not worth it. If you can easily replace a "hey how's it going" with a "hey can I use you?" in a conversation, there's a problem.

Send them a link to Writers Digest or Manuscript Wishlist, and leave it at that.

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Bring it on 2018.

I'm ready for you. All your books, and all your moments.

Perfect Pitch: Anna Hecker's Query for When the Beat Drops

A Bookish Year in Review: What I Learned About Agenting (And Life) in 2017