This month, I’m sharing the query letter, pitch, and other marketing material for MARKED that helped me sell it to Wild Rose Press.
Query letter
Elena Cain has no patience for the dead.
They manifest on her skin as living tattoos, called shades, and fill her mind with cries for help.
She suppresses her power and tries to ignore the shades, until dire financial straits summon her back to her hometown, where she finds her childhood friend floating face down in her pool.
The police call it an accident.
The newly formed tattoo on her chest says otherwise.
Determined to bring the murderer to justice, Elena teams up with the one man who will believe her–the victim’s brother, Sebastian.
As the spark between them kindles into an inferno, they discover the murder is only the latest in a series, and Elena has become the killer’s next target.
MARKED FOR HARVEST is a standalone paranormal romance complete at 55,000 words with series potential.
I am a technical writer with a passion for public speaking living in the heart of the Canadian prairies with my two cats, Ella and Portage. My short story, Feast, was published in Sanitarium Magazine, Issue #4.
Pitches
GHOST WHISPERER X THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO A medium who wears the dead on her skin returns to her childhood home to find a woman floating face down in her pool. The police call it an accident. The tattoo on her chest says otherwise.
Elena Cain returns home after a 15-year absence to find her childhood friend floating face down in her pool. The police call it an accident. The newly formed tattoo on her chest says otherwise.
A medium who wears the souls of the dead on her skin finds her childhood friend floating face down in her pool. The police call an accident. The newly formed tattoo on her chest says otherwise.
Querying stats
This is a mix of agents and editors:
- Total queries: 16
- Rejections
- Full requests->Rejections: 4
- Form rejections: 10
- R&R->Rejection: 1
- Offers: 1
