[QCRIT] ADULT Literary Fiction - MASTERS (70K/First attempt)
QUERY FOR UK-STYLE COVERING LETTER
Dear [Agent],
Like all good coming of age stories, Masters opens on a scene straight out of a Channel 4 sitcom: new students moving into their first year university accommodation. There’s tears, smiles, hugs, everything you’d expect from such a sickly sweet scene… but on the opposite side of the road, watching with looks of horror and disgust, the faces of Gen Z ennui, are our protagonists, two MA students who have already come of age, and frankly want nothing to with any of this nonsense.
I am seeking representation for my 70,000 word literary fiction novel, Masters, a book inspired by my own time at Exeter University. I was first made aware of your agency after [insert quick explanation of how I came across this agent] and having looked into what you are seeking from your clients I am certain that you would be a perfect fit for my novel, particularly due to your interest in [insert personalised reasoning for query].
For fans of Oisín McKenna’s Evenings and Weekends and Elif Batuman’s The Idiot, Masters is the story of Isaac and Sophie, two friends who are doing an MA, and don’t know why. Their courses bore them, their fellow students annoy them, and they have some very strong opinions about the University. It quickly becomes clear that our protagonists are using this extra year in Exeter as a coping strategy, a way to distance themselves from the trauma and abuse that pushed them away from home in the first place, and that they won’t be able to leave until they stop running away and confront the phantoms of their past, together. The novel reaches some truly dark and troubled places, but is ultimately a life-affirming story of platonic love and the sacrifices we make for those close to us, despite the bitter cynicism that constantly permeates from our protagonists. It is this cynicism and irreverent humour that I feel distinguishes my book from other literary fiction on the market currently, as it was always my goal to write a book for and about young people that was alternative, edgy, and largely disinterested in the common tropes of other university-based stories, something that combined the dark and witty humour of Madeline Cash with the ever-playful prose of Thomas Pynchon and James Joyce. To put it more succinctly, it’s Normal People meets Withnail and I.
I am currently based out of [location] and have been working as a bookseller for the past three years. I have been writing fiction consistently since my Creative Writing MA, spending three years before that writing essays as an English undergrad.
Thank you for taking the time to read my email. Please find attached my manuscript and synopsis, and I hope to hear back from you soon.
Sincerely,
[Me].