Open call for query letters!
If you're enrolled in my Query Writing class on April 17th, this is your chance to post your query letter...and possibly get a Turning Points class for free.
Hello and Happy Sunday!
I hope you’re having a good weekend. We had a mini break from the relentless wind and snow that has been plaguing us in Connecticut for, oh, the past three years, and yesterday, I participated in an obstacle clinic with the horse trainer Sara Vanecek where I got to ride over and under weird things with my lease horse, Truffles, with a parachute attached to us to add some extra fear factor. It was super fun!
But back to the matter at hand!
I’m writing you on a Sunday to extend an open call for query letters. If you are enrolled in my April 17th Query Writing masterclass and you would like to have the chance to possibly have your query letter workshopped during class, you are invited to post your query letter here in the comments.
A few guidelines:
You can send a query for any genre, but please note I have limited experience in reading and consulting on YA and childrens’ literature.
I will read through queries for workshop consideration until Friday April 12th at noon EST.
You must be enrolled in the class to post your query letter. If you’d like to enroll, you can do so here: It’s the “Query Writing 2.0” class on April 17th. If you’re not enrolled, have a look at the letters people post! It’s super fun to find out what our peers are working on.
In order for your query to be considered for a workshop, you’ll need to join us live during the course. (It’s 7-10pm EST on April 17th.) Please don’t post your query letter for consideration if you can’t join us live. Forgive me for the people this will leave out, but it’s essential that I can do the back-and-forth part of the workshop with the writer during class.
If I pick your query to workshop, you will get a free pass to an upcoming Turning Points class of your choice this year.
Query Letters should be 4-5 paragraphs long. Don’t worry if the formatting looks weird in the comments. If you need to write a disclaimer or a few lines about the query before the query itself, that’s fine! But please post everything inside of one comment.
Please don’t share your query letter if you don’t want it workshopped or don’t like the idea of having your work discussed on a public call.
I most likely won’t be posting feedback to each query letter shared, as this open call is to help me find the letters we’ll workshop live during class.
Thanks everyone! I’ve really loved workshopping subscriber material in our masterclasses— it’s beneficial for everyone involved. I’m looking forward to reading through your letters!
Enjoy the rest of your Sunday and have a good start to your week,
Courtney
Dear Agent,
My mother died by accidental drowning in 2005, and a year later, I flew cross-country to enter a doctoral program for Clinical Psychology at UCLA. Midway through my training to become a therapist, my mother’s death was exposed as a well-disguised suicide. This revelation challenged my understanding of her and my sense of competency in helping others.
"We All Have Our Reasons," delves into this emotional terrain, intertwining the mystery of my mother's death with the narratives of my patients and my own growth from a quiet, anxious child into a seasoned therapist. Drawing from my experiences as a Senior Psychologist and Director of Clinical Training at UCLA's Cancer Center, I weave a compelling narrative that explores family secrets, maternal influence, transformative grief, and self-discovery.
Admirers of works such as Lori Gottlieb's "Maybe You Should Talk to Someone" and Adrienne Brodeur's "Wild Game" will find resonance in my book. Like Gottlieb, I illuminate universal themes through intimate patient conversations, touching on grief, shame, and self-compassion.
With over a decade of teaching and supervisory experience in evidence-based therapy for grief, I am eager to bring that knowledge to a wider audience through narrative. I have appeared as a guest on several popular podcasts, including including Forever35, hosted by authors Kate Spencer and Doree Shafrir, Grief is a Sneaky B!tch, and Zerlina Maxwell’s morning show. As I transition from academic writing to memoir, I would be grateful for your guidance and mentorship as an experienced agent.
With gratitude,
Lizzie
Disclaimer: I've never queried. This is my first attempt at a letter. Title not set in stone. My memoir is not quite done yet. Guessing on word count. Hoping to be querying later this year. THANK YOU, Courtney, for doing this! Looking forward to the class!
Dear Agent,
After securing my dream job writing songs full-time for a publishing company started by my childhood idol, country music superstar Martina McBride, I fell in love with and married a fellow songwriter. Eight pregnancies, six miscarriages, one podcast, and a few Netflix song placements later, I’ve spent the better part of the last decade fighting to keep both my writing dreams and babies alive. I’ve been called “the hardest working woman in show business” by legendary country music producer Paul Worley (Dixie Chicks, Lady A), been told my music “fills a void on today’s country radio” by Sirius XM host Storme Warren, and been written up by WhiskeyRiff as someone’s spirit animal, all while privately earning the title “habitual aborter” from my OB/GYN.
It is 2024. Yet even with public figures from Meghan Markle and Jennifer Lawrence to Carrie Underwood sharing their pregnancy losses; even with staggering statistics indicating that one in four women have lost a baby; the subject still remains largely taboo, carrying with it a sense of shame and a lack of resources. In an era where women are constantly fighting to find the ideal work-life home-life balance, be everything to everyone all the while maintaining a Pintrist and Instagram worthy existence, pregnancy loss and infertility is not only devastating but extremely isolating. And then there’s the part where reproductive rights are under siege. Had IVF been restricted or banned just a few years ago, my son would not exist today. Had medically necessary abortions not been permitted, I personally know someone who would have died. I may have died.
In my 80,000 word memoir, Songs We Sing In The Shower, I wash away the make-up and painted on smile and offer a window into the process, the heartache, headspace, and hope of someone struggling with pregnancy loss and infertility. Similar to Suleika Jaouad’s cancer journey, Between Two Kingdoms, in which her life is abruptly interrupted by a cancer diagnosis and the following treatment, my story documents the sudden interruption to life as I knew it with the loss of my first baby and subsequent eight-year fertility journey. My story aims to normalize what so many of us have gone through and enlighten those who have never been there. How else can we support each other? How else can we properly discuss reproductive rights? This is not just a book for people dealing with infertility, but a book for all women, mothers, and those who have an interest in supporting them.
This is my first venture into writing something other than songs, and I would be honored to have an agent with your expertise to help guide me going forward.
Thank you for your time,
Courtney