The Seasons of Queries
The houses in the Yukon are all sliding off their foundations. They were built on permafrost and every time the ground thaws and re-freezes, the building walls shift. It's amazing to realize they're even still standing after all the things they've weathered, people they've sheltered, and winters they've endured. Yukon weather on those houses is a little like the Agent Query process. Research an agent, find out he or she loves urban fantasy with paranormal elements, is into history and digs thrillers. Tailor the query letter to them, paste the dreaded synopsis and whatever pages their submissions guidelines request into the body of the e-mail (never an attachment), make sure it's titled and addressed correctly and hit "send." Then make a note with the date in the Marking Time notebook covered with images culled from the internet, hand-drawn, photoshop-manipulated, and designed to inspire and collect all things related to the Book . This is t