THE Query Letter

For any aspiring writer, the Query Letter to a literary agent can be a daunting and scary thing. Especially if this is brand new territory for a writer. Once you’ve done a hundred of these (and trust me, you will if you’re serious, and not insanely lucky) you start to get good at them.

One of the things that really helped my journey was Kevin Hearne’s (Iron Druid Chronicles, Ink and Sigil, and more) The Meat of a Query Letter. It was so darn helpful that I’m sharing it with you. In fact, I’m going to shut up about query letters because Kevin does such a damn good job at explaining them.

What I will do, is share THE query letter that caught my agent’s (Tricia Skinner) attention, that became a full request, and an eventual offer of representation. I hope it helps you. I hope it takes away some of the mysticism surrounding a query letter and what makes one that can at least capture a couple pairs of eyes.

Dear Tricia Skinner,

When retired cosmic hero Marcus “Mac” Sullivan trades saving the universe for serving sandwiches, he thinks his biggest challenge will be mastering the perfect cheesesteak. He’s wrong. His magically enhanced food truck has parked him in the middle of Philadelphia’s hidden supernatural community, where vampires argue about proper blood temperature, werewolves need comfort food during transformation anxiety, and fairy courts wage passive-aggressive wars over parking spaces.

Mac’s new life as supernatural community mediator starts simply enough: helping a lonely banshee rediscover her purpose, negotiating territorial disputes between dragon hoarders and gentrification developers, and learning that his truck’s snarky AI has strong opinions about everything from his driving to his love life. When he falls for Elena Santos, a brilliant librarian who approaches supernatural revelations with academic enthusiasm, Mac begins to believe he’s finally found where he belongs.

But building community is harder than saving worlds. When disputes between the Fairy Courts threaten to spill into the mortal world, an ancient deity crashes the neighborhood block party, and a member of a supernatural hunting order begins asking dangerous questions, Mac must protect his chosen family…one perfectly prepared meal at a time.

A COOK’S GUIDE TO SUPERNATURAL PHILADELPHIA is Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential meets Dresden Files: a 92,000-word cozy urban fantasy about finding purpose after the world has been saved. If published, this would be my debut novel, the first in a planned series following Mac’s continuing adventures.

I am Allan Kaspar…blablablabla (note: I actually did put some biography details here. That I juggle a demanding day job, with raising a beautiful family with my wife, and made sure to note that I have been writing since i was eight years old, when I was recovering from leg surgeries and discovered I could go anywhere I wanted with a pencil and some imagination)

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Allan Kaspar
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