Query

By Zilla Novikov

City planner by day, tired climate activist by day off, aspiring writer Zilla Novikov's query letters quickly devolve into a darkly funny exploration of her own psyche. As the rejections pile up, her novel blurbs and biographies grow increasingly unhinged, while Zilla discovers that the road to bestseller-dom is paved with neoliberal hellscapes.

• Language: English
• Publisher: tRaum Books
• Release date: Apr 27, 2023
• ISBN: 9783949666162

Book preview

Zilla Novikov

658 Stouffer St

Whitchurch-Stouffville

Ontario, Canada

Ainsley Lee

Paper Tree Literary Agency

Dear Ainsley Lee,

I wish to marry a man I always love.

I wish to escape.

When Marah does a good deed for a beggar in her shtetl, he reveals himself to be Elijah and grants her three wishes. But she only has two requests. Elijah returns to her six times to ask her for her final wish. Five times, she gives him not a wish, but a story. Each story is set in a different speculative fiction world: dark academia, urban fantasy, steampunk portal fantasy, paranormal-investigation screenplay, and space opera. Each tells a piece of her journey through her new life--her marriage to Henri, her acceptance into his close-knit group of friends. But every version of the world Marah escapes into is falling apart. Can she and her friends prevent the apocalypse before it’s too late?

TIL YOUR MOUTH DRIPS (102,000 words) is a postmodern eco-fiction novel comparable to Famous Men Who Never Lived, If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler, and The Memory Police. Given your interest in dark eco-fiction with a strong voice and a diverse cast of compelling characters, I believe this book would be a good fit for your list.

As a municipal planner for the town of Whitchurch-Stouffville, I am at the forefront of seeing the devastating effects of global warming on rural environments. It is this perspective which led me to write TIL YOUR MOUTH DRIPS. This novel is the prequel to my unpublished first novel, Fuck, Marry, Kill.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

Zilla Novikov

Zilla Novikov

658 Stouffer St

Whitchurch-Stouffville

Ontario, Canada

Lola Alvi

Rosetta Stone Media Agency

Dear Lola Alvi,

I wish to marry a man I always love.

I wish to escape.

When Marah does a good deed for a beggar in her shtetl, he reveals himself to be Elijah and grants her three wishes. But she only has two requests. Elijah returns to her six times to ask her for her final wish. Five times, she gives him not a wish, but a story. Each story is set in a different speculative fiction world: dark academia, urban fantasy, steampunk portal fantasy, paranormal-investigation screenplay, and space opera. Each tells a piece of her journey through her new life--her marriage to Henri, her acceptance into his close-knit group of friends. But every version of the world Marah escapes into is falling apart. Can she and her friends prevent the apocalypse before it’s too late?

TIL YOUR MOUTH DRIPS (102,000 words) is a postmodern eco-fiction novel comparable to Famous Men Who Never Lived, If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler, and The Memory Police.

You tweeted a manuscript wish list tweet: Environmental fiction, any genre. YA, NA, and adult. With a hint of romance? <3 #mswl

Based on this, I believe my book would be the perfect fit for your list.

As a municipal planner for the town of Whitchurch-Stouffville, I am at the forefront of seeing the devastating effects of global warming on rural environments. It is this perspective which led me to write TIL YOUR MOUTH DRIPS. This will be my first published novel.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

Zilla Novikov

Zilla Novikov

658 Stouffer St

Whitchurch-Stouffville

Ontario, Canada

Robert Chase

Alister Tylte Literary Agency

Dear Robert Chase,

I wish to marry a man I always love.

I wish to escape.

When Marah does a good deed for a beggar in her shtetl, he reveals himself to be Elijah and grants her three wishes. But she only has two requests. Elijah returns to her six times to ask her for her final wish. Five times, she gives him not a wish, but a story. Each story is set in a different speculative fiction world: dark academia, urban fantasy, steampunk portal fantasy, paranormal-investigation screenplay, and space opera. Each tells a piece of her journey through her new life--her marriage to Henri, her acceptance into his close-knit group of friends. But every version of the world Marah escapes into is falling apart. Can she and her friends prevent the apocalypse before it’s too late?

TIL YOUR MOUTH DRIPS (102,000 words) is a postmodern eco-fiction novel with series potential. It is comparable to Famous Men Who Never Lived, If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler, and The Memory Police. Given your interest in topical science fiction, I believe this book would be a good fit for your list.

As a municipal planner for the town of Whitchurch-Stouffville, I am at the forefront of seeing the devastating effects of global warming on rural environments. It is this perspective which led me to write TIL YOUR MOUTH DRIPS. This will be my first published novel.

I look forward to hearing from you. Or not, since your policy is not to respond if you’re not interested. But I’m not exactly looking forward to being rejected.

I dread not hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

Zilla Novikov

Zilla Novikov

658 Get Stuffed St

Whitchurch-Stouffville

Ontario, Canada

Amy Bleak

Every Letter Literary

Dear Amy Bleak,

I wish to marry a man I always love.

I wish to escape.

When Marah does a good deed for a beggar in her shtetl, he reveals himself to be Elijah and grants her three wishes. But she only has two requests. Elijah returns to her six times to ask her for her final wish. Five times, she gives him not a wish, but a story. Each story is set in a different speculative fiction world: dark academia, near-future with superpowers, steampunk portal fantasy, paranormal-investigative screenplay, and space opera. Each tells a piece of her journey through her new life--her marriage to Henri, her acceptance into his close-knit group of friends. But every version of the world Marah escapes into is falling apart. Can she and her friends prevent the apocalypse before it’s too late?

Someone once said that hope is the triumph of optimism over experience. After three hundred and fourteen agents rejected Fuck, Marry, Kill, I wasn’t planning to query my next attempt at a novel. I certainly wasn’t planning to query you again, Amy Bleak, a.k.a. number one hundred and thirty-seven. Form letter rejection, not right for your list.

(At least you didn’t say the first few pages of Fuck, Marry, Kill weren’t as gripping as I hoped.)

Maybe I’m an idiot to believe in second chances. But maybe I’ll get it right this time. TIL YOUR MOUTH DRIPS (102,000 words) is a postmodern eco-fiction novel with series potential, with someone other than you representing the sequel. It is comparable to Famous Men Who Never Lived, If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler, and The Memory Police. Given your interest in atypical story structures and literary-genre crossovers, I believe this book would be a good fit for your list.

As a municipal planner for the town of Whitchurch-Stouffville, I am