THE HERO Query Letter
Here’s the query letter I sent to my wonderful agent, Michelle Andelman of Regal Literary, Inc.
Dear Ms. Andelman:
I decided to query you after reading numerous interviews in which you expressed your interest in novels that play with the established genres and narrative structures. You have said that you enjoy daring, emotionally driven stories and magical realism, and for these reasons, I think that you will be interested in my 56,800-word YA/crossover novel THE HERO, a satirical take on the growing—and deadly—mania surrounding youth sports.
Fourteen-year-old Junior Nix is an astronomy geek turned superstar athlete. Though he only joins the sport (known simply as “The Game”) to appease the expectations of his overbearing father, he discovers that he is an athlete despite himself. His skill draws the admiration of his teammates—especially popular Roy—and the attention of a fanatical coach called “The Legend,” whose first act is to present the athletes with sharp sticks that he assures them will come in handy at the championship. His training methods only become stranger and more brutal as the championship approaches, until one practice turns deadly when he forces the athletes to leap a tank holding a vicious beast. As Junior’s fame grows, Roy becomes jealous, and The Legend feeds the team’s mounting hostility by pitting the athletes against each other during practice. When Junior finally steps into the championship arena, he discovers why: At the end of the day, there can be only one champion. The team is bloodthirsty, Junior is desperate, and someone loses his life to The Game.
On the strength of this novel, I was a semi-finalist for the 2010 Dana Awards and received a merit-based fellowship to attend the 2010 SLS Summer Literary Seminars, the 2010 Midwest Writers Workshop Fellowship, and the 2009 Zilpha Danner Memorial Scholarship to attend the Midwest Writers Workshop. My nonfiction has been published in Guide to Literary Agents, STET!, and OnStage magazine. I am a member of SCBWI and the founder of the Novelists Roundtable workshop in Williamstown, MA.
Per the instructions on the Regal Literary Inc. website, I have included the first ten pages of THE HERO for your consideration. I’d like to mention that this is a simultaneous query. Thank you so much for your time and attention.
All my best,
Lara Ehrlich
