What's next for 2017?

Greetings, everyone!

I know it's been a while since I last checked in - with the release of A Voyage of Vengeance, planning out the remainder of 2017 has been busy. Not only am I working on book 4 in the Ducal Detective series, but I've also got a few other projects lined up for the upcoming months.

The first, and one that's way overdue is the pursuit of a literary agent to help me take the Ducal Detective Series to the next level. After speaking with a few small publishing houses, I've realized that I know less than nothing about how to operate and negotiate with them, so I need professional help. Which means trying to sell my work and myself as an author to a complete stranger that I want to go to bat for me.

Luckily, I had the help of Wendy Walker, author of Emma in the Night, with my initial drafts of my query letter (the introduction of your work you send out to agents). After a few drafts, I still hadn't come up with the "hook" she said would really set my work apart from other people. I needed a tagline to entice the reader to look past the first line of my letter.

So, I put my thinking cap on and texted a few witty friends, asking for their help in forming the perfect one-liner for the Duchess and her crew. Boy, it was not a pretty process. It's hard to narrow down your series, even a short one, into one sentence that grabs someone's attention. After a few brainstorming sessions, I think we were close to settling down on "When darkness lurks behind throne room walls, look to the Duchess of Mystery to save the day." Reading that now, I cringe. What were we thinking?!? Duchess of Mystery? But at the time, I was gung-ho on this being the line that skyrocketed the Duchess to fame. 

Thankfully, fate intervened. I was setting up a Facebook or Instagram campaign a few weeks later when the phrase came to me: Murder becomes a royal affair in the Ducal Detective Mysteries. And I got chills. Yes, chills! After all this time, searching for the perfect verse to introduce my series, I finally had it. It was the perfect way to start off my query letter. Once I had that down, the rest fell into place, and I was sending them out the door.

Now, so far, my experience hasn't been all that successful, which has been a little disheartening. Lots of agents are having a hard time getting on board with the "cross-genre" element of mystery and fantasy. Even though I'm sending my requests to agents who represent both fantasy and mystery authors, apparently it's tough to market both...? At this point, I've only sent a handful out, as it takes time and research to find agents that you think are a good fit for your work. But it's been a humbling experience thus far, and I'm learning a lot.

I said I was working on multiple projects to round out my year, but since I spent so much time talking about my query letter, I'll have to share them next time!

Until then...

Arms around,

S.B.