Finding an Agent

It didn't take much research for me to understand that writing a compelling query letter was the first step in finding an agent. A little research revealed a format for doing this--essentially three or four paragraphs explaining the who, what, and why of my book. It took a couple of days for me to condense my book into a succinct one page, but the result of my effort is below. Is it compelling enough to capture an agent's attention, to motivate them to request the manuscript? My very first attempt was a success. But after reading the book, will the agent take me on, THAT's the question!

Query Letter
After growing up an only child (who always wished she had brothers and sisters) and believing that my birth mother died while giving birth to me, in 1992 I decided to embark upon a search. With encouragement from my eighty-year-old aunt, I pursued the quest that I hoped would lead me to Jane, my biological mother and the woman I had obsessed about since childhood. In 225 pages and 67,300 words, Searching for Jane, Finding Myself (the working title of the book) reads like a mystery. It takes the reader through scenes from my life as an adoptee, demonstrating what it feels like to be abandoned at birth, to search for identity, and to ultimately heal from wounds created by lies and deception. Unlike other adoption books that take a pragmatic and clinical approach, Searching for Jane, Finding Myself takes the reader into the heart of adoption and allows them to experience a path out of pain and into growth, love, and acceptance. Because you have represented other writers of this genre, I am hoping you will consider representing me in the publication of this book.

Searching for Jane, Finding Myself delves into the soul of adoption and anyone involved in the adoption triad—adoptees, birth mothers, and adoptive parents—who has struggled with issues of secrecy, loss, trust, rejection, guilt, shame, identity, and intimacy will be able to identify with the plight of a child, an adolescent, and a woman, who is desperate to know the truth. In the process of looking for my birth mother, I not only found the siblings I always wanted, but I also found understanding, compassion for others, and resolution to issues of that had plagued me since childhood.

It is estimated that the number of adopted persons in the United States is between six and ten million. This means that there are an equal number of birth mothers and twice the number of adoptive parents raising the number of people who might potentially read this book to somewhere between 24 and 40 million. This number does not include the millions of other readers who would buy the book because they are interested in the subject matter or make a habit of reading compelling memoirs. With the abundance of internet sites designed specifically for adoptees and others in the adoption triad, reaching the primary market will not be difficult. A secondary market for the book is professionals working in the field of adoption. These are the psychologists, social workers, psychiatrists, and others who will be fascinated by the search as well as the opportunity to delve deeply into the mind of an adoptee at all stages of development.

Writing has been a part of my professional life since the early ‘80’s when, after completing a master’s degree at San Francisco State University, I began my career as a scriptwriter and video producer in the corporate world. From there my skills expanded into writing marketing plans and collateral—including web content and articles for trade journals—again for business and industry. Most recently, I’ve written a series of fourteen articles about post traumatic stress disorder for Vietnow National Magazine. In 2004, I produced The Path to Publication, a DVD series I videotaped at the 2004 writing conference at Squaw Valley. The series is currently distributed by Films for the Humanities and Sciences. Motivated by information I learned in the process of videotaping the conference, I turned my attention to fiction and ultimately to memoir. The book is currently in the hands of a professional editor, but if you are interested, I can send you the complete manuscript at any time. I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you for considering Searching for Jane, Finding Myself. I hope to hear from you in the near future.