When Intrigue Turns Into Confusion
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What is the purpose of the Beta Reader matchup?
Have you been sitting on the fence about signing up for the Beta Reader matchup? Or have you signed up before but haven't yet found your writing soulmates? The next matchup is the last one for the summer, so don't snooze on it. Get matched up with those writing in a similar genre and or time zone so they can critique your work as you critique theirs. Your manuscript doesn't have to be complete to sign up for this 3,000 word evaluation. This particular matchup will be open to registrations from now until the 1st of June with the matchup emails going out on the 2nd of June. For more information and to register, go to BiancaMarie.com and go to the Beta Reader matchup page.
Hi everyone, welcome back to another Books with Hux. We are starting off as we usually do by diving straight in. Cece, can you please kick us off with your query letter? Let's do this.
Dear Cece, Years after a tragic event tore them apart, two former best friends finally fall in love just as the past rises up, threatening to destroy their relationship forever. I am writing to seek representation for How to Be Good, a dual point of view, accessible literary novel of 94,000 words. It will appeal to readers who enjoyed the evolving intimacy of Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. the morally complex characters in Heart the Lover by Lily King, and the vivid sense of place in The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller. I notice that you are looking for literary novels with morally ambiguous protagonists, as well as dysfunctional families, and I think this will be of interest to you.
Thank you for everything you do on the podcast. You have transformed the interiority in my writing in particular." Esther and Louis grew up in households where love was conditional. So their unconditional love for each other was everything. Until at 13, Louis sent their classmate plunging from a cliff. Esther wanted to believe it was an accident, but she saw what happened. Their friendship tore apart. One sweltering summer, ten years on, Esther and Louis return to the coastal English village where they grew up and where their friendship imploded. Both still live in the shadow of their overbearing families. Louis is shame-himmed into doubting his dream job offer, while Esther's mom insists she continue the career that's destroying her.
Rekindling a friendship with one person who truly understands is sweet relief. They become close. Neither mentions what happens on the cliffs. As the heat intensifies, they teeter on the edge of falling in love. But Louis sees reluctance to talk about the incident that destroyed their original friendship unnerves Esther. She can't go on without knowing why he acted the way he did on those cliffs. But Louis can only live with himself by suppressing the memory. As summer wanes, he can save their friendship by giving Esther the explanation she must have. or will revisiting the past destroy the closest bond they've ever known, this time forever? I've been writing for 15 years and have had some success with fiction competitions, including a place on a previously dyslexia adult novel competition longlist.
I currently work part-time as a doctor in Oxford, England, so I can write on my days off and live on a village at the edge of the Cotswolds with my husband and imaginary cat. We're about to move and get a real one. Thank you for your consideration, Claire.
Awesome, Cece. Thank you. What was the word count there? And then tell us your take on that.
The word count was, drum rolls as I am counting as I look at the manuscript, 428 words. On the long side, although I must be honest, it didn't feel like a long query letter to me. It's one of those things where you could have a high word count, but the reading could feel like it went by really fast. It's kind of like time. Sometimes five minutes can feel like an hour and five minutes can feel like 30 seconds. And so it's so much of it is how we feel. Okay, from the top. You are calling this an accessible literary novel. And then my brain just opened up like 12 different tabs when you said this.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What is the purpose of the Beta Reader matchup?
0:00–5:25
2
How do query letters impact literary representation?
5:25–8:47
3
What makes a compelling friends-to-lovers story?
8:47–16:23
4
How does dual POV influence storytelling?
16:23–19:16
5
Why is surprise important in narrative structure?
19:16–28:01
6
What challenges arise with accessible literary fiction?
28:01–34:16