I’m continuing Monday through Saturday on my new novel, HLP, writing a chapter a day, still without an outline, just growing it as we go.
Since I began writing queries in April, I have done about a hundred of them, mostly to literary agents and a few to publishers who accept proposals directly. Yesterday, I got an email from an editor of a very legitimate Catholic publishing company. They required a pretty detailed proposal and a copy of the manuscript. The editor told me she and the other children’s division editor liked it and wanted to present it to the larger editorial team.
I thought I’d share just the beginning part of the proposal. It starts this way:
This is a proposal to publish a middle-grade-friendly adventure story that is compelling with complex, well-developed characters, a well-integrated Catholic worldview in the narrative, and distinctive Catholic elements integral to the story.
The Shield of Enoch:
The Shield of Enoch is a 20,000-word fantasy adventure set in the Medieval Period that is boy-centered.
One sentence pitch:
When three young princes return home after a long absence to find their alpine realm ravaged, they alone must rescue their kidnapped Mother and recover the kingdom’s mysterious heirloom.
What is unique:
To my knowledge, there is currently no widely available middle-grade novel that combines all the following:
- Authentic medieval historical setting;
- Catholic faith lived naturally by the characters rather than preached;
- Boys as the primary protagonists;
- Adventure that is genuinely dangerous without being gratuitous;
- A self-contained story with a satisfying ending.
After this I included a synopsis of the novel (with spoilers). In some ways, a synopsis is harder to write than the novel itself.
After the synopsis came Direct Comps, Thematic Comps, Potential Market, and Author Background.
The entire proposal was 1800 words, 1300 of which was the synopsis.
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