Black Candle Women
BY diane marie browngraydon house2023Query Letter
Thank you so much for the opportunity to tell you about my novel, and for Graydon House's decision to seek out stories from Black writers. BLACK CANDLE WOMEN tells the story of four generations of the Montrose family, their lives ruled by an ancient curse purported to kill those unfortunate enough to fall in love with any of them. It’s a reality that Victoria, a Marriage and Family Therapist, must deal with after her daughter brings home a love interest for the first time. While the women in the house question their beliefs, test their faith and lack of it, and struggle with the guilt of their past actions, the family’s matriarch, Augusta, takes us back to the French Quarter in 1950s New Orleans, where we discover the curse’s origin, put into place by a now-dead voodoo sorceress. Meanwhile, Victoria works to mend a relationship with the mother who abandoned her and attempts to justify her erratic behavior to her daughter, insisting her actions – forbidding her from dating among other extremes – are simply for the girl’s own good.
Told from overlapping perspectives, BLACK CANDLE WOMEN is reminiscent of other narratives that inspect the intricacies of familial bonds, secrets, and relationships, such as Brit Bennett’s The Mothers. Wanting to learn more about the cultures in which my parents grew up in Louisiana, I started researching my genealogy and became fascinated with how family customs and beliefs, especially ones that seem incredibly bizarre, hold up through many generations.
With your collective interests in upmarket and book club fiction, I invite you to read the first 30 pages of BLACK CANDLE WOMEN(pasted below). If after this sampling you'd be interested in reading additional chapters or the entire manuscript, I'd be happy to send to you. I also look forward to your feedback.
About
Age Range
Adult
Genre
Contemporary Fiction
Word Count
90,000
Book Link
https://www.harpercollins.com/products/black-candle-women-diane-marie-brown
Agent
Cherise Fisher
Query Stats
Number of Queries Sent
30
Number of Full Requests Received
3
Number of Offers of Representation
0
Number of Months Spent Querying This Novel
60 months
Years Spent Writing Before Getting an Offer
15
Number of Manuscripts Queried Before This One
3
Publication Status of The Book Queried
Published (Big 5)
Years Spent Writing Before This Book was Published
15-20
Note to Querying Writers:
This query was sent directly to a publisher that had an open call for unagented fiction from Black authors over a three-month period. The publisher agreed to provide feedback to all queries that fit the open call criteria. After my submission, an editor requested the full manuscript. However, I didn't hear back again until the imprint had completed their feedback process, having received over 800 submissions. Several months later, the imprint offered publication but only after I signed with an agent. I then pitched to two agents and signed with the person who is my current agent.