Threads That Bind
BY kika hatzopoulourazorbill2023Query Letter
I'm querying you because of your interest in [specific details that will appeal to each agent's taste]. THREADS THAT BIND is a young adult fantasy noir inspired by the Greek Fates, about the threads that bind us together and the girl who cuts them.
Every night, the sea floods the city of Alante, washing away the remnants of a past long gone. On the rooftops, a girl studies the silver threads of fate that connect people, working as a private investigator since her oldest sister’s disappearance. One of three sisters that inherit the powers of the Fates, Io is abhorred—she can not only see the threads but cut them, as well.
Tonight, Io witnesses a despicable crime. The murderess is a woman with no threads, so close to dying she shouldn’t be able to walk, let alone kill. And yet, she is not the first wraith to stalk the silts of Alante; hers is the latest in a series of murders that Io is now tasked with solving.
But the city is a tapestry of secrets, woven by the mob queen, the vicious Nine Muses and the now-extinct race of Furies. And her sister has finally returned—on the arm of Io’s main suspect.
Threads That Bind is a 90,000-word crossover young adult genre-bending fantasy about trauma, the complicated bonds of sisterhood and the different shades of morality that will appeal to fans of Netflix’s Jessica Jones and V.E. Schwab’s This Savage Song. Inspired by the sibling deities in Greek and world mythology, the story is complete with series potential, in which we would explore the more obscure [spoilers cut for the purpose of this project]. I am a graduate of the New School’s MFA program in Writing for Children, and I work in foreign publishing. My short story Night Falls will be published in the Game On anthology (Philomel, 2022).
Thank you for your time and consideration.
About
Age Range
Young Adult
Genre
Fantasy (Traditional)
Word Count
90,000
Book Link
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/713492/threads-that-bind-by-kika-hatzopoulou/
Agent
Michaela Whatnall
Query Stats
Number of Queries Sent
~50
Number of Full Requests Received
~15
Number of Offers of Representation
1
Number of Months Spent Querying This Novel
September 2019 - March 2020 (first round) March 2020 R&R request November 2020 - February 2021 (second round)
Years Spent Writing Before Getting an Offer
7
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
17
Note to Querying Writers:
An interesting fact about my querying journey is that I received an R&R from an agent with great feedback, did the edits and returned to the agent who let me know they were no longer working in the YA/fantasy space. They referred me to a colleague who immediately read and loved the book, had great feedback and was overall very passionate - and that's the agent I signed up with!