THE UNICORN TAMER Query

Hello! I don't have enough content to post a Friday Five, but Agent Colleen Lindsay tweeted a really cool blog that I wanted to share with y'all:

http://openquery.blogspot.com/

"The Public Query Slushpile: Writers, you can submit your queries to this blog. I'll post them, and then visitors can comment on each query. Hopefully they will leave encouraging feedback and constructive criticism. I'd like to think that at some point, a few agents and/or editors may start trolling these waters and find something they like in this Public Query Slushpile."

I threw caution to the wind and submitted my query for public consumption!

I've been agonizing over my query letters for two weeks now. Every time I get a rejection, I re-write. It's very sad. I currently have 5 queries written, but since it took me about 7 drafts each ... technically, I've written about 35 queries ... eep! Query 1 seems to be the most successful. It was the one that got me 2 partial requests from amazing agents. BUT, it was also the one I've used the most. Query 4 is freshly edited and the one I used to submit to the above blog. I decided to post it here, too. Let me know what you think if you get a chance!

Dear Agent,

With a pro-environemt motif similar to Carl Hiaasen's HOOT, THE UNICORN TAMER is Greek mythology meets Pokémon.

Try being 13 and discovering that your parents spent your whole life lying to you.

Try being 13 and having to deal with a kidnapped dad.

Try being 13 and learning that your mom - yeah, she can create fire with her bare hands.

When Emma Brown's dad mysteriously disappears, Emma is catapulted back to her birthplace - a dimension where fairies are anything but tales. In the wonderland called Drualtys, teenagers study to become Tamers - people who form unique bonds with legendary animals to save them from extinction. Through this bond, Tamers absorb the creatures' majick, special powers ranging from the ability to control lightening, run on water, or see through skin.

Emma embraces her taming lessons to rescue her dad from the Hunters, a ruthless clan of humans hell-bent on proving that man is the most powerful beast of all. Their mission: murder the creatures of Drualtys and steal their majickal abilities. The prize: a unicorn's cloak of invisibility. Together with her newfound friends, including a half-pixie who's too pretty for his own good and a whimsical boy who can talk to animals, Emma must stay one step ahead of the Hunters and save her dad and the unicorns - before she is hunted herself.

THE UNICORN TAMER is approximately 100,000 words and is the first in a middle-grade fantasy trilogy. Upon your request, I'd be more than happy to send you the complete manuscript.

I graduated from Santa Clara University with a Major in Communications and a Minor in Creative Writing. I worked on my university's literary magazine as well as a Children's Storyteller at Barnes and Noble.

Thank you for taking the time to consider representing my work. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Christine