Jenn J McLeod - small-town storyteller

Let’s get straight to the point.

If you are an aspiring writer you will want to secure a publisher or a literary agent and to do this you will need to compose a book submission (sometimes called a book proposal) and I’ve got one here to show you. There is only one rule (as far as I am concerned) and that is to be as concise and as clear as possible and hook the reader – whoever it is. (In other words “get straight to the point”!!)

Rather than telling you how I did it, I’m showing you the actual letter I wrote — the one that prompted Clare Forster to telephone me the next day and ask: “Are you sitting down?” (True story.)

So here it is, folks. Use the format to suit your own submission and good luck.

(Addressed business-like to your preferred agent/publisher)

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A HOUSE FOR ALL SEASONS (book title)

Going home might just be the magic they need (my original tagline)

 Jenn J McLeod (if a pen name use your real name with “w/a” , which means “writing as”.)

Word count – 85,000 (ah, note final word count of published book was 140,000! That is how much depth I added to the characters and plot during the re-write period.)

Women’s fiction (genre – include sub-genres eg suspense, sci-fi, rural, etc)

Dear Clare, (NB: I launch straight into the pitch. Don’t start telling them about you. Tell them about the story.)

Returning home to Calingarry Crossing twenty years after a tragic end-of-school accident, four estranged friends –Poppy, an ambitions journo craving her father’s approval; Sara, a breast cancer survivor afraid to fall in love; Amber, a spoilt socialite addicted to painkillers and cosmetic procedures; and Caitlin, a doctor frustrated by a controlling family and her flat-lining love life – discover a secret at the century-old Dandelion House that will bind them forever.

In the style of The Alphabet Sisters (Monica McInerney), What Kate Did Next (Lisa Heidke) and Roustabout (Rachael Treasure), A House For All Seasons is four stories in one – Tall Poppy, Surviving Summer, Amber Leaves and Wynter’s Way – about going home and about living, loving and embracing a second chance. (Comparisons are okay as long as they are genuine and you are not comparing yourself to a writer, but rather to the style of book/writing/audience.)

Jenn J McLeod

Romancing the possibilities – in life, love & second chances. (My brand at the time.)

“A Penny for Your Thoughts” , Little Gems Short Story Anthology 2010 (My writing resume. Huge, huh? But did it matter? No. Submit anyway.)

(Insert your address and email AND phone number  – and have a chair nearby for the next few days!!)

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 (I also included a synopsis that provided more detail.)    

A HOUSE FOR ALL SEASONS

Four school friends meet after twenty years to claim an unexpected inheritance in the century-old estate – The Dandelion House.

Estranged since a fatal end-of-school accident, in which a friend died, the women must return home to Calingarry Crossing, in country NSW, and each stay a designated season in the house. A potential quarter-share means all four must also agree on its fate; not as simple as it sounds given the mix of emotions that going home triggers. They didn’t agree much at school and they agree on only one thing now – why them?

TALL POPPY: Dedicated newswoman, Poppy Hamilton, has done more than nudge the glass ceiling; she’s obliterated it. But nothing seems to impress her estranged and reclusive Vietnam-vet father who nicknames his daughter Poppy-ganda. Poppy knew her father as the damaged man who drifted in and out of her life, especially after the house fire that killed her mother and baby brother – and for which she blamed herself. She deals with the hurt by pretending not to need anyone – not ardent, long-suffering media network boss, Max, and especially not her father. While spending spring in Calingarry Crossing Poppy has to make a decision; produce a report the network wants, or one that will stir pride in her father before it’s too late.

SURVIVING SUMMER: Breast cancer survivor, Sara Hamilton, has her own reasons for going back to Calingarry Crossing – unrequited love. Will Travelli, ex-NRL football pro and hunky school heart throb, has returned home a widower, a paraplegic, and a father of two toddlers. But confronting the subject of her teenage crush is soon complicated by a battle with Will’s mother; a woman not only fiercely protecting her son from further hurt, but her own place as the only mother Will’s children have known. Sara didn’t expect to find love and she’s torn; they aren’t teenagers anymore. She knows her prognosis is uncertain and Will and his children have already lost so much. She refuses to bring more grief or become a burden like her parents had been before they died. Sara has to make the decision that’s right for them all. That means finding the courage to stand up to Will’s mother and start living bravely.

AMBER LEAVES: At thirty-six Amber Bailey is spoilt and unfulfilled, her addiction to cosmetic procedures and painkillers keeping her sufficiently numbed – a reluctant socialite, an artificial wife, an embittered daughter, a prized possession. Come autumn, and without explanation to her husband or her domineering father, Amber leaves her life behind to return home to Calingarry Crossing where she’s reunited with her mother – now a sober, scone making, CWA member (and survivor of an abusive husband). When Amber learns the extent of her father’s ruthless ambition, she starts to question what’s real in her life and rediscovers the girl behind the perfect façade.

WYNTER’S WAY: Class of ’89 goody-two-shoes, Caitlin Wynter, was the perfect student and daughter. Now thirty-eight she’s the perfect doctor, even though medicine wasn’t her choice. The family expected it, and Caitlin always did what was expected. Taking up a locum position in her father’s old Calingarry practice for the winter seems like the perfect plan until she meets the local vet and the good doctor’s flat-lining love life develops a delightfully unexpected blip and Caitlin decides it’s time to live her life her way.

Going back home ends up being just the magic each woman needs when they discover a secret, buried for over thirty years, which binds all four friends forever and finally answers the question – why them?

 A House For All Seasons is a mystical story about going home,
about living, loving and embracing a second chance. (This is my elevator pitch – ie a short, snappy, sales pitch. You should be able to tell the basic premise of your story in 15 words.)

Well, I hope this helps. Please let me know if it does.

Good luck and keep dreaming the dream.

Jenn J