The Clockmaker's Son: an epic literary novel, a myth for modern times

[mysticatical]

Dear Sirs,

I am sorry I don't have time to cater each email to each agent as I'm prioritizing writing time but I appreciate the time your taking to read my submission The Clockmaker's Son, an epic tale about life, love, loss. It is a tale about courage, wisdom, and mirth. It is a eulogy to the modern man and a condemnation of the modern movements which aim to dethrone him. It clocks—excuse the pun—in at around 300k words. An editor suggested the modern market might not publish such a length and advised I abridge it. My answer? Well, they wouldn't have said that to Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, Dumas, or Hugo, would they? Who is to say that a work of art is too long? Gatekeepers, be warned: the tides of time will recognise art, not the pulpy airport reads that most agents churn out every year.

A friend compared my style to Joyce. Other friends have said 'Compelling' and 'Intriguing premise' and 'realistic.' There are also, if I dare be so immodest, traces of Kafka, and Faulkner at his best. Yuval Noah Harrari, in his Homosapiens, said we need a myth for modern times. Here it is. Boris is a lawyer who, like me in the golden years of my youth, takes on a number of challenging cases in court, defying all odds to become the best lawyer in town and taking down criminals while at it.

A little about me: My name is Roger Baxter and I'm a retired lawyer from Minnesota. When I was in my practice, I saw a wide number of different cases that taught me about life, self-actualization. I have lived in New York, Miami; spent several years in Alaska and travelled South-East Asia back in my heyday. But that is another story and best saved for a memoir, which I am already 35k words into by the way, would you like to see it? It is in some ways quite a damning account of a relationship with my ex-wife gone awry, and is bound to make heads turn. When I am not writing I am likely to be found playing golf in Scotland or drinking a scotch overlooking the French riviera. A trademark feature of my craft: I am a writer, but not a reader.

I am anticipating a huge interest and a bidding war for this title so I advise you to get back to me as soon as possible to be in for a chance. This one will make me and a fortunate agent big bucks, and provide us a place in the history books.

Yours Truly,
Roger Baxter

[Johnny 5]

I enjoyed this one 

[Viddiest]

Hahaha love it.

I can’t read a book these days without wondering how they got through an agent’s keen eye. I can only imagine the rejections to Kafka amd Dostoevsky amd Joyce if they were debut authors seeking agents. 😂

[richardclin]

Thank you, Mysticatical, for sharing with us this "winning" query letter. If you don't mind, I am going to use it as a template for my future querying.


Viddiest, so true. There are some not-so-brilliant books put out there by the Big 5. Easy to wonder how they got past all the gatekeepers? Huge author platform, perhaps?

[mysticatical]

Thank you, Mysticatical, for sharing with us this "winning" query letter. If you don't mind, I am going to use it as a template for my future querying.


Viddiest, so true. There are some not-so-brilliant books put out there by the Big 5. Easy to wonder how they got past all the gatekeepers? Huge author platform, perhaps?

Go ahead Richard, and tell us if it makes you big bucks 

[mysticatical]

Hahaha love it.

I can’t read a book these days without wondering how they got through an agent’s keen eye. I can only imagine the rejections to Kafka amd Dostoevsky amd Joyce if they were debut authors seeking agents. 😂

I do wonder, too. I think a lot has to do with selling ideas rather than execution and looking for what is in vogue. And definitely social media outreach, unfortunately.

[Johnny 5]

Hahaha love it.

I can’t read a book these days without wondering how they got through an agent’s keen eye. I can only imagine the rejections to Kafka amd Dostoevsky amd Joyce if they were debut authors seeking agents. 😂

I do wonder, too. I think a lot has to do with selling ideas rather than execution and looking for what is in vogue. And definitely social media outreach, unfortunately.

Does social media outreach apply to fiction as well these days when on the agent hunt?

[mysticatical]

Hahaha love it.

I can’t read a book these days without wondering how they got through an agent’s keen eye. I can only imagine the rejections to Kafka amd Dostoevsky amd Joyce if they were debut authors seeking agents. 😂

I do wonder, too. I think a lot has to do with selling ideas rather than execution and looking for what is in vogue. And definitely social media outreach, unfortunately.

Does social media outreach apply to fiction as well these days when on the agent hunt?

If your book is good I don't think it matters whether you're completely unknown or an Instagram influencer. However, if you have 200k+ followers on Instagram/TikTok I think they will be more forgiving about bad ideas/poorly executed books.