Query Submission

Dawn Dowdle, Blue Ridge Literary Agency

If your manuscript has a “little mystery” or “might be a mystery,” I am not the right agent for your work. I am looking for true cozy/historical/traditional mysteries. I do not represent any manuscripts with fantasy elements or teens as main characters.

Selecting a different genre than fits your book just to submit the query to me is an automatic rejection!

NO Rhyming Picture Books
NOT accepting queries for books that have already been published.
NOT accepting YA.
NOT accepting Fantasy/SciFi of any kind.
No manuscripts with a word count over 100K.

#MSWL
Cozy Mystery (Female Protagonist) (minimum 70K)
Cozy Paranormal Mystery (minimum 70K)
Historical Mystery (minimum 70K)
Mystery (minimum 70K)
Children's Picture Book (prefer under 700 words)
Middle Grade (35K-70K)--NO fanasy/sci-fi
Amish Romance
Inspirational Romance
Cookbook
Travel

Synopsis required for everything except Picture Books. Should tell the story from beginning to end, including all important events in the story and the ending.

First three chapters required for everything except Picture Books and Nonfiction True Crime or Cookbooks. For Picture Books please provide the full manuscript. For Nonfiction True Crime or Cookbooks, please provide a proposal.

Step 1. Tell us about the author

Fill in these author-related fields.

First Name: (required)

Last Name: (required)

E-Mail Address: (required)

Phone Number: (required)

Street Address: (required)

City: (required)

State/Province: (required)

Zip/Postal Code: (required)

Biography: (required) Tell us a little about yourself and any writing credentials you may have.

Website Address: (if you have one)

Have you previously published other books? Yes No

Have you ever been represented by a literary agent before? Yes No

If you previously self-published a book, about how many copies were sold in the first year?

If this query is a referral, who referred you?

What have you published before, including self-published, whether still available or not? Please list title, date of publication, and publisher name. (required)

Have you queried this manuscript to editors? Which ones? (required)

If this is a series, please describe, in a few paragraphs, where you see this series going after book 1. (required)

Step 2. Tell us about the book

Fill in these book-related fields.

Title: (required)

Genre: (required) This agent only represents the genres shown in this list. Selecting an inaccurate genre will result in a rejection. If your book's genre is not shown here, please go to QueryTracker for a list of agents who do represent your genre.

Word Count: (required) Enter the approximate WORD count of your book. Enter numbers only. Do not include any letters or special characters.

Is this book currently published or has it ever been published before? Yes No

Query Letter: (required) Tips for formatting and pasting text Enter your query letter for this book. (Tips for formatting and pasting text) Do NOT paste images into this field. Pasting large blocks of text can take several minutes. Please be patient.

Synopsis: (required) Tips for formatting and pasting text Enter a short synopsis of your book. (Tips for formatting and pasting text) Do NOT paste images into this field. Pasting large blocks of text can take several minutes. Please be patient.

The First 3 Chapters of Your Book (or full book proposal if non-fiction): (required)
(If your book is shorter than this (such as a picture book) please include the entire text.) Upload the first 3 chapters of your book, or your full book proposal if your book is non-fiction..

Acceptable file formats: doc, docx, pdf.
File Size Limit: 2 MB (same as 2,000 KB) (Get help for large files)

Pitch: (required) Enter a one paragraph pitch for your book.

Describe the Potential Target Audience for Your Book: (required) Who will want to read your book. For example, girls under 12, fans of John Grisham, etc. (500 characters or less)

Similar Books: (required) List some books that are similar to yours. (500 characters or less)

What # in the series is this book? (required)

Novels: Number of Points of View (POV) telling the story? (required)

Who edited this book? Are you in a critique group? (required)

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Final Step: Submit Your Query

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Important: After submitting your query, you will receive a personalized link to a special page that you can visit any time to check your query's status.

If the recipient of your query would like to read more, they will contact you through that page as well as through email.

Dawn Dowdle, Blue Ridge Literary Agency

Step 1. Tell us about the author

Step 2. Tell us about the book

Optional: Sign into QueryTracker

You are signed into QueryTracker with username . This query will be linked to that account and auto-tracked in QueryTracker.

Final Step: Submit Your Query

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This query will be linked to that account and auto-tracked in QueryTracker.