#154. Coaching Call: Critiquing Jac Sahlin's Query And First Five Pages

Fiction Writing Made Easy | Top Creative Writing Podcast for Fiction Writers & Writing Tips

“I think your story has a genre identity crisis. That’s probably why you’re not getting responses from agents.” ← That’s what I told my new friend, Jac Sahlin, about the duology she’s currently querying.
Tune into this episode to hear Jac and I talk through her query letter and first five pages—and to hear my thoughts on why she hasn’t received any requests from agents. Although Jac isn’t technically a client of mine, our conversation will give you a peek behind the scenes into what it’s like working with a book coach!
In the episode, you’ll hear us talk about things like:

• [04:59] Jac’s thoughts about what it was like to get feedback from a book coach—and how it was different than getting feedback when she was taking creative writing courses in college
• [08:32] My process for analyzing Jac’s query and first five pages, including where I start and what literary agents are looking for in a query package
• [15:41] The difference between writing women’s fiction and romance—and why this matters both when writing a draft and querying agents
• [31:25] Jac’s big a-ha moments about which genre she wants her story to fit into (and spoiler alert: she followed her gut and chose romance!
• [01:03] Episode recap and final thoughts

If you want my help with your story, the doors to my Notes to Novel group coaching program are opening soon! Click here to get on the waitlist.

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Links mentioned in this episode:

• Book Talk for BookTok podcast
• Book Talk for BookTok on Instagram

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👉 Looking for a transcript? If you’re listening on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, scroll down below the episode player until you see the transcript.

Chapters

1. Genre Identity Crisis and Feedback (00:00:00)

2. Query Letter Challenges and Resubmission Strategy (00:09:56)

3. Internship Application and Personal Challenges (00:21:02)

4. Character's Journey to Internship Success (00:24:12)

5. Navigating Genre and Story Development (00:29:50)

6. Character's Internal Struggles and External Influences (00:38:27)

7. Query Letter Feedback and Opening Pages (00:42:11)

8. Creating Opening Chapter Questions (00:47:41)

9. Romance Genre and Character Development (00:57:28)

10. Revision and Refinement Process (01:05:37)

11. Crafting a Layered Romance Narrative (01:13:25)