Note from author: This letter got me 2 agent offers. One wanted me to change the ending in ways I didn’t agree with so I signed with the other who sent the manuscript not as widely as I’d have hoped and then ghosted me for 3 months. When I sent an email to end our relationship, she wrote back immediately. (Surprise!) I still said I’m going in a different direction and submitted this directly to the publisher, Crooked Lane, who published the novel in July 2022.
Dear —
I’m seeking a publisher for my domestic suspense manuscript, PEOPLE IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD, complete at 94,000 words, and believe Crooked Lane would be a great fit.
Think you know your neighbors? Think again.
When actress Allison Langley leaves her former rockstar husband in the middle of the night, her sudden departure becomes the talk of Oak Hill. But the gossip comes to an abrupt halt when five-year-old Billy Barnes disappears on his walk home from kindergarten. Is there a predator lurking in the leafy suburb? Or, does the child’s abduction have something to do with a longtime rift between his mother and half-brother? Weeks later, three-year-old Amy-Pat Davies vanishes from her backyard. In addition to sharing a zip code, the missing children have another thing in common—their babysitter, Cassidy McLean, who has a secret of her own.
Told from multiple points of view, PEOPLE IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD is a twisty tale which explores the damage caused by infertility, infidelity, and the intense pressure that stems from wanting to raise the perfect family in a seemingly-idyllic community.
Taking a voyeuristic view into marriages and modern parenting, this story will resonate with Sally Hepworth and Lucy Foley fans.
My recently-published young adult thriller, HE’LL BE WAITING, has been a number one new release on Amazon since early April. My memoir, SAD SACKED, which is based on my blog and chronicles unexpected unemployment, was sold to Audible Originals last year. It’s slated for release this summer. My essays and humor pieces have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post and McSweeney’s.
My manuscript is attached.
Thanks for your time and consideration.
Best,
Liz Alterman