Rylan is off having East Coast adventures, so it’s just Meagan and Kirk left unsupervised like gossipy Kevin McCallisters.

Whether you’re staring down your first query or have already sent out fifty, this episode is packed with hard-learned experience, do’s and don’ts, and the structure of your query letter. We break down the must-haves, and Kirk shares his actual hook that landed an agent.

We also commiserate about rejection, resilience, and what makes this whole process just a little bit less demoralizing, rounded out with thoughts on voice, structure, personalizations, and why publishing is basically just a never-ending series of gates to worm your way through.

And of course, more hot goss as we dive into the recent $1.5 billion Anthropic lawsuit settlement, the ethics of AI and piracy in publishing, and their impact on real writers. And as always, Megan and Kirk have plenty of feels about capitalism, copyright law, and the future of the book world.

Welcome to Bad Lit Friends. We’re glad you’re here, even if none of us know what we’re doing.

Bad Lit Friends was created and is hosted by Meagan Thompson-Mann and Kirk Rafferty. Our Producer is Rylan Rafferty.

Show email: badlitfriends@gmail.com

Bluesky: @badlitfriends.bsky.social

Threads: @badlitfriends

Instagram: @badlitfriends

Show notes:

The query letter that got Kirk an agent:

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/4527162724777475067/3648320377209075956

The five questions your query letter should answer:

• Who is the main character?

• What do they want?

• What’s standing in the way?

• What are they willing to do to get it?

• What happens if they fail?

We didn't discuss on the show, but Lauren Kay has a fantastic query letter guide here:

https://www.laurenkaywrites.com/blog/how-to-write-a-query-letter