Query

by Zilla Novikov

City planner by day, tired climate activist by day off, aspiring writer Zilla Novikov’s query letters quickly devolve into a darkly funny exploration of her own psyche. As the rejections pile up, her novel blurbs and biographies grow increasingly unhinged, while Zilla discovers that the road to bestseller-dom is paved with neoliberal hellscapes.

"This book is a scathing satire with genuine passion and heart at its core. Come for the wit and the blackout poetry, stay for the actual inspiration to fight the good fight."
-Rachel A. Rosen, author of 'Cascade'

N.B. Content notes are available on the Night Beats EU Website.

Genres: Novella, Fiction

130 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 27, 2023

About the author

Zilla Novikov (she/her) is on her fourth iteration of living through this timeline, and she's starting to get the hang of it. She compiled the sum total of her wisdom into The Sad Bastard Cookbook: Food You Can Make So You Don't Die, which she co-authored with Rachel A. Rosen. Query, on the other hand, contains no wisdom whatsoever.

Reviews

[Tucker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thinking about awesome fun indie books that are being released right now during Twitter's death rattle, I feel sad for authors who are losing that platform. I don't know how Twitter people (tweeps) are going to find their books anymore, including Query (tRaum Books, 2023), but the thing about this one is that it's specifically about these kinds of outreaches. The book is the outreach. It's the pitch. It's the "will you please read my book," which on one level is indeed for literary agents, but you could also understand it as an appeal to readers. That would be an off-brand though valid interpretation. Here, I wrote this novel. It's long. It's important. It's like other things you may have read. But you should read this one now. Because we're both here now. And we're running out of time. Who are you? I also tried to explain this on Medium. That this is a very funny book about how the sausage gets made, business-wise, behind the scenes, which authors don't usually talk about because we find it embarrassing. Sausage, it's an embarrassing food, right? Some books get a business champion called an agent. Some books never do. It may not reflect the book's inherent worth — it can't. It's just that some "meat" ends up in the sausage and some "offal" doesn't, and "meat" and "offal" is a matter of judgment and perspective, I mean, we humans are made of meat and our language comes out of our meat-heads, and we write these terribly intellectual books which we send to agents who don't reply because they've turned offal their computers. It isn't the authors' faults. The readers never find out what's happened if the book is never published. Anyway I think that this novella is mostly for writers who will intuitively get it: the "query" is an artistic degradation and a bureaucratic frustration, but also a way of life. A way of asking what people want from us.

[Artur Nowrot · Rating 5 out of 5]

An epistolary novella told in the form of query letters – including novel summary, excerpts, and scenes from the life of the narrator.

I could quote some bits satirising the SFF publishing (I screamed when in the sixth letter the manuscript suddenly became a "cozy mystery"). But honestly a lot of the fun lies in observing how the letters shift over time, in catching the changes in framing, in comps, in tone. I will say the commentary is funny and acutely observed.

I completely buy the premise of the fictional novel-within-the-novella – it definitely sounds like a boom you could encounter on a shelf in the SFF section, published by Tor or maybe Titan – and clearly a lot of thought and effort went into the fragments presented within the text. It can be a little tricky to navigate the disparate settings, but in a way that makes me want to read Query again. Anyway, I particularly loved the Jewish folklore sections pertaining to Chelm (or Chełm, as my fingers itch to spell it).

And then there are the sections dealing with the narrator's life – the quiet frustrations of office life and literary rejections, and her slowly being drawn to a group of climate activists embarking on a desperate attempt to save a protected forest area – finding a community and climate despair being the threads that unify the fictional and meta-fictional strands.

There is a lot going on in this novella and I really liked it's density. And I appreciated its heart all the more: there is real poignancy in the sense of weariness that the various characters exhibit, in the way they question the worth/futility of their attempts and making things better. While dealing with frustrations and rejections, Query will make you want to get on with the work again.

[Briar Page · Rating 4 out of 5]

(I am reviewing an ARC.)

QUERY is a fast-paced short novella, easy to read in one sitting-- in fact, I'd suggest reading it that way. The formulaic repetition of the query letter form becomes propulsive, and does several laps around the funny-unfunny-back to funny again circuit. Novikov's clearly familiar not only with querying, but with activism and activist groups; the scenes set in the, uh, well, the real life of the fictional Novikov, as it were, have a lot of charm and Relatable Humor. The story's a little slight under the metafictional/autofictional/postmodern conceits, even for a book this length, but I like its message; I like that Novikov (the real author, not the fictional character in the story) doesn't offer false hope about climate change or the likelihood that most of our individual efforts won't make a difference or add up to anything much. Despite this clear-eyed cynicism, QUERY ultimately does make a sentimental, and persuasive, argument for the value of continuing to get up in the morning, create art, make friends/form relationships, and fight for a better world.

[Clarissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! On finishing this little novella I immediately wanted to buy copies and send it to all my literature loving friends. It contains such a delicate balance of black humour, despair, realism and optimism. Every letter the protagonist sends out to an agent is a triumph of hope against experience. Even as the letters unravel from formal query into a makeshift diary that can mean nothing to the recipient, there is still that drop of determination to keep searching and keep trying to communicate something that is important even when the world doesn't seem to care.

The composition of this book is a thing of beauty; so many threads are expertly interwoven encompassing a fictional speculative world, the bureaucratic struggle to implement meatless Monday, climate activism, real relationships and mini golf. With only a few lines the author can make a romantic break up carry the heavy weight of pain and heartache that is too relatable.

Because of it's nature, the book possesses a meta quality of constantly question how we as the reader respond to the protagonist's continual letters asking basically to be heard. The reader simultaneously is in the position of judging and feeling the vulnerability of existing in this society and constantly being judged by others.

Having fallen in love previously with Zilla Novikov's cookbook, and now being completely enamoured with 'Query', I am hoping that 'Five Times/One Time' and its sequel truly do exist, as I am eagerly anticipating the author's next publication.

[Dael Akkerman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a Must-Read, and not just for any aspiring writer who’s ever sent a query letter with that strange feeling comprising both sinking dread and infuriatingly persistent hope.

Satirical, despairing, angry yet at the same time curiously uplifting, this book is above all very, very funny. It has lots of well-judged jokes about the faddish obsessions of the publishing world, and a very rude one arising from a somewhat idiosyncratic interpretation of a newly coined term for fiction about manmade ecological disaster. However (and whilst it’s usually not a good idea to over-analyse humour) comic genius surely lies in an instinctive understanding that the best jokes are also the silliest precisely because they have no point except to make you laugh. So, a recurring joke over the weirdly unchanging word-count of a novel which in all other respects varies wildly from one query letter to the next (which, like all good recurring jokes, gets funnier with each recurrence), another coming from several yet Blink-And-You’ll-Miss-Them references to a single scene in Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and above all, the increasingly bizarre names of the literary agents to whom the author is pitching, are therefore the funniest, at least for me: in fact, just thinking about them in writing this review has made me laugh out loud yet again.

That’s why this book is a Must-Read. Quite aside from anything else (and there is a lot else), it’ll give you a good laugh. And if it doesn’t, it’ll thereby prove you have no sense of humour, which is something you and rest of the world ought to know.

[Anna Otto · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a weird little book that will break your heart. I came for the promise of bittersweet pain of reading about one writer’s journey of trying to get published by querying agents (my favorite response - No), and stayed for the heart behind it. Zilla grapples not just with her aspirations as a frustrated writer, but also as a friend and an activist struggling to make the life on this planet better (and help this planet survive). I loved reading about the familiar characters’ adventures, and those of you who read The Cascade by Rachel Rosen will recognize them too. They are in a different form here, and they are just as lovable. The travails of a writer and the pain of living on this heat-scorched Earth are woefully recognizable as well. I shed some tears in sympathy, but mostly I laughed my head off as Zilla’s query letters progressed from polite to absurd. A brilliant work that is unlike anything I’ve ever read.

[Si Clarke · Rating 5 out of 5]

I mean this with the utmost respect: WTF did I just read? This book is completely unclassifiable. Sublime and ridiculous doesn't even begin to cover it. Any author who's ever offered their work up for others to read (agents or otherwise) will connect with this one, as will anyone who'd ever felt helpless in the face of climate change.

[KaptenSiri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dear Zilla Novikov,

Someone sent me an ARC of your novel Query (at a prefect number of words. I didn’t count them, but they were exquisitely spread throughout the novel).

I cannot stress enough how much I enjoyed reading your book. I’m sorry you had to wade through the mud of the query trench, but, at the same time, the way you handle the stress is amazing.

Your writing is witty and full of details and references; I’ve spent hours thinking about them, wishing I’d have the same ability to describe both my every-day life and fictional verse as you have. I giggled several times while reading, but also, hearing about your struggles made me wanna plan an action at my job. I work at the municipality, too. Not in the same town, though. Then we would know each other.

I do hope you’ll publish “Sense and Sustainability” soon. The world needs that book. The world also needs to see the special edition cover of Query. It is indeed small but perfectly formed.

I really wished I could be the one representing you, but I’m not an agent.

Please, write again! I look forward to reading more from you, Zilla Novikov.

Yours sincerely,
Kapten Siri
Sent from my iPhone

[Shannon Fallon]

This novel is told in the form of query letters written by an increasingly frustrated and desperate author/climate activist. As the novel goes on, the bio section of the queries begins to reveal more and more about her, until it's finally just telling the story of her joining a group of friends who are protesting the creation of a new bypass.

Personally, I had a lot of fun searching for the little changes from query to query in the beginning portion. Sometimes these changes were reasonable, like the reason the author decided to reach out to that particular agent. Sometimes the description of the novel changed (to better appeal to an agent's tastes? Probably) in a way that made it clear that different aspects of the book were being promoted... or exaggerated. Sometimes the address changed, and not because the author had moved. I'm talking about addresses like "658 Get Stuffed St" and "658 Crying St".

Some of the changes made me smile. Some of them made me laugh. The subtle ones in the beginning had the feel of a hidden surprise, while huge changes later on showcased the increasing desperation. At first it seemed to me as if the query writer was sneaking in some changes just to see if her letters are actually being read instead of skimmed. Then it seemed as if she started wondering if they were being read at all. And finally it's as if she's simply begging one of the agents to respond to the wild, snarky, or outright confrontational content of her letters.

To those who understand and have experienced the process of querying, there are plenty of jokes to enjoy and plenty of sympathetic nods to give. I think any writers who have found themselves in the same position are likely to find this a quick and enjoyable read, provided they don't mind a bit of irreverence, a brief sex scene, and experimental writing in general. I'm not sure it would appeal to anyone outside that niche, but that's ok. Not every book needs to have a wide audience as long as it finds the right audience.

[Nat · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a delightful read. I laughed. I surprised myself by crying. I had a fantastic time.

I almost don’t want to discuss specifics, because I went in knowing very little and was pleasantly surprised at every turn. What I will say is that the structure/formatting made this so much fun. Like a game. And the narrator was a treat.

I could have read another dozen letters.

All opinions are my own. Thank you to Zilla and the publisher for an advanced copy in return for my honest review.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

An epistolary novel, but a one-sided one — written as a series of query letters for a novel to an endless string of agents. They start out as straight-forward query letters, then a little bitterness and complaining about the publishing industry creeps in, and before long the letters become a confessional — Zilla talking about her day job, an activist group she joins up with, her new friends. A reflection on futility and hope. So much funnier than I was expecting, in a bitter way.

A quick read, easy to devour in a single sitting.

[Murinius · Rating 5 out of 5]

A contemporary take on the epistolary novel in which the main character rages against the dying of the light—whether that be struggling to put a stop to environmental destruction or finding a publisher for her book. A lot of shouting into the void… or into the inboxes of agents who cannot deign to give a human answer, which is close to the same.

This was a funny and many times frustrating story, in the sense that it got me thinking about the sense of futility that we often assume as a part of our lives. This book says, before we can abandon ourselves to despair we should at least try to do something, right? Even though at times it seems that everyone is out to convince us that we shouldn’t bother. Even though, in truth, it might amount to nothing. Whatever happens, our world matters, and so do we—the ones who live in it.

Reading this in short spurts between the busy times at work definitely added to the experience :)

[Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

One must imagine Sisyphus happy, except the world around Sisyphus wasn't on fire, and Sisyphus didn't have to convince people that it was worth trying to put the fire out. Query is an intimate look into the psyche of a novelist-slash-city planner-slash-activist through her query letters to literary agents. The satire is on point and we're just as frustrated as the protagonist is as she, on every single page, is begging us to care; this is the world we live in too. Query is an excellent read, bursting with humor, truth, and heart, wrapped in a metanarrative.

"Your agency bio lists that you enjoy 'tightly plotted novels' told from 'a distinct point of view' with 'dynamic, engaging characters' that make you 'laugh or cry.' Given that my novel is, in fact, a book, I believe it would be the perfect fit for your list."

[ashes ➷ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super cute cli-fi anygenre post-fanfiction madness that is also queer in a very... peculiarly... cozy sense? Despite the seeming tone and genre? If I were to say more it would probably spoil something for any fresh readers so I'll leave it there. If you want a bite-sized climate fiction read and aren't scared of crazy shit happening to the story as you progress, this is for you.

P. S. The comps were delightful and I loved the in-universe(?) shout-outs that I caught through being familiar with the other authors but this specifically deserves to be comped to Pale Fire and Confessions of the Fox for sure, at least in this review. Teeny cute tumbling Pale Fire...

[Lawrence Vandermeer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't know what to expect from this book. I read it because I enjoyed the Sad Bastard Cookbook.

I was blown away by the emotions conveyed in such sparseness of words. The repetition gives you a comfortable backdrop to lean against as you realize what the story is actually about.

[JoeAnn Hart · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wrote this review for Eco-lit books on May 17th, 2023:

Query, a Novel, is snack-sized, but it took me a while to read because I kept laughing coffee out of my nose and onto the page, the best recommendation I can give for a book. When I wasn’t cleaning up coffee or phlegm, I’d pause for hours at a time to bleakly stare out the window and reflect on whether writing was the best use of my life. Oughtn’t I to be out trying to save the world from the coming climate apocalypse? Can I do both? Between the lines of these query letters , where “Zilla Novikov” tries to find an agent for her “post-modern eco-fiction novel,” you can watch the author Zilla Novikov wrestle with these bigger issues.

The first few letters to different agents are roughly the same, and then the queries begin to morph. First the title starts changing, a reflection of the writer’s ongoing attempt to adapt to an agent’s wishlist. It begins life as Till Your Mouth Drips, then changes with almost every query, once appearing as Hot Hot Climate Change Action, pitched as a work of erotic fiction to an agent with an interest in cli-fi. ”I’m not sure it that’s climate fiction or clitoris fiction. I’ve got the novel for you either way.” My favorite was Pride And Pollution, but you will certainly find your own. The comps also keep changing, and include Roberts Rules Of Order and the IPCC Report. Soon the excerpts get longer and more incoherent. It’s not long before there is a melding and meltdown between the queries and the author’s life, as she starts her slide into environmental activism, where we are treated to the placard “I Like Being Choked But Not By Co2.”

We don’t get to read responses from agents to the many queries, mostly because there are hardly any. Most agents say in their submission guidelines that if you don’t hear back from them, they are not interested, a particularly cruel industry standard. The only real interaction that the writer has with agents is through something called a twitter pitch party where agents go live to say what they are looking for, then click a heart on a pitch to encourage a query, to which they also never respond. When an agent does acknowledge the writer’s existence it is with a form letter that includes the ubiquitous comment “the pages weren’t as gripping as I hoped.”

Another recent ubiquity among agents is their desire to see #Own-Voices or diverse manuscripts, about which Novikov has to say in one query: “Given your interest in #Own-Voices, where authors from marginalized communities commodify their identity for other people’s representation lists like they’re playing Diversity Pokémon Go, I believe this book would be a good fit for your list.” Agent wishlists as a whole are so vague as to mean anything and nothing at all. From another query: “Your agency bio lists that you enjoy ‘tightly plotted novels’ told from ‘a distinct point of view’ with ‘dynamic, engaging characters’ that make you ‘laugh or cry.’ Given that my novel, is, in fact, a book, I believe it would be the perfect fit for your list.” My favorite pitches are the ones where she is no longer currying favor, such as this to a Ms. Minho at Pea Pod Literary. “I know you’re looking for a happy ever after, or at least a happy for now, but honestly Lee Minho, I’m not even sure certain my book has an ending.”

I wish I could say this epistolary novel is a parody of the publishing industry and the process of getting an agent, but sadly, for the most part it is a fairly straightforward representation . I, too, have spent too much time querying agents lately, ever since my agent stopped representing adult fiction. It was a disheartening undertaking that came to naught, but the good new is that there are many wonderful small literary presses in the world, including the one who brought Query into the world.

The only item on my wishlist is that I would have liked the letters dated, when all we get are hints, such as “global atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have increased by 3.98 ppm since I sent my initial letter.” But that is a quibble. What I really wish for, is for you to read Query, then mail the book, stained with coffee, phlegm, and tears, to the 137th agent on your list who passed with icy silence on your eco-fiction novel, and then go out and save the world anyway.

[Rachel Ashera Rosen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here is a review of Query by Zilla Novikov. This review, like the book, has words in it. It’s not merely a keyboard smash or ASCII characters in provocative arrangements. It takes substantial effort on my part to put words to my feelings about this weird little book, and I hope you will appreciate that.

Look, Gentle Reader. I am trying here. I really am. I credit myself as a half-decent writer and reviewer. One of the things that I aim to do when I review books is write not just about what the book does for me, a specific being with subjective feelings and tastes and preferences and strongly held opinions about semicolons and found family tropes, but to attempt to identify the kind of reader a book is for, what the book is aiming to do, whether it succeeds in these goals for that reader.

The thing is that this is a book in which I, an aspiring genre fiction writer, a once-baby, now burned-out elder activist, and a lover of strange, sparkling, difficult-to-define stories, am in fact the direct target audience. So of course I love it. It feels written for me. (And given the subplot in which some familiar characters appear, perhaps in part it was.) The question is whether you, Gentle Reader, will also love it.

I think that you very much will.

Query is an epistolary novel that tells the story of a city planner coming to the realization that she can’t solve the climate crisis from inside the system through her increasingly unhinged query letters to various literary agents. If you’ve ever tried to publish anything, the impersonal form rejections and the unending grind of trying to get someone, anyone, to take a chance on you, will be familiar. If you’ve ever tried to make a genuine difference in your job, if you’ve ever felt small and hopeless in the face of late-stage capitalism, that aspect of the novel will feel familiar too. This book is a scathing satire with genuine passion and heart at its core. Come for the wit and the blackout poetry, stay for the actual inspiration to fight the good fight.

[Lisa Weldy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this novel amusing and creatively written. The structure was not one I had seen before. As someone very interested in books/publishing, this sounded like a good fit.

Because if the highly repetitive nature of the queries, I think this book would’ve worked better being significantly shorter in length. Even though the slight changes each query were amusing, at times it just felt too repetitive and unnecessary. I also didn’t fully understand why the main character keeps discussing with publishers the minute details from her town meetings. I think leaving that part out of each query would work better and draw more attention to the humor from altering her book title/genre.

This was a quick read, and I appreciate what the author was going for, I just think it can be condensed.

I received an advanced review copy for free from Booksirens and the publisher, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Mariana Sofía · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is fresh air for anyone who's used to read nonfiction. The way the author plays with the writing to create satire, tension and tell a story is really good, and ends up making a format that doesn't get tiring or boring while at the same time being simple and easy to read. I enjoyed this book from beginning to end, and finished in one sitting, which is a statment of how catching the writing is as well as how cautivating the story is as well. With a mix of humor and pessimism, sarcasm and optimism, the author talks not only about the hardships of quering a novel in modern days, but also of trying to be an activists in a world that's burning and nobody seems to care. Nonetheless, in the middle of all the despair still finds a ray of hope that makes "Query" end in a bright note which, in my opinion, is exactly the type of stubborn optimism we need more of these days. Great book, I'm glad I read it, and I hope more people read it too.

[I. Merey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was involved in the making of this book, but I'm not a masochist. I only devote my time to stuff I think is GREAT.

This is a fast, funny, furious, fucked-up, f'I'm trying to find a word that means sad or heartfelt, and starts with an 'f' but I'm failing, book. Failing. QUERY is about failing, over and over and still getting up again. So you can fight again. It's about Fighting! If you've written a book and tried to get it out there; tried to get anyone to read it or publish it or stand behind it, or even give a single flying fuck--If you've tried, you know that might just feel like failure. If you try to care about what is happening with our planet, it feels like fiasco. But you have to keep your little light of hope burning. This book is that kind of lil St. Janos bug of light. It's its own tiny little monument to the power of hoping and creating and I love it so. Novikov is a writer to keep on your radar.

[Nicole Northwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everything about this book resonated with me. As an author who has queried agents in the past with a wide variety of proposals and novels, I found myself feeling for Novikov (who is both a writer and the main character!) in her quest to become traditionally published and represented. There is so much feeling, humor, and heart on the pages of this novella, with a lot of thoughtful content packed between just over a hundred pages of letters and miscellaneous... other correspondence--when you read it, you'll understand. If you've every queried, you'll understand, too.

Filled with laughs, commentary, and truth, Novikov has done a brilliant job at capturing the feelings of helplessness, growth, and the pain of need for something that you can't quite put your finger on.

One of my favorite reads, ever.

[Jun Nozaki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Query is a delightful little book. As its comprised of short query letters, it's perfect to read anywhere you have a few minutes, be it the train or during boring meetings with your webcam off.

Even though the premise might sound repetitive, as the book progresses, so does the protagonist's unhingedness (I swear that's a word, even though my editor marks it as a typo). As I'm a very mature person, a highlight for me personally was the ascii peen that just so effortlessly set the vibe of that letter.

While it's definitely a fun read, Query is by no means braindead; it offers the reader a realistic glimpse of what it's like to embark on the brutal journey of trying to get your book noticed by your senpai an agent.

P.S. the physical copy in A6 size is so pocketable and perfect for your commute!

[Rachel Corsini · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a writer who has queried what I deemed to by the novel of my heart for over nine months, like gestating a child, I can tell you, without a doubt, that Zilla's querying experience is both hilarious and heartfelt. I laughed until the tears came, while simultaneously feeling the bone crushing disappointment of her rejections. The parody of this and what it takes in the trenches is spot on. I'm looking forward to the day that Zilla gets an acceptance letter...if it ever comes.

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whatever you think this book is, it's not. Come for the smart and well-delivered critique of the publishing industry, stay for the equally smart and well-delivered critique of... well, everything else. As a bonus, enjoy compelling side characters and a level of interpersonal fucked-up-ed-ness that, if a sample size of two novels is any indication, seems to be a mainstay of Zilla's work.

[Dale Stromberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

This wickedly funny epistolary novella is told in the form of query letters penned by an author who is slowly losing her shit. Query is replete with Easter eggs, allusions, bleed-through with the Night Beats story universe, and self-referentiality. The story-within-a-story of the novel that “Novikov” is querying is itself composed of stories-within-the-story, a matryoshka-nesting that multiplies layers. Novikov’s meta has meta, the way Popeye’s muscles have muscles.

I have reviewed on Medium at greater length (un-paywalled link).

[Michelle Browne · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely delightful snack

I've actually read this twice now - first before I read Cascade by Rachel A Rosen, and then after it - and I strongly recommend it as a companion piece. That said, it does stand up alone.
Any author who's been in the publishing business will enjoy this for sure, even without the reference info, and I think most activist types will at least appreciate it. If you're not in either group, the grown-up and queer Breakfast Club vibes will do it for you.
Especially after reading thr devastating Cascade, though, this is a good one.

[Karyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the idea of this novella, and enjoyed Zilla Novikov’s writing and way with language very much.

However, the “stories/queries” were simply too repetitive, I found myself skimming with a yeah, yeah, get me to the bit that’s different. This was a quick read and might be just the book for a journey.

Thanks to Booksirens and tRaum Books for the ARC.