Mato J. Steger (YA Fantasy)
Author: Mato J. Steger (@jm_steger)
Age Range: Young Adult
Genre: Contemporary Fantasy
Agent: Hannah VanVels, Belcastro Agency
The Query Letter:
Dear Hannah VanVels,
I am querying you due to your interest in my #DVPit pitch.
“GENTLEMANS GUIDE x NINTH HOUSE
Elliot's first year of college should have been exams and homesickness, not being outed as a witch, not being placed in a women's dorm because he's trans, and definitely not falling in love with a witch hunter's apprentice”
Not only has Elliot been forced to live in the women's dorm as a transgender man, but he's also stuck hiding that he's a witch.
Still, Elliot is determined to get through his first year of Uni unscathed. He isn't the most impressive witch anyway. He can barely conjure some weak nebulae and stars. Everything's going great until an unexpected roomie who's also a witch is assigned to his dorm. Lemon discovers their commonality and attempts to convince Elliot into an unwanted hetero relationship to appease the coven elders. Elliot isn't having it, and when a spell gone wrong triggers his magic, he's outed as a witch to a professor who is also a witch hunter.
Lemon helps Elliot escape the witch hunter's clutches, and they devise a plan to keep themselves safe: remain around mortals, contact the adults, and don't leave campus. Elliot finds this more than easy as he starts to fall for a cute painter who accepts Elliot as a trans man and sweeps Elliot off his feet.
All he has to do is stay out of the witch hunter's way, wait for his parents to come back from vacay, enlist a witch who happens to be a cop, and stay as close to his cute mortal boyfriend as possible. Except that cute boyfriend has a secret, he's probably—definitely—working with the witch hunter who wants Elliot dead.
NEBULA SCARS is a young adult contemporary fantasy complete at 76,000 words. It combines my own experiences as a transgender man and fantasy worlds similar to Ninth House and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. This is a romantic, mournful, and hopeful story told in dual POV.
I am a biracial, Native American, queer transgender man, though I find gender incredibly restrictive. I wrote several articles for Huffington Post's "Queer Voices" in 2017 and had two short stories published in the horror anthology Infinite Darkness. As of Fall 2020, I will have a short fantasy story published in Fall into Fantasy by Cloaked Press, LLC. I joined the International English Honors Society in mid-2019, and I graduated with my bachelor's in English and Creative Writing, with honors, in December 2019.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Mato J. Steger
Bonus Query Letter: this manuscript was signed on an R&R. Mato has shared the rejection, as well as the query letter for the (successful) R&R as well!
Dear Mato,
Thank you for sending me the manuscript for NEBULA SCARS. I'm sorry to say that I wasn't being pulled in as strongly as I had hoped in order to champion the work. I'm so sorry to have to share such disappointing news. The publishing industry is so subjective, so what may not be working for me could be just the thing another agent is looking for.
In this manuscript, I love the concept and the fact that it takes place in college. It gave me strong NINTH HOUSE vibes, which is one of my favorite books. I also love the trans rep, something that is needed so desperately right now. Elliot is a fantastic character, and right off the bat, he is relatable and a character the reader is excited to root for. Where I was struggling a bit was with the writing itself, especially in the initial chapters. I wanted to be transported into the story and experience the plot right alongside the characters, but I was feeling more like an outside observer.
I think this could be fixed with a bit more worldbuilding in the beginning so that the reader is grounded and knows what is at stake, more showing instead of telling, and deep POV. That being said, if you make significant revisions down the line, I'd love to take another look. I'm very interested in you as a writer, and I'd love to see what else you have! I encourage you to continue your pursuit of publication. The publisher world really needs your voice, Mato. Keep honing your skills, learning about the industry, and always embrace a growth mindset. I'm rooting for you!
Best wishes,
Hannah
Dear Hannah VanVels,
I am querying you after you rejected my full of Nebula Scars previously, with some excellent feedback. I can’t thank you enough for the feedback that has inspired such massive changes and amazing progress to this story. I truly hope that when you reopen these pages, you can see your influence and the attention that I have given to your words.
Not only has Elliot been forced to live in the women’s dorm as a transgender man, he’s stuck hiding that he’s a witch.
Still, Elliot’s determined to get through his first year of Uni unscathed. He never cared for the society of witches anyway and his magic is lackluster at best. He can barely conjure some weak nebulae and stars. Everything’s on track until he gets an unexpected roomie, who’s also a witch. Lemon discovers their commonality, they’re both gay and witches, and attempts to convince Elliot into an unwanted hetero relationship that would appease the coven Elders and their families. Elliot isn’t having it, and when a spell gone wrong triggers his magic, he’s outed as a witch to a professor who just so happens to be a witch hunter.
Lemon helps Elliot escape and they devise a plan to keep themselves safe: remain around mortals, contact adults, and don’t leave campus. Elliot finds this all the easier to do when he starts falling for a painter boy that not only accepts Elliot as a trans man, but sweeps him right off his feet.
All he has to do is stay out of the witch hunter’s way, wait for the Elders’ back up to take care of things, and stay as close as he can to his new snack of a mortal boyfriend. Except that cute boyfriend has a secret, he’s probably—definitely—working with the witch hunter who wants Elliot dead.
NEBULA SCARS is a young adult contemporary fantasy complete at 96,000 words. It combines my own experience as a transgender person into fantasy worlds similar to Ninth House and Cemetery Boys. This is a romantic, mournful, and hopeful story, told in a dual POV. Both characters are biracial, like myself, with the main character being half-Native American. Some of the elements of magic draw from my own people’s indigenous beliefs and mythologies.
I am a biracial, Native American, queer transgender man, though I find gender incredibly restrictive. I wrote several articles for Huffington Post's "Queer Voices" in 2017 and had two short stories published in the horror anthology Infinite Darkness. As of Fall 2020, I will have a short fantasy story published in Fall into Fantasy by Cloaked Press, LLC. I joined the International English Honors Society in mid-2019, and I graduated with my bachelor's in English and Creative Writing, with honors, in December 2019.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Mato J. Steger