A Blurb in Verse

Back in February, I attended the NOLA Written in the Star’s conference. I met some great people and had a lot of fun. Aside from the very cool experience of getting a referral from one agent, and a request for a full manuscript from another, there is one memory of the event that stands out. It was during the pitch information session the night before the conference started, and sweet elderly lady at the front of the room asked the panel an odd question.

“Could a query be submitted in poetry form?”

Jenny Bent, of The Bent Agency, replied hesitantly that she had never seen it before, but...it could be interesting. (I’m paraphrasing; It was almost nine months ago.)

I didn’t raise my hand. As I've mentioned before, I'm rather shy in public. But, I really wanted to tell the woman, and the panel for that matter, that I have used a poem as a blurb. It was for a book jacket assignment for my Senior Graphic Design class. And when I had to decide which book to use, I just happened to have my own, hand-bound novel that was in dire need of a cover.

I needed jacket text, and while working on a proper blurb, I ended up with a poem. I used it and my professor didn’t care. Ten years later, I can still recite the sucker.

God, Angels,
sinners and saints,
lovers gone astray.
Mommy and daddy’s little girl
lost along the way.
Missionary, jezebel,
bishop’s son,
games they shouldn’t play.
An opera, a baby, a diving board,
and a loaded H&K.

That's Inward in poetry form. Will it work in a query letter? I doubt it, but if I thought it might entertain Jenny Bent, I'd throw it into one.