—Now superseded (10/10/2025)—
Here’s a draft of a query letter and summary for Possible Planet: Pathways to a Habitable Future, tailored to Jennifer Herrera (or a similar literary agent). Feel free to refine, adapt, or ask for multiple versions depending on tone, length, or emphasis.
[Your name & contact info]
[Address]
[Email]
[Phone]
[Date]
Jennifer Herrera
c/o David Black Agency
[Address or email, if known]
Dear Ms. Herrera,
I am writing to seek representation for Possible Planet: Pathways to a Habitable Future, a timely and hopeful nonfiction proposal that offers a compelling roadmap for humanity’s next chapter—from climate anxiety and ecological breakdown to regenerative action and meaningful purpose. At approximately 80,000 words (with supplementary visuals, case studies, and tools), this book explores how individuals, communities, and systems can realign toward thriving ecosystems and human flourishing.
Given your interest in nonfiction that tackles “big ideas” with philosophical, economic, environmental, and cultural dimensions, I believe Possible Planet would be a strong fit for your list. The book speaks both to those worried about the future and to those who want to understand what must be done—and how to get started.
What This Book Offers
Possible Planet does more than diagnose planetary challenges. It navigates a path forward—a set of practical, hopeful, and scalable strategies that help readers understand how to live, lead, and act in ways that are compatible with a flourishing Earth. It combines rigorous research, field stories, systems thinking, and accessible tools to help the reader transition from awareness to agency.
Why Now
As climate impacts intensify and ecological stressors mount, people are increasingly desperate not only for understanding but for actionable direction. Yet too much of the climate discourse is pessimistic, fragmented, or overwhelming. There is a growing hunger for frameworks that restore agency, embed purpose in action, and integrate personal, community, economic, and ecological transformation. Possible Planet meets that need.
Comparable Titles
- Under a White Sky by Elizabeth Kolbert (examines technology, ecology, and the dilemmas of geoengineering) (Wikipedia)
- What If We Get It Right? by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson (imagines hopeful climate futures) (Penguin Random House)
- The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert (deep environmental reporting tied to big ideas) (Wikipedia)
Structure and Highlights
The book is organized in three parts:
- Diagnosis and Orientation — examines the interlocking crises of climate, biodiversity, economy, social inequity, and human alienation; why current paradigms fail.
- Pathways to a Habitable Future — explores case studies of regenerative systems, from circular agriculture and watershed-based economies to community-led energy, urban resilience, ecosystem restoration, indigenous land stewardship, and distributed governance.
- Agency and Practice — offers tools, narratives, and mindset frameworks to help individuals, organizations, and movements shift toward right livelihood, stewardship, participatory design, and ecological accountability.
Each chapter weaves storytelling, data, frameworks, and calls to action, ending with “next steps” for citizens, innovators, educators, and leaders.
Author Background
[Here include your relevant credentials: research experience, publications, field work, community/environmental engagement, platform, networks, etc. Explain why you’re uniquely positioned to write this book.]
Target Audience and Platform
This book is aimed at environmentally conscious readers, socially engaged professionals, nonprofit and civic leaders, policymakers, and general readers who want hopeful and usable direction. I have an existing audience through [blog/newsletter/workshops/social media], and plan to collaborate with networks like Possible Planet, regenerative ecology forums, universities, and local/regional organizations for outreach.
Thank you very much for your time and consideration. I am happy to send a full proposal, sample chapters, or outline at your request. I believe Possible Planet: Pathways to a Habitable Future has the potential to contribute meaningfully to the cultural conversation and climate solution ecosystem, offering both urgency and possibility in equal measure.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
Project Summary: Possible Planet: Pathways to a Habitable Future
Concept
While climate science and activism have richly documented the risks we face, there remains a critical gap: how to transition from awareness to coherent, scalable systems of regeneration that reconnect human purpose and thriving ecosystems. Possible Planet introduces a foundational concept: humanity’s reconciliation with Earth must be systemic, embodied, and actionable. It isn’t enough to reduce emissions; we must redesign economic, social, agricultural, water, energy, governance, and cultural systems so that they nourish the planet and its inhabitants.
Core Arguments
- The crises we face are symptoms of a deeper misalignment: between how we live and how the biosphere functions.
- Regeneration must be rooted in place—watersheds, bioregions, communities—not abstract global targets.
- Human meaning and livelihood are inseparable from ecological health; restoring ecological integrity restores purpose and agency.
- Technology, AI, policy, and innovation must be grounded in relational, indigenous, community-based, place-sensitive practices.
- The transition demands not only macro systems change, but personal, educational, economic, and narrative shifts.
Structure
The book unfolds in three parts (as above), each building from analysis to frameworks to practices, including:
- Profiles of regenerative leaders, communities, and experiments
- Frameworks for designing “right livelihoods” and regenerative economies
- Tools and pathways for individuals, schools, organizations, and local governments to act
Audience & Relevance
- Readers of science, climate, and environmental nonfiction who are looking for solutions and hope rather than just warnings
- Practitioners in NGOs, regenerative agriculture, permaculture, ecology, planning, community development, local government, and climate policy
- Educators and students in sustainability, environmental science, public policy, and economics
- General readers seeking actionable approaches to climate resilience, ethical work, and living with purpose
Voice & Approach
Possible Planet combines investigative reporting, systems thinking, narrative storytelling, and design thinking. It balances urgency with grounded optimism; depth with accessibility; complexity with actionable insights.
If you like, I can also draft alternative query letters (shorter, more personal, or more data-driven), tailor it to other agents, or help you prepare a full proposal package (sample chapters, marketing plan, etc.).