The Stab in the Dark Contest Has Come to a Close

Hi all!

Thank you very much for taking the time to participate in our Halloween A Stab in the Dark Agent Contest! For those with requests, congratulations and go on and shoot them off to your respective agents (proofread first! ya know, just in case). Thank you again to all those who participated and put their work out there. Never an easy feat.

A big thank you to our agents Pooja Menon, Danielle Smith and Olga Filina. Feel free to query them through the regular channels.

Cheers,

~Liz

A Stab in the Dark Contest Posts Will Go Live Thursday

In case there was any confusion, the deadline for A Stab in the Dark Contest has been extended until Wednesday at midnight. Posts will go up on Thursday. We have also done away with the teams. So anyone who submits will automatically be entered.

If you have any questions--leave us a comment.

Thanks for your patience and entries!

~Liz

We've Got a Halloween Contest in the Works!

Hello darlings!

Stay tuned. We have a lovely Halloween Contest in the works. We already have two confirmed agents! Some of you will be happy to know that this contest's agents accept both ADULT and YOUNG ADULT works.

One does handle middle grade while the other does not. And one also goes for memoirs and non-fiction projects!

We're still working out the kinks, but we're hoping to have this contest up and running in early to mid-October!

So make sure to check back each week. Maybe we'll even share some agent hints!

Cheers,

~Liz

Pitch Wars Details & Mentor Bios

Please note that Nazarea & Liz are both mentors so check below for BOTH mentor bios AND the rules on how to submit.

Nazarea's Bio:



So me: I write or play devoted mom and wife between devouring books. And I’m sarcastic to a fault. I tend toward dark stories and angsty romance, and I’m so head over heels for steamy stuff that I took an editorial assistant position with Swoon Romance. This might come as quite a shock, but I’m also a blogger here at Writerly.
I love critiquing and my specialties lie in big picture issues—characterization, plot holes, predictability (things that remind me of other books), although I do enjoy line edits and the nitty gritty. My favorite books are Anne Bishop’s Dark Jewels, Juliet Marillier’s Sevenwater series, and Mira Grant’s Newsflesh trilogy. (ZOMBIES!!).
I also like chocolate, preferably with raspberries. Or almonds. Coffee with way too much cream and sugar. Beaches and sexy boys on them. Tattoos and college football. But I’m dying for a good story. If you have something delightfully original, dark, or twisted—send it my way because there’s a good chance I won’t even know I’m going to love it until I see it.
Okay, enough about ME, let’s talk about what you really want to see…my wishlist. :)

Remember I’m taking ADULT AND NA. Not ya. All good? Here we go.

Historical. I’d LOVE to see something set in the French Revolution, or a time travel book, similar to Outlander or The Rose Garden.

Fantasy. I’m talking epic here—something like Game of Thrones, or even better, The Kingkiller Chronicles.  Something dark and grand and, yes, EPIC, with characters that make me laugh and cry and give a damn.

Paranormal/Urban fantasy. I do not want sparkly vampires, and I do not want a chick who is inexplicably drawn to a dude who looks like a serial killer. Have anything else? I’m your girl. (Seriously. Words like ‘inexplicably drawn’ or anything similar in your query, inexplicably draw the manuscript towards my rejection pile.)

RETELLINGS. I’m a huge fan of retellings. LIKE, HUGE fan (notice the all caps here, folks?). So if you have an awesome myth or fairy tale retelling, a new take on a classic story, you have to give it to me. I will hunt you down if you don’t.

Romance. I’m a sucker for killer chemistry. So if you have a story that is a gorgeous, sexy love story, I want to see it.

What else?
Sci-fi (light on the sci, heavy on the fi) that’s epic and takes me places I’ve never been.
A dystopian similar to the world around me.
A zombie book that turns the genre on its ear.

Bottom line—I want a good story. Send me something amazing. 

Liz's Bio:

So what makes me a good mentor? Well, I’m a literary agent intern with the kid lit agent, Ali McDonald, at The Rights Factory. I read and evaluate manuscripts on a daily basis. I don’t just read the slush but comment on client manuscripts from the nitty gritty details to overall story arc, characters, and plot. I also handle publicity for Gilbert King, whose book “Devil in the Grove” was released by Harper this past March. Barnes and Noble recently named “Devil in the Grove” one of the Best Books of 2012. I’m a kid lit writer myself and plan to head off to NYC this June to become a literary agent.

Now, my wishlist:

I’m looking for YA and NA in all the genres below. Oh and I NEED some sort of romance in every story.

Epic Fantasy: Give me something in the vein of Tamora Pierce and I’m sold. I may love me the occasional contemporary romance, but epic fantasy got me into reading as a kid and holds a special place in my heart.

Contemporary Romance: I absolutely adore Anna and the French Kiss. If you send me something within that vein you’ll have the greatest advocate. Give me swoon worthy and sexy boys. Drama, laughs, tears and all the fluffy! Note that I adore a kick-ass voice. In fact, I’m all about the voice. If it’s not there, then neither am I. Give me a concept like losing your virginity and make it work! In terms of NA, I’m a college student so if you have a college story—oh I’ll definitely be able to relate and aide you.

Urban Fantasy/Paranormal: I’ve read a lot of these and the market is saturated. Give me something that takes an old idea and flips it around in a new way and I’m sold.

Retellings: I LOVE retellings! Absolutely adore them. Greek, Egyptian (I’d kill for an Egyptian myth!) fairytale, Irish, whatever. Send them my way!

Sci-fi: I adore Jennifer L. Armentrout’s Obsidian. Anything in that vein would be lovely, also I love things concerning genetics.

Oh and I have a definite soft spot for roguish pirates.

This isn’t a hard and fast list. Look, if you’ve got a book with fun characters, a kick-ass voice, and romance just send it my way anyway. No one really knows what he or she is looking for until they see it.

Submissions start today (11/26) ! The cut off time to get your applications (query & first five pages of manuscript) in is 8AM EST on December 5.  
Send your applications to brendadrakecontests@gmail.com. Writers can apply for up to 3 coaches. The coaches' categories are set. Coaches can only consider the categories they've signed up for. Writers cannot apply for a coach that is not in their category.
For additional information about this contest go HERE.
·        This is open to finished manuscripts only.
·         You may only enter one manuscript.
·         Only the genres requested by each coach will be considered for the contest.
Formatting...
Subject line: Pitch Wars Application: Coach Name you want to apply for: Title (Example: Pitch Wars Application: Brenda Drake: GONE WITH THE WIND)
Name: Your Name
Genre: The genre of your manuscript
Word Count: The word count of your manuscript
Query letter here  (embedded in email). Single spaced. No indentions. A space between each paragraph.
First five pages of the manuscript here (embedded in email). Single spaced. No indentions. A space between each paragraph.
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REMINDER: You can send an application for up to 3 coaches.
Check back soon for a complete list of the amazing agents participating in the contest. There's over a dozen!
Our mentors ...

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New Contest: Pitch Wars!!

Hey Lovelies! 

Check out what kind of contest Nazarea and I (Liz) will be a part of next month!

We're extremely excited to announce an upcoming event where  agented authors, industry interns, and editors team up with aspiring writers to shine up their manuscripts and pitches to present to some awesome agents.

Note that our bios and what we are looking for will go up on Nov. 26th!

Here's the deets...

• The teams will consist of 1 agented author or industry intern or editor (coaches) and 1 aspiring author.

• December 1: The coaches (listed on the linky below) will post on their blogs what genre/category they want to coach. They'll be very specific genres. Aspiring writers will hop around and decide which coaches best fit their manuscripts.

• December 5: Aspiring writers will submit 3 "applications" to their top choices for coaches to the contest email (brendadrakecontests@gmail.com) during the allotted times (8AM to 8PM EST). That means, participants will send three separate emails to the contest email addressing each with one of their three top choices for coach.

• December 5 through December 10: Coaches will read the applications and pick teammates.The coaches don't have to pick from their applications. If a coach passes on an application, it is then up for grabs and another coach, if they haven't connected to their applicants, can snatch it after notifying the applicant and if the applicant chooses the coach.

• December 12: Teams will be announced. On the announcement post there will be instructions on how the winners must send their work.

• December 12 through January 16: Each coach will read their teammate's manuscript and give general notes on any issues they find. The coach will help their teammate get his or her pitches ready for the agent round.

• Note: The material for the agent round will be a 3 sentence pitch and the first 250 words of your manuscript. Coaches will read manuscripts and query letters only once and give notes. It is up to the writer to use the notes from their coaches to get the manuscript and query letter in as best shape as they can to send to requesting agents. The coaches will critique the three sentence pitch and first 250 words. The coaches will read them as many times as they deem necessary. In no way will writers expect the coaches to read the manuscript and query letter more than once or the pitches more than twice.

• January 20: Coaches will submit shined pitches to the contest email.

• January 23 and 24: Agents will read and make requests on the pitches they like (it is likely that not all participants will get requests).

• January 25: We'll announce the team with the most requests and who will take home the winning prizes (an amazon gift card for each).

• This is open to finished manuscripts only.

• You may only enter one manuscript.

• Only the genres requested by each coach will be considered for the contest.

 Formatting...

Subject line: Pitch Wars Application: Coach Name you want to apply for: Title (Example: Pitch Wars Application: Brenda Drake: GONE WITH THE WIND)


Name: Your Name

Genre: The genre of your manuscript

Word Count: The word count of your manuscript


Query letter here  (embedded in email). Single spaced. No indentions. A space between each paragraph.


First five pages of the manuscript here (embedded in email). Single spaced. No indentions. A space between each paragraph.


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REMINDER: You can send an application for up to 3 coaches.

Our mentors ...

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R&Rs From the POV of a Literary Agent Intern

Hello lovelies!

Wednesday Nazarea talked to you guys about R&Rs, also known as Revise & Resubmits. She talked about what to do when you receive them, what they could possibly mean, and whether or not you should take the advice.

Now, as some of you may or may not know I'm an editorial intern for a literary agency, meaning I read and evaluate manuscripts. Lots of em'. Recently, I was given one as a mini assignment. What would I do if I were an agent? Well, I wanted an R&R.

I know what you're thinking--I'm a writer. I know what it's like on the other side of the virtual desk--why would I ask this?

Here's the thing. This manuscript had a lot of strong elements. An authentic male voice and unique visual elements the writer wished to incorporate into the book. BUT--and there is always a but isn't there? The manuscript had slow pacing, characters that weren't fully there and some of those visual elements were being underutilized. So everything that made it stand out was also what made it sag down to me.

So if I was an agent I would have asked for an R&R. Why? Because I wanted to see if this writer had the chops to really deliver on the ambitious promise they'd made to the reader with these extra elements. I'd also like to add that my notes on the manuscript were almost identical to my boss's so I think I'm doing something right. Sometimes an R&R is that on-the-fence sort of moment for an agent. The "I like it, but if they can fix these few things I may just love it."

Cheers,

~Liz

**Note that opinions expressed here are mine alone and not the agency I intern with**

When you get some R&R

Here's the thing. R&R makes me think of two drastically different things. One is this:

But that's not the R&R we're talking about today. Today, let's discuss what happens when you've gotten past the querying and form rejections. You've got a decent manuscript, an engaging plot and a killer first 250--and it's landing requests. YAY! *throws confetti*

Okay, so that's all lovely, buuuuutttt... (Why, you ask, why do you harsh my mellow. Well, I answer, YOU came to the blog. You had to know it wasn't gonna ALL be happy, chocolate and thrown confetti)
You've been a good little writer, and buckled down with a new WIP while waiting for word from agents reading partials or even *gasp* fulls. Time passes. And the responses start rolling in.
Pass. Happy thought happy thought, here's the problem, send it if you revise.
BUCK UP! your CP's say (okay, not really, cuz who SAYS that anymore) At least they liked it. And you could revise.
But you aren't ready--something doesn't quite sit right. So you wait and another response comes in.
Pass. Happy though, happy thought, here's the problem, PLEASE send if you revise.
And now, your miffed. Because TWO agents? Really? Again, though, you don't quite revise. Your working your head around the problem, working on the WIP, and come on, lets be honest--other agents in the sea, and who WANTS to revise?
Here's what I know about Revise and Resubmit's from agents. They mean it. And sometimes, it's not right--the change they've suggested isn't right for the story YOU are trying to tell. Which is when you make a note of the agent for your WIP and you move on.
But more often than not? They're right. And the suggestion can be painful, and yeah--going back into the revision cave sucks, but...what if it makes the book better?
Here's a bit of a story for you. Last year, I got a full request from my top-choice agent for that particular manuscript. I was so excited, and nervous and a few months later, she sent me a revise and resubmit. And I was a bit disappointed, but I took some time, then threw myself into revisions. Three months later, I sent it back. And eventually, she passed.
And that's the downside. What happens when you get a R&R, you do the work required to properly revise, and then...it's still a no? Because it DOES happen and it's a little soul crushing.
Which is actually a fear I expressed to one of my CPs when I got a FOURTH R&R. And here's what she said (cuz she's smart and shit.) "Well, you'll still have a better book."
And I was like, duuuddeee. Why can't her smart rub off on MEEEE??? Because it's quite simple, y'all. The agent, the contract, the book on a bookshelf and front display at BN, ALL THAT? It's the goal, but the REAL goal should be a better book. THE BEST BOOK.
So. I have four R&R's. And since I want THE BEST BOOK, I'm headed into the revision cave. Which looks something like this:

Have you had an R&R? Share with us in the comments!!

Contest Window! :)

Here we are, you guys! Keeping it short and sweet: send your submission to writerlyrejects@gmail.com

PLEASE format it properly!
Name: 
Title:
Genre: 
Tagline: 
First 250 words: 


The contest is open until we receive 35 submissions (30 entries and 5 alternates).

Please remember you need to be a follower of the blog, and will be expected to crit five fellow contestants. That's all folks! Spread the word on Twitter and come back to read and comment on the entries Monday morning! :)

N~

Success!!

You guys! We have a bit of a treat for y'all today--an interview with IlIma Todd!

IllIma was a finalist in the last contest we hosted and afterward, contacted us. She's landed an agent, y'all! And some of that comes from entering our contest! :) So here's a bit from her.

Tell us a little about yourself?

I'm a mom to four kids and wife to one hot babe. I homeschool during the day and write late at night to alternative music thanks to a lot of Diet Coke. I love to read anything YA, especially if there's kissing involved and am hopelessly dependent on my amazing critique group for keeping me sane. They are my best friends in the whole world. I'm a Firefly/Battle Star Galactica fan nerd who loves to eat avocados.

How long have you been writing?

I made a new years resolution in January 2010 to write a novel, just something I've always wanted to do--a bucket list item. Once I started, I realized I could never stop. It was just too much fun! So that would make just over 2 1/2 years of living this wild and crazy life as a writer.

What genres do you focus on?

I'm sticking with YA sci-fi and fantasy for now. I've written an MG and a YA contemporary, but my heart lives in speculative fiction for teens.

How many manuscripts have you written?

REMAKE is number 4. And I've started a 5th, but it's kind of on the back burner while I'm refocusing on REMAKE again.

How long have you been querying?

I queried my first book in January for a few months with a handful of requests but no offers. I queried REMAKE for about 2 1/2  months this summer before getting an offer

 What agent did you accept an offer from?

Jennifer Skutelsky of Veritas Literary.

Tell us how you found this agent:

I'm super proud to say it was from a cold query, so for all you writers in the query trenches, it really does work! Also, I received an offer from another agent as a result of an online contest, eerily similar to the ones here on Writerly Rejects. Hint. Hint. ;) So those work too. I know the search for an agent is super stressful, but don't give up!

 Our two standard questions:  What piece of advice do you wish you were given when you started writing?

Learn how to write. After a year and a half of writing what I though was brilliant literature, I attended my first writers conference and realized I had no idea what I was doing. After that, I found some critique partners, read a ton of writing craft books, stalked the internet for writerly blogs, and continued to write write write. And that would be my advice to everyone now no matter what stage you're at, don't stop writing!

 Favorite desert:

Anything that combines chocolate and peanut butter. And ice-cream. Chocolate and peanut butter ice-cream...mmm.

 Where on the web (blog, facebook, twitter) can you be found?

I tweet at @ilimaktodd. My blog is ilimawrites.blogspot.com

News! And an AGENT CONTEST! :)

Wanna know what’s coming up on the blog? Sure you do, and I’m gonna tell you. Cuz I’m cool like that.

Next week, we have an INTERVIEW. From a Reject reader who has some exciting news to share. On September 12, S.R. Johannes (author of Untraceable and the upcoming Uncontrollable) will be joining us for an interview about indie vs self-publishing.

ANNNND!

We have an agent contest coming up! :) Mark your calanders or phone or what have you, for Friday September  7^th. We will begin accepting submissions at 9am and will be a little different from our previous contests. Some quick notes:  

• We will take the first 30 entries.
• You must be a follower of the blog to enter.
•  The entries WILL BE POSTED ON THE BLOG.
•   Entries will be open to peer critique, and we (the Rejects) will be stopping by and offering thoughts. (You are not guaranteed a crit from a Reject).
• IF YOUR ENTRY IS ACCEPTED, you must critique at least 5 others.
• Our super awesome-sauce agent will be reading and selecting her favorite
• This is for FINISHED POLISHED manuscript
• You’ll need a tagline and the first 250 (ish) words.

So here’s how to format it

Name:

Book Title:

Genre:

TAGLINE:

1^ST 250 WORDS:

Simple enough, yeah?  Genres are:

Fantasy

Historical Fiction

Middle Grade

Science Fiction

Women's Fiction

Young Adult

Posts will go live on the blog for critique on Monday the 10^th. Questions? Ask in the comments! :)

Pitch Critiques 1 & 2

First off I'd like to thank everyone for their submissions. We're by no means experts on the subject but after seeing a good amount of these with our contests, helping fellow writers with their queries and pitches, and writing our own, we feel we can give some helpful advice.

Thank you Kelsey for allowing us to critique this! :)

Genre: Adult Literary Fiction

Title: The Looking-Glass House

Pitch: THE LOOKING-GLASS HOUSE takes place over a nine month period in 1964 in Cline, Texas.  The main character, a young woman training for the sisterhood in a Catholic home for unwed mothers, gets caught in a web of corruption while investigating the local disappearances of young black men.  The danger is heightened by her teaming up with the sheriff’s son, a young man whose infatuation with her turns to rage when he discovers her secret: a love affair with one of the pregnant teenage girls.

I chose this one for a reason. It sounds a bit more like the detailed synopsis. A pitch needs to be sharp and punchy. Depending upon the genre of your novel, say chic lit, it can be funny and punchy. If it's a horror then creepy and punchy.

Although I will say that last line definitely holds an edge of punch. But who is this main character? Give me some characteristic about this woman that would lead me to believe she'd have an affair with one of the pregnant teenage girls? Here are my questions. How important is it that she's investigating? How does she get involved in this? It sounds like she's training to be a nun, not many tend to be sleuths so what sets this woman a part?

Also the first sentence can be completely omitted. It takes up a precious sentence that could be used to give a reader insight into who this character truly is. So my main tidbit is show us WHO this woman is. Also, her name would be quite nice :)

Thank you again Kelsey & I hope this proves helpful.

Our next critique is for Noel Hoffman. Thank you for submitting your pitch! :)

When it came time for the Serendipity Neighborhood Association to address the old, decrepit sign that hung at the entrance to their woods, it really wasn't surprising that they couldn't get anyone to take it down.  Because the south always carries their superstitions deep and the residents of New Serendipity were no exception.  So, after many days of fierce deliberation, and in light of all the strange occurrences that had happened in their town over the years, the highly conservative, mostly Republican, uptight, stodgy members of the new Serendipity Neighborhood Association elected to keep the sign up…just in case. 

This feels literary in nature, which granted isn't a bad thing, but it shows me the one thing that deters me from picking up most literary fiction. I don't see the plot. Is the book truly about the removal of a sign? Do we follow any specific main characters? (I will admit that this is a definitely a unique approach, but sounds more like a piece of flash fiction in and of itself). 

These are only questions you can answer. What is the main conflict of your novel? Is it really the removal of the sign? Who will the reader be following or are there multiple main characters?

I will add that the last line "...the highly conservative, mostly Republican, uptight, stodgy members..." <--I think you can cut about two of those words etc used to describe these ppl. We get the idea.
 

Just as I mentioned in the above crit, give us a taste of who we as readers will be following.

I hope this helps and thank you again to those who submitted.

We will be critiquing more every day this week!

~Liz

The Winner of the Claire Anderson-Wheeler Full Ms Crit!!

And the winner (since we all know you won't read the rest until I announce it lol) is...

Chantee Hale's HEAT!! Congratulations Chantee!! :)

Chantee please email the full manuscript to writerlyrejects (at) gmail (dot) com. 

The Winner's Pitch:

Title: HEAT

Name: Chanteé Hale

Genre: Young Adult

Seventeen-year-old Arie has learned to count on one thing: her boyfriend Steven will always come back. This time, when his disapproving father drags him away, Arie can't wait for him to find her because she's pregnant. Like her life, the world is one hot mess. Whole cities are melting down, and Arie is beginning to suspect her boyfriend's family may be hiding some life-changing truths. As her loyalty to Steven is tested, Arie has to find the strength to save herself and the ones she loves.

 

Now, for those who participated. Claire did have a few things to say so don't lose heart!

"I have to say it’s a strong selection. It’s a hard thing to do, boiling down your 70-odd thousand words into just a few, and the ones I read were impressively concise and effective."

"But I read a lot of queries that unfortunately just set up a challenge for the protagonist but don’t sketch in the ‘how’ and ‘what’ that follows. It’s important for an agent to know more about how your protagonist is going to tackle the central issues."

Here's her reasoning for choosing Chantee's pitch:

"I liked Chantee's synopsis in part because there is the promise here of a personal drama, but also of a wider human drama surrounding it: it can make for a really effective and satisfying story when you have both these elements operating at once; a macro and a micro storyline coinciding as each hits ‘crunch time’."

Thanks again to all those who have participated! You guys have been wonderful :) And keep following we're always up to something around here.

~The Writerly Rejects Team 

Interview with Claire Anderson-Wheeler

Hi Claire,
 
We’re super excited to have you here! Now tell us, how did you become a literary agent? How long have you been one and have you always wanted to be a literary agent? Whew, that was a mouthful.

It's a pleasure, thanks for inviting me! As to how I started down this route: I realised a little late in the day - but happily not very late in the day - that I didn't want to be a lawyer after all. I began doing some work experience and small-time freelance stuff in publishing, in Dublin, where I was living at the time. Then I moved to the UK to do a Masters in creative writing. I met a lot of agents there, and it clicked: this agenting thing was the niche for me. I loved the idea of that particular, personal interaction with writers and their work. That was in 2007 and it's been a pretty straight trajectory since. I got a wonderful internship in London after graduating and things went from there. I moved to New York last Autumn.


What genres do you represent? What genres will you definitely NOT represent?

 It's flexible. I definitely will not represent the more academic or specialized fields in non-fiction, because I don't have the particular knowledge. Likewise with poetry, screenplays, picture books and the younger children's market: I'd leave these to people more specialised in the field. Straight subject-driven non-fiction typically doesn't excite me as much as narrative non-fiction - I love a story arc, no matter the genre - but if the right thing came along I would hope I would be open. In terms of the fiction side, there is little I would reject out of hand, but there are certainly some genres I am less likely to go for. Horror, for example, has never been my thing; nor has romance. (I would define the 'commercial women's fiction' category as something quite distinct from romance: it might be a light read, but there would be broader issues and themes going on than in a typical love story). I do like some fantasy, and some sci-fi. As with any other genre, though, the story has to feel original: I think in today's marketplace maybe it's easier to be derivative in the fantasy genre, and that is a shame. It gives fantasy a bad name. What I read most, however, is character-driven literary fiction, often the domestic microcosm rather than the grand epic kind - but again, that's not a rule.


What kind of books would you say would make up your ULTIMATE wish list?

Story is a must. Replicating a version of reality - even with brilliant detail and acuity, is not enough - or not enough for me, at any rate. I like to see people being taken apart, the putting back together is optional; books where there's a little bit of fatalism, and some really interesting characters. Josephine Hart's Damage is a prime example of the kind of book I love. Donna Tartt's The Secret History is another.

Do you have any client work coming out?

I haven't been here long enough for that, but watch this space.


Would you say you’re an editorial agent?

Certainly. It's the most important thing an agent can do. You can fight as hard as you like for an author, but if their book is not the best it can possibly be, it's never going to make it out there. Also, you earn a publisher's respect by only submitting things to them that are in good shape and that you can stand over. And then there's that other reason - I just love the process.

What advice do you have for aspiring authors?

Read - and not just for pleasure, but forensically.
Read how-to books as well. They're often underrated. Robert McKee's 'Story' is one of my favourites.
Never kid yourself that someone else is not going to notice the flaws. Those bits you already know are not working? Fix them.

Be ambitious. If you have a big idea, write it. Don't write something that you think is just 'good enough to get published'. You need to give it your very best. If you're having too much fun, there's probably something wrong. It should feel good, maybe even great, but it should feel like hard work.
When you're ready to send out, be professional: nice, but brief. Don't write gimmicky cover letters; your writing will speak for itself. Try to read the guidelines; don't say 'Dear Sirs' when it's an office full of women (which it likely is).Also, almost no one wants material in the body of an email. Attachments are much preferred. For your own sake, keep track of where you've submitted. It's okay to send a courteous email follow up if it's been a couple of months, but please, take care with your tone. Remember that agents have full time jobs that have to get done before they make it to the slush pile. You are the thing that keeps them from leaving the house on weekends! So if you're going to nudge, nudge nicely. A courteous two-line enquiry is fine.

What are you biggest query pet peeves?

The biggest, I suppose, is arrogance, or just ignorance that reads as arrogance. "I have deiced to appoint you as my literary agent"; "Please tell me what qualifies you to represent me", etc.
Personally, it really bothers me when writers shroud their synopsis in mystery, as in "and then something happens that  upends everything Paul has ever known". If I'm going to assess the book, I'm going to need to know what "the thing" is. I need the full story: I need to know who dies at the end, and how many times! 

How can authors query you?

 I'm happiest getting email queries, with the first three chapters attached (as an attachment, not in the body of the work). Getting it by email saves paper and saves my back, and having the attachment gives me more to go on at an early stage. Sometimes I've read bad synopses, then dipped into the work and found it really good.

Favorite book?

Oh no! I hate this question! Probably either Anna Karenina, The Secret History, or The Magician's Nephew, depending on the day.

Favorite movie?

Again, I reserve the right to change my mind tomorrow, but today I'm going with Hannah and her Sisters.

Favorite TV show?

I don't watch that much TV, mainly because the ads get to me. But recently some friends have got me into the original (Danish) version of The Killing. That is good TV.

Cookies or Cake?

Chocolate fondant cake, with a scoop of something wonderful on the side. (Are you offering?)

Well, if you like the lactose free variety then sure... ;)

Thanks so much for joining us and for offering the full manuscript page critique. Stay tuned everyone. Winners should be announced this Friday!

~Liz

Waiting On Wednesday

So in my agent search I stumbled upon Natalie Lakosil, but for the record I’m been following her blog since she was Natalie Fischer. (Dream agent right there) Sorry, enough with the side note. Anyway, I stumbled upon her client, Jessica Souder’s book, Renegade, and I fell in love with the concept. The book is expected to be released on November 13th by Tor Teen.

Let me put it to you this way. It’s The Little Mermaid meets Divergent meets The Matrix.  Three things attracted me to this title. 1) The utterly gorgeous cover 2) The unique plot. Let’s be honest how many Underwater utopias have you encountered in books that had nothing to do with Atlantis or The Little Mermaid? 3) The elements. Whose mind has ever been a ticking time bomb? And who doesn’t love a good boy from the wrong side of the tracks story (or in this case wrong side of the ocean).

I also met this author at a Central Florida event. Yeah, I asked for her autograph. Why? Because I feel this book has a unique air. Here’s hoping I’m right.

Here’s the Goodreads Summary:

Since the age of three, sixteen-year-old Evelyn Winters has been trained to be Daughter of the People in the underwater utopia known as Elysium. Selected from hundreds of children for her ideal genes all her life she’s thought that everything was perfect; her world. Her people. The Law.

But when Gavin Hunter, a Surface Dweller, accidentally stumbles into their secluded little world, she’s forced to come to a startling realization: everything she knows is a lie. Her memories have been altered. Her mind and body aren’t under her own control. And the person she knows as Mother is a monster.

Together with Gavin she plans her escape, only to learn that her own mind is a ticking time bomb... and Mother has one last secret that will destroy them all.

P.S. I ordered an ARC--really hope I get it! 

~Liz

Liz's Old Query Mistakes

I'm going to show you guys samples of my old queries. This will show you that you do get better with time. Note these were written in early 2009 and 2010. And I actually enjoy query writing now. Go figure? (Also, this is severely embarrassing)

My first query from sometime in March of 2009:

 A cursed Evvie struggles to survive in a world where her mere birth is
an abomination. Motherless and tormented by a truly sinister skeletal
goddess that plays host within the depths of her mind, Evvie must
embark on a journey to discover the secret of her heritage and why she
is cursed.  Tainted contains all the original fantasy elements
expected of the genre, but entwined within the story is a heroine who
embodies both good and evil.


Right off the bat you know it's far too LONG. As mentioned in yesterday's post. It's best to be below 250 words. The closer to 200 words the better. Agents are all strapped for time. Make their lives easier with shorter queries.

Tainted is a 52,000-word young adult fantasy novel, inspired by
mythology and folklore.

Evvie spends the first twelve years of her life in hiding, raised by a
man she believes is her true father. Cursed by the gods themselves for
being the first of her kind, a mixture between light and dark elf,
Evvie is hunted by light and dark elves alike. She leaves home after a
friend is murdered and the truth about her father revealed. Struggling
with magic she cannot control, Evvie vows never to love Matthew, her
childhood protector, in an attempt to protect him from her unstable
powers.  Here I introduce way too much in the beginning. In fact I probably could have covered my bases in about two sentence and omitted the extraneous details.

Evvie will aide a young man she barely knows, in order to forget the
pain that persistently strikes at her heart, only to come face to face
with an evil aunt bent on killing her and a royal secret about her
heritage that she never thought possible. Right here--too vague, especially in the beginning. This doesn't segue well with the previous paragraph. An agent will always want concrete details and not abstract language like my first couple lines in here.

Evvie suffers from the same insecurities that all young adults her age
go through. She is the fantasy equivalent of today’s teenage girl,
even using the same language and phrases. Evvie is an insecure yet
stubborn heroine merely trying to fit in a world where she was never
meant to exist. (THIS is so NOT necessary. Why did I add this? Non-writing folk told me to. Sometimes AVOID the advice of non-writerly folk.)

I began writing Tainted at the age of fourteen. I have taken several
creative writing classes. I am currently a senior in high school and
have won several poetry and prose competitions, including the Creative
Writing award at my high school, which is one of the largest in the
country, publication in “A Celebration of Young Poets”, and
recognition for a fictional essay in the Miami Herald. (NONE Of this is relevant except maybe the classes)

Tainted is the first of a three book series. I have begun the planning
for the second book. I have also included the first 2 pages in the
email body. I hope to hear from you soon (For a series you should merely state it has series potential but make sure your book can stand alone. This one could as long as I tweaked the last chapter.)


Another Version for the Same Story:

(This one is much better and way shorter, but what it lacks is an actual voice. I'm writing for Upper MG/early YA here and it reads like an annoying synopsis, which is another beast entirely. There is potential yes, but what this one lacks is giving more of the character's personality to the query. It reads like this happened, then this happened, with some telling thrown in there.)

KEEP THIS IN MIND: A writer's query improves just as their writing improves. This first novel just wasn't ready. Sometimes if a query isn't getting requests or for some reason you can never seem to write those stakes out in an enticing way it could be cluing you into the fact that that novel isn't ready or something needs revising. Remember not every story will sell. But to give yourself the best possible chance you need to write a rockin' awesome query.

TOMORROW we'll show you a query that has gotten loads of requests and we'll tell you why it works :)

Evvie Nyx has a secret.

She knows the rules; never let the village children see her, keep within the forest, and keep her secret or end up like her dead mother.


For Evvie, an elf of mixed races and the first of her kind, she never considered hiding in the brush to watch the village rule breaking, not exactly. But when she is faced with the choice of being discovered and saving a village boy from drowning, breaking the rules is exactly what she must do.

Her existence is revealed to the village, putting everyone in peril. A mage is sent to kill Evvie, but instead kills the boy she saved. Plagued by grief after the death of the child, Evvie sets out for vengeance, but quickly finds herself in a dangerous political trap set up by her own aunt, which could end her life.

I am currently a Creative Writing major at the University of Central Florida and read requested manuscripts for a literary agent as a learning experience.

Tainted is a 55,000-word Upper Middle Grade fantasy. It is a standalone novel with series potential and should appeal to fans of Tamora Pierce and Philip Pullman. Because you enjoy imagined worlds set in another time, and especially since a favorite of yours is His Dark Materials series, I feel this may be up your alley.

Thank you so much for your time and consideration. I have included the first ten pages in the body of the email as you requested.

Query Do's & Don'ts

We hope these query DO's and DON'Ts will help some of you new to querying and for the veterans feel free to add your own at the bottom! I will say, there will always be exceptions to these rules, but sometimes its best to give yourself the best opportunity possible by following the rules.

1) DO write your query in 250 words or less.

2) DO avoid rhetorical questions in the hook. They sound gimmicky.

3) DO NOT write a query from your character's POV.

4) DO show the pivotal story arc. That main action that leads to the climax and the "ultimate decision" moment. This is where many people's stories get lost---give an agent a reason to keep reading.

5) DO focus on what makes your story unique.

6) DO be enticing.

7) DO show the stakes.

8) DON'T create a character soup--limit who you introduce in the query to the bare minimum. If you think you need five, find a way to cut two of them.

9) DON'T compare your book to Twilight, Harry Potter or the Di Vinci Code.

10) DON'T classify your manuscript as a 'fiction novel' or 'fictional novel'.

11) DON'T be inapporapriately stalky in your personalization. (I.E., don't be like, I saw you were working at the bookstore and engrossed in a sci-fi horror steampunk. Here's mine.)

12) DO be knowledgeable about the agent. (This is a fine line, folks. But you can know the agent's preference and dislikes without sounding like a freaky stalker. We've got a post on researching agents that should help.)

13) SHOW DON'T TELL.

14) DO include word count, and brief biography.

15) DON'T say that you've been writing since you picked up a crayon and your mom, brother-in-law and pastor all think your the next J.K. Rowling.

16) DO edit and have a critique partner read through before you send it out.

17) DON'T send it to more than one agent in one email. (This is a hard and fast, NEVER EVER BREAK rule, guys. EVER.)

18) DO ALWAYS check agent guidelines and include whatever pages/synopsis/etc they may ask for.

19) DO spell their name correctly.

20) DO include contact information. A great story is just a random floating idea without a little contact info at the bottom.

21) DO track who you've queried and when.

22) DON'T query more than one project at a time.

23) DON'T. query multiple agents at one agency.

24) DO focus on the protagonist, antagonist, and basic conflict. NO subplots.

25) DON'T CALL. EVER.

~The Writerly Rejects

How to Research Literary Agents

So I was kinda nudged into this post. Why? Well, it’s an ongoing joke that I’m the resident stalker. Hell, I’ve even mentioned how good my stalk—erm research skills have become in a job interview or two.

Hey, I have serious skills! Hah, anyway today I’m going to teach ya’ll the method I use when researching agents. If you find yourself shooting off queries willy nilly, and getting no responses or forms, putting in a little more research beforehand could help you out.

One of the reasons we hear agents say they reject a project is because someone queries them for something they just aren’t into. Sure, an agent may say they like fantasy in their guidelines, but without further research you won’t know if they mean only urban fantasy or if that also includes high fantasy. Or maybe to them, fantasy covers the paranormal romance spectrum only. Now, if you’re shopping around a high fantasy manuscript, well, they definitely aren’t the agent for you, but you’d never know that without further research.

Here are my go-to sources when looking up agents.

1)   Personally, I prefer Query Tracker. I use this religiously to organize my queries and to find new agents. This, in my humble opinion, is loads better than Agent Query, but I recommend Agent Query’s articles on what an agent does for you and what to do and ask when you get The Call. Query Tracker allows you to do several things, but some are to track queries, see who these agents represent (not always a complete list), and best of all check out an agent’s response times. This way you know who to query if you want a quick turnaround to test out your query and you also know who will move at the pace of a molasses. 

2)   Now, there are two blogs I ALWAYS and I mean ALWAYS use when I want to get a feel for the agent’s tastes, editorial-ness, and recent books sold. Literary Rambles and Mother. Write. (Repeat). The latter focuses on interviewing the agents. Why do I always use it? Because she’s managed to interview so many that you’re almost always guaranteed that she has something on the agent. Literary Rambles is a compilation of information from several different interviews, including whether an agent is an editorial agent, what they represent based on guidelines and what’s been discovered in other interviews etc. Great sources.

3)   Now, I should mention that when one is looking for an agent they should always cross reference with Preditors & Editors (P&E). Why? They’ll let you know if an agent or agency has been reported for unethical behavior.

4)   Absolute Write is a godsend. It’s an amazing forum, but when researching agents you can read comments from years ago to as recent as 5 minutes ago about the agent and agency’s practices, response times, and whatever else commenters are willing to share. It rocks.

5)   Ah, let’s not forget Twitter. The funny thing about agents is they’ll mention in passing something that they’re currently looking for. Or out of frustration say what they’re tired of seeing. Heck, some will even put out a wish list saying something like, “Guys, I’m dying to see some mermaid stories or more boy-centric middle grade”. If you have what they want, now you know, and this is the perfect thing to mention when you’re trying to explain to an agent why you’ve queried them. I know many people struggle with that personalization portion of a query. Here’s how you find stuff to put in there.

Well guys, that about wraps up my process. Let me add one more thing. ALWAYS use the guidelines on an agency’s website when querying. Why? Because guidelines found elsewhere are not always up-to-date. It’s best to play it safe. Hope this article can help those just starting the querying process or those looking for more resources when researching agents.

Good luck. Now, get those queries out the door.

Cheers,

~Liz