Weronika Janczuk

Thanks for this question! The most difficult thing is the disappointment over not placing or finding a home for v. worthwhile novels or proposals: as an agent, I don't take risks on quality; I do take risks on concept, as I do love the quirky. #askagent

Make sure to get the query deeply vetted! @QueryTracker forums have great critique forums. Besides this, read and practice as much of the content of @DonMaass' books on #writing as possible. I always decide based on pages, and look for ownership of craft. #querytip #askagent

Lol. This is a fun question. I genuinely think it depends on the agent. I prefer to be honest and transparent as possibl, so "this is not right for my list" = "I don't love this/want to represent it," and then if the writing needs work, I'll be direct & honest about it. #askagent

Is this a real manuscript line? Curious to know (a) what genre, and (b) the greater context here. Cheeks similar to a lively popsicle? *eyebrows raised* #askagent

distinguishes New Adult from YA fiction, besides the older character, and adult fiction, besides (potentially) the voice and location. College-aged or New Adult-aged buyers don't know to look for something so particular; most don't need to. (2) #askagent

A little bit of a late #askagent response here, but looks like you may not have had one--it's both, in some sense. There are no hard rules for the genre, in large part because there is no hard audience--YA moves up and down easily, and so it's hard to answer the question what (1)

Depends on the contest, but almost entirely neutral--just because someone is entered into a writing contest d/n determine quality of the manuscript, and (to be entirely honest) neither does winning one. Number of entires, judges, etc.--so many details. Enter & query. #askagent

...frames the entire scene which follows it: the build-up, and a clear "center point" to the scene (i.e., a scene that is actively "doing work" to create tension and a clear sense of an arc, tending towards a clear plot). This, plus a clear, smart scene ending! (2) #askagent

Thx for this q.! The most important thing for me is the authority that a writer has over their own text--and one specific manifestation of this lies in the intentionality with which they build out their scene: not just a "good first line," but a first line that... (1) #askagent