Maria Vicente

100. Novella. Super short too (15,000 words short). This is a short story. #100Queries

99. YA Contemporary. Again, nothing new here. Your pitch needs to highlight what’s unique about your manuscript!! #100Queries

98. Picture Book. Sounds exactly like a combination of 2 books published last year. Way too similar to what’s already in stores. #100Queries

97. YA Contemporary. Way too much going on in this pitch. Hard to tell what the book actually focuses on. #100Queries

96. YA Contemporary. Manuscript isn’t finished—just pitching a concept. Don't do this. You should query a complete MS! #100Queries

95. MG Fantasy. This query is formatted horribly. Weird fonts and colours. The content is all over the place too. #100Queries

94. YA Contemporary. This pitch actually sounds super racist. Staying far, far away from this one. #100Queries

@TheSmitlyJotter Either ignorant of the market (assume all MG contain the same plot) or just not pitching effectively. #100Queries

93. YA Historical. Not my type of historical (I'm not super into royalty), but I’m sure other agents will be interested. #100Queries

Worth mentioning: if you’re planning to illustrate a PB, I definitely want to see a link to your portfolio in the query letter. #100Queries

92. Picture Book. Doesn’t tell me much about the book, focuses on author bio. #100Queries

@karlareynag Yes, exactly this. #100Queries

@ChrisRAlonso I like historical fiction, just wasn't interesting in the plot details. #100Queries

91. MG Mystery. Not reading anything new here. Queries can get really repetitive. You need yours to stand out! #100Queries

90. Literary Fiction. Query includes sample chapters (which goes against sub guidelines btw), and the prose isn’t grabbing me. #100Queries

It's difficult to want to read a book when I don’t know about the conflict. #100Queries

89. YA Contemporary. Goes over the premise, but nothing about what is at stake for the characters. #100Queries

88. Literary Fiction. Way too long. Premise sounds like I’ve read it before (which is never a good thing). #100Queries

87. Nonfiction. The topic is a bit overdone, so I’m going to politely stay away. #100Queries

I really need to be compelled by a premise to request material. Sometimes it doesn't matter how great your query letter is. #100Queries