Alec Shane

Q5: WWII memoir proposal, submitted by grandchild about his grandfather. I get these a lot as well. 2 million men served in Europe during WWII. I'm sure each story is amazing, but they aren't all meant to be books. Pass. #tenqueries

Q4: Novella. I've been getting a ton of novella submissions lately. Did I miss a meeting? Are major publishers looking for novellas now? I enjoy reading them, but have never had luck selling them. #tenqueries

Q3: First paragraph is just a series of questions, questions that I'm guessing the book will answer. Struggled to establish, then maintain, tension, and thus lost my interest. Pass. #tenqueries

Q2: 90K MG novel. That's about twice as long as a debut MG should be. Would be a very hard sell. Pass. #tenqueries

Q1: The font is really, really small. Not a dealbreaker unto itself (writing not up to par on this one), but be careful of your formatting. Agents shouldn't have to do extra work to read what you wrote. #tenqueries

OK, that's my #tenqueries. No hits this time, alas.

I have now responded to all queries through 11/19, not including partial/full requests.

Q10: Thriller. Main character is a journalist. Good, but not spectacular, which it would need to be to find a place on the shelf next to all the other thrillers with journalist protags. Pass. #tenqueries

Q9: I am looking to dip into fantasy, so I appreciate this author taking a shot here...but it's a little too much into the fantasy realm, if that makes sense. Tons of magic and this totally new world right away...I'm still easing into it. Pass. #tenqueries

Q8: MG. Opening scene is a playground, five kids playing tag: one white, one black, one Asian, one Native American, and one gay. I hate it when TV commercials do this, and it isn't working here. Diversity is great, but there are better ways to convey backgrounds. Pass #tenqueries

Q7: True Crime. These are tough; I feel like the case needs to either be really unique or have garnered national appeal yo work, Don't get that vibe from this one. Pass. #tenqueries

Q6: This happens to me a lot - I work in the military space quite a bit, which often leads romance authors whose novel features a soldier as the main love interest to think I might be interested. Romance just isn't for me, regardless of what the characters do. #tenqueries

Q5: Horror. Query letter was very well-written, author clearly did her research, and she referenced some of my clients as the reason why she thought I'd be a good fit. Great job.

Unfortunately, the pages themselves were lacking, so it's still a pass. #tenqueries

Q4: Lots of dialogue, none of it believable. I always tend to advise against opening up a novel with extensive dialogue, as we have no idea who is talking and haven't gotten a chance to get to know the characters yet. Not a hard and fast rule, but still. Pass. #tenqueries

Q3: Adult mystery. I now know a TON about what the moon looked like, and man is this a dark and peaceful field...but I know nothing about any of the characters or what the story is about. Pass. #tenqueries

Q2: YA, 1st person. Prologue is three pages of "if I had only known what was going to happen that night, I never would have left the house." Message received loud and clear two paragraphs in; careful not to belabor the point. Pass. #tenqueries

Q1: Historical fiction, a bunch of men conspiring around a dimly lit tavern over tankards of ale. Nothing new or unique about this opening. Pass. #tenqueries

OK, that's my #tenqueries. Time to leave Twitter behind and completely forget it exists for a while.

But before I go - I have responded to all queries through 5/1, not including partial full requests. Hope to get caught up a bit by Labor Day.

I get asked a fair amount how I decided which submissions to include in my #tenqueries, and the answer is simple: I sort of arbitrarily decide to do one, and the next 10 queries in my queue get critiqued. It's totally random.

Q10: This one hurts - nonfiction about a piece of history that I had no idea about and sounded fascinating, but the writing wasn't there. Very academic and textbooky. Too bad, as these are the history projects I love. Pass. #tenqueries

Q9: NF humor book about how to survive college as a guy in 2018. Not touching this one at all. Mouth shut, moving on. #tenqueries