Bridget Smith
Literary Agent
JABberwocky Literary Agency
aka Breda. Literary agent at JABberwocky. Co-host of @ShipAndHandling publishing podcast. Plays with swords in free time. Way too long-winded for Twitte
Literary Agent
WELL, someone managed to find my personal Gmail address - which none of my clients have bc I don't use it for work - and send a query there. DO NOT DO THIS. It's not a good way to get extra attention; it's a good way to get yourself blocked on all my accounts. #pubtip
Literary Agent
Take care with your work! Try to show me your best side! Treat me with basic professional courtesy! But don't worry too much if you make a small human error - I know it happens and have done it myself. #pubtip
Literary Agent
Look, the kind of faux pas that will lead to an auto-reject on a query are like "this person seems like an absolute nightmare to work with" and "didn't even bother to run spellcheck," not "copy-paste error" or "introduced typo in last-minute tweak." #pubtip
Literary Agent
Bridget Smith @bredalot
Sometimes this is because they're only three sentences long, but just as often it's because I don't know how the events described are connected, or I don't know what the stakes are for anything, or I don't understand why this matters for the MC.Remember to share your query with someone who hasn't read the manuscript before sending it out! Since you know what happens in the book, you're usually too close to see what's confusing to the rest of us. #pubtip
Literary Agent
Ok, having now read 100+ of the queries that came in since I opened: the most common problem I'm seeing is that they don't actually make it clear what the book is ABOUT. #pubtip
Literary Agent
Periodic reminder! Make sure to include something like "OFFER" or "UPDATE" in the subject line when you're following up on a query with an offer, or I won't notice that it needs immediate attention. #pubtip
Literary Agent
Friends, a reminder that it is in your best interest to hear from every agent who might like your work! At worst, it confirms the first offer was the right one. #pubtip
Literary Agent
Bridget Smith @bredalot
Going through queries, and have now seen four in a row that started with the protagonist waking up. Is that REALLY where the story starts?Part of revision is teasing out which bits you-the-writer needed but which do nothing for the reader. This is usually one of those. #pubtip
Literary Agent
Bridget Smith @bredalot
Seeing a recent trend of MG novels that are 85k+, some even 100k+. That's LONG, guys.Ideally, MG novels (especially debuts) should be under 70k. #pubtip
Literary Agent
Periodic reminder that self-publishing is a terrible strategy for getting a traditional deal. #pubtip
Literary Agent
Uh, a tip for anyone querying by mail: put the folded SASE *inside* the letter or I might accidentally letter-opener it to death. #pubtip
Literary Agent
Reminder: make sure to "Accept All Changes" in Word before sending a doc or copy-pasting into an email! #pubtip
Literary Agent
Be extra careful about breaking the fourth wall in your first page. Let me into the world before you shatter the illusion. #pubtip
Literary Agent
When researching comp titles, look beyond basic story elements to things like similarity of style, theme, or target audience. #pubtip
Literary Agent
Don't pay anyone anything up-front to submit your work on your behalf. Ever. Please. *Especially* if you wrote the pitch too. #pubtip
Literary Agent
#pubtip: Putting lots of ellipses in your subject line makes it look like spam.