Eva Scalzo

Q4: Fantasy: This query has a word count that is hovering at too high and a pitch that tells me nothing about what the story is about. Pass. #tenqueries

Q3: YA Fantasy: The way this is pitched it sounds like a middle grade. Pass. #tenqueries

Q2: YA Fantasy: This is set in a dreamworld and I'm just not the biggest fan of these kinds of stories. Pass. #tenqueries

Q1: YA Fantasy: The way one of the characters is introduced into this, just didn't work for me. Pass. #tenqueries

Q10: YA contemporary(ish): It's the "ish" here that does me in! This is set in 2007 for no apparent reason. Also, the love interest in the query is nowhere in the first 3 chapters, and I tend to think we should have at least have a glimpse. Pass. #tenqueries

Q9: YA Fantasy: Animals as main characters do not work for me. Pass. #tenqueries

Q8: YA Fantasy: The answers this particular story is providing to the question "what if you woke up with superpowers" don't feel very original to me. Pass. #tenqueries

Q7: YA Science Fiction: This is a retelling of one of my favorite Shakespearean plays. But I'm not grabbed by the voice and find myself skimming. That's a bad sign. Pass. #tenqueries

Q6: YA Fantasy: This person didn't follow guidelines. I don't tend to get too fussed about this, BUT when I have too many queries to work through, I'm going to err in favor of those who have followed guidelines. I'm also lukewarm on the pitch. Pass. #tenqueries

Q5: Paranormal Romance: I can't tell if there are 3 characters in this query or if there are two. Pass. #tenqueries

Q4: Erotic Thriller: This feels a little bit too 50 Shades for my taste, and I'm not a fan of the innocent girl becomes a vixen for #reasons trope. Pass. #tenqueries

Q3: YA Urban Fantasy: No sense of conflict here, other than the usual demons are taking over the world. The conflict needs to be more personal for this to work in YA, I think. Pass. #tenqueries

Q2: Urban Fantasy: I have no idea what is happening in this query. If I have to think this hard, it's a... Pass. #tenqueries

Q1: YA/NA contemporary: Honestly this is the kind of story that does best in the indie/self-pub space than in traditional publishing. Pass. #tenqueries

Ok, that's it for me today. I did some bonus queries because I was excited that I was finally getting to Sept. 2nd. I've now read all Sept. 1st queries, and there are 5 on the maybe pile. Until next week...#tenqueries #amagenting

Q17: YA Sci-Fi: This is a repeat query that I passed on without feedback. I can see that there have been changes, because the word count is different, but I don't know what has changed and I'm going with my original instinct. Pass. #tenqueries #bonusquery

Q16: Sci-Fi: This story spans two decades and feels more like a saga to me than I enjoy reading. Pass. #tenqueries #bonusquery

Q15: YA Contemporary: This is structured on a dual timeline and I just am not a fan of dual timeline narratives. Pass. #tenqueries #bonusquery

Q14: Sci-Fi: If I don't know what to do with NA Romance, I'm even more at a loss with NA Sci-Fi. Pass. #tenqueries #bonusquery

Q13: NA Romance: I know there is some market for NA, but it's a very narrow market and I just am not sure what to do with these submissions. This one also feels more like YA, and that makes it harder. Pass. #tenqueries #bonusquery