Stephanie Delman

Today's queries include comps to Henry James, Dostoevsky, James Joyce, Mark Twain, Faulkner, and Sylvia Plath. #querytip: ...don't do this? Don't compare yourself to the classics?

Idk how she does it, but I’m indebted to @RFaithEditorial for writing this #querytip thread straight from my own brain!! (Editors *are* basically mind readers so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised)

Hi! When querying, please don't try to BAIT agents into responding. Read our submission guidelines. And don't, I dunno, suggest that I (fully Jewish, not that it matters) might be complicit in the spread of anti-Semitism because I haven't scooped up your Zionist novel. #querytip

“I appreciate you taking the time to read more than the first 10 pages because style and rhythm naturally mature through a novel & thus the beginning tends to be the least good part.” Guys. Sorry, but no. That’s on YOU. #querytip 🤦🏻‍♀️

Authors, I beg of you. Unless you're an artist and yr book contains art, do not query w/ a cover you designed yrself. Please. #querytip

Guys, let's talk abt fonts. Fancy fonts do NOT = fancy manuscript. When in doubt, use Times New Roman. REPEAT THIS MANTRA. #querytip

#Querytip: I'll never understand why writers choose to mark submissions "high priority" or "urgent." Pls don't tell me what to prioritize.

Our agency, like many, does not rep screenplays. PLS DO YOUR HOMEWORK before querying, guys! (and many thanks to those who do.) #Querytip

Query pet peeve: opening with "Hey Stephanie." As my made-up grandpa would say, hey is for horses (& overly casual queriers) #querytip

Today's #querytip: don't follow up on your query after 2 weeks. In fact, if guidelines ask you not to follow up, just don't! Tis pushy.

Submission. Guidelines. Submission. Guidelines. Follow. Them. Please. But really. // Today's #querytip, brought to you in fragments

If you address me as "Stephanie Delmon at Stanford J. Greenberg Group," I probably won't be inclined to read further. #querytip #spellcheck

#Querytip: Don't describe your ms as a "fiction novel." A novel is a work of fiction, by definition. #petpeeves #amreading

Oh, writers: please avoid crazy fonts, aka typographic red flags! Times New Roman never hurt anyone. #querytip #bancomicsans #bancourier

Guys, #querytip: please don't send short, cryptic, demanding emails that reference vague ideas for books. Write the book first.