Caitlin McDonald

1. Horror, kind of like a serious Ghostfacers. I like the idea in theory but it's a little trope-y. Just not unique enough. #tenqueries

Q10 Getting lots of "the only flawed designer baby in a uniform dystopia" YA books, this one is not standing out from the pack. #tenqueries

Q9 Literary, great pitch but the opening spends too long being confusing and vague. There's nothing for me to grab onto. Pass. #tenqueries

Q8 Epistolary fantasy from a villain's minion POV. Writing's good & I'm intrigued by the structure; tentative request. #tenqueries

Q7 Horror. Characters are all junkies but there's no... arc to it? Not really my thing. Pass. #tenqueries

Q6 YA horror, decent pitch but not the most unique. Writing is fine but not gripping. Neither strong enough for me to request. #tenqueries

Q5 Heaven vs Hell war narrative that I've seen a million times before. This trope has to be done REALLY WELL to consider. Pass. #tenqueries

Q4 Thriller with MAJOR problematic "women are murderous succubi" issues. The sexist queries are out in full force today. Pass. #tenqueries

Q3 MG fantasy, very Nightmare Before Xmas meets Lemony Snicket, but the writing's not strong enough to carry it. Sadly pass. #tenqueries

Q2 YA SF. Promising pitch, but sadly the writing is just not up to spec. Regretful pass. #tenqueries

Q1 Adult fantasy, but the query letter just screams misogyny... Yikes, pass. #tenqueries

Hope the #tenqueries were helpful! Also, don't forget to make sure you're addressing your query to the right agent...

Q10: SF. Not bad but much more hard SF than is my speed. I need to have character focus, not just science/tech. Pass. #tenqueries

Q9: YA fantasy. The writing needs a lot more development. As a rule of thumb, <40k words is generally too short for YA. Pass. #tenqueries

Q8: Fantasy. Excessively wordy; please don't open with huge block paragraphs describing scenery and no action. Pass. #tenqueries

Q7: Very literary, which I don't handle. My bio says "contemporary fiction about geeky characters"--stress on the geeky! Pass. #tenqueries

Q6: YA. Pretty mainstream material (homecoming & cheerleaders), not really my thing. I'm looking for geeky contemp only. Pass. #tenqueries

Q5: YA fantasy. Prose is charming but not grabbing me. The pitch doesn't have a lot going on and is pretty generic. Pass. #tenqueries

Q4: YA SF. Not feeling the pitch: protag is bored with life but doesn't do anything about it. Protags should have agency! Pass. #tenqueries

Q3: YA SF. Fun premise but writing is choppy & hard to follow. Flip side of the last one: doesn't introduce chars at all. Pass. #tenqueries