Caitlin McDonald

10. YA F. Neat premise, but overwrought writing. I love voicey language that evokes the time period of its setting, but it's easy to take it too far if you're not careful. This is why reading extensively within your genre is important! Pass. #tenqueries

9. Adult F. A four-sentence query letter that gives me no specifics about the story, not even a character name. Synopsis is equally vague. Guys, you've got to give me something to connect with!! Pass. #tenqueries

8. Adult UF. Nothing wrong with this query, but nothing about it grabs me, either. It doesn't give me any reason to care about the protag. In the pages, some of the worldbuilding and vocab choices have questionable optics, so this is a pass for multiple reasons. #tenqueries

7. Adult F, though I would have called it YA. I LOVE the pitch, but sadly the prose just isn't there for me. It's always hard with queries like this, but I can't take it on if I don't love the writing, so sadly I have to pass. #tenqueries

6. Adult F. Almost passed on this as the vague, brief query letter did not capture me at all, but the sample pages had such an incredible voice that I ended up requesting more! #tenqueries

5. YA F. The tone of the sample pages is completely different from the tone of the query letter, resulting in very mixed signals about how I'm meant to feel about the protagonist. This one's just not working for me. Pass. #tenqueries

4. NA F. There's potential here in both premise and writing, but it's not quite where it needs to be. Lots of interruptions in the story to explain things instead of building information organically into the narrative. Pass. #tenqueries

3. YA F. Query hits a lot of my buttons, and the writing is snappy and compelling. Intrigued by the worldbuilding. Request! #tenqueries

2. YA F. Query tells me more about the worldbuilding than the characters. Sample pages had potential and I might have requested more with a query that gave me a better sense of the story, but unfortunately I don't know what's going on so this is a pass. #tenqueries

1. YA F. Cool premise, but the writing is only fine and I'm not comfortable with the cavalier attitude towards sexual harassment in the sample pages. Pass. #tenqueries

They may appear somewhat vague, as #tenqueries is designed not to call out anyone, but instead to shed some light on what makes a successful query for me, and offer tips as to how authors can improve their query game.

10. MG soccer story. Cute but not exactly my thing, and the writing is somewhat lacking in finesse. #tenqueries

9. Really not interested in narratives abt middle-aged white men overcoming mid-life crises by hooking up w/ much younger women. #tenqueries

8. SF, medical apocalypse. Good pitch but the writing is extremely technical & heavy on exposition. It just doesn't grab me.
#tenqueries

7. YA fantasy w/ Native Am. folklore. Oh dear. I'm sure the author means well but there is major White Savior narrative here. #tenqueries

6. MG portal fantasy. As my followers may know, my feelings about portal fantasy are not great... #tenqueries

5. MG fantasy. Potentially cute but the summary is pretty convoluted--I should have a better sense of the story from the pitch. #tenqueries

4. Historical fiction. Lady warrior protag is great but narrative makes point of distancing her from "other girls," not cool. #tenqueries

3. Queer superheroes! I want to love this, but it's a little too camp, sadly. #tenqueries

2. Horror. Cool premise but the synopsis promises a classic Mental Asylum ending--very problematic. #tenqueries