Caitlin McDonald

10. MG F. Again, the voice is too simplistic, and the plot outline is too closely similar to existing stories. Pass. #tenqueries

9. MG F. Closer to the writing style I'm looking for, but the story just didn't grab me. The opening needs a unique twist, or to start in a different place--currently it reads like many books I've seen before. Pass. #tenqueries

8. YA F. Every sentence in the sample pages is of the same length and structure, making for a very monotonous read! Good prose requires varying your sentence structure. Pass. #tenqueries

7. MG F. Sounds cute, but features a trend that publishers are no longer buying and that never appealed to me anyway. The writing also feels younger than I prefer. Pass. #tenqueries

6. Adult SF. Cool premise, but I don't feel the writing takes that premise far enough in the worldbuilding. When starting from a fundamentally different place, consider how that affects ALL elements of a world. Pass. #tenqueries

5. MG F. Sample pages start in a really boring place. Nothing about the query is grabbing me, so this is a pass. Always think twice about your opener--often the best place to start a book is NOT the one you originally planned! #tenqueries

4. Adult SF. Stilted dialogue--the characters are mouthpieces for exposition, rather than sounding like real people. Pass. #tenqueries

3. MG SF. The voice just doesn't grab me. Voice is the biggest reason MGs are a hard sell for me--I'm really looking for a more literary voice than most MG authors go for. Just personal preference. Pass. #tenqueries

2. YA F. Intriguing, and the writing almost grabbed me, but there's a weird inconsistency to the characters and dialogue as though the author is still deciding whether this is a period piece or not. Made it hard to get into the world. Pass. #tenqueries

1. YA F. Vague query letter; sample pages not grabbing me. A lot of these queries have opened with prologues that do nothing for the story--please think hard about whether you really need one! Pass. #tenqueries

10. Adult SF. Neat premise, but severely lacking any female characters. Dialogue has a forced quirkiness that doesn't work for me. Pass. #tenqueries

9. YA thriller. Interesting, but not really the type of book I handle. I don't think I would be the right agent for this. Pass. #tenqueries

8. Horror--this one brings something new to the table by mashing up with another genre! Sadly the writing isn't working for me, so it is a pass. But the pitch was great! #tenqueries

7. Horror. Another "haunted small town in America" story--again, these just aren't for me. Pass. #tenqueries

6. Adult F. Retelling of a popular story that I unfortunately just have no interest in. Writing didn't grab me, so pass. #tenqueries

5. MG contemporary. Charming, but just not the kind of book I represent. Pass. #tenqueries

4. YA SF. Don't love the writing. If every line is a new paragraph, you do not have enough variation in your sentence and paragraph structure. Giving short sentences their own paragraph ~for effect~ only works when used sparingly, not every other line. Pass. #tenqueries

3. YA horror. I'm not the best person for small-town-America horror--I'm looking for more unique settings and some crossover with other genres. I wouldn't be a good fit for this. Pass. #tenqueries

2. Adult F. I would have been really into this pitch if the protagonist had ended up with her rival 😍 Sadly it was not so, and the rest wasn't quite working for me either, so pass. #tenqueries

1. YA SF, but the voice reads much more middle grade to me. Also the premise doesn't feel new enough. Pass. #tenqueries