Peter Knapp

#tenqueries 10: MG Contemporary: This pitch doesn’t include a strong enough hook. It’s a story about friendship and growing up—but it seems too quiet for me. Pass.

#tenqueries 9: Adult “Cross-Genre”. I’d instead suggest the author categorize this as “Sci-fi with romantic elements”. The pages didn't quite do it for me -- they're good, but they don't feel unputdownable for me personally. Pass.

#tenqueries 8: YA Sci-fi: This was a strong query, but the beginning feels a touch overwritten without grounding the reader in the character's POV, so it feels a little slow to start. Pass.

#tenqueries 7: MG Adventure: The query is written in bullet-form, rather than in narrative, making it choppy and abrupt, rather than intriguing. Pass.

#tenqueries 6: YA Fantasy: The details in this contemporary fantasy aren’t meshing seamlessly enough to make me want to invest myself further in the characters or the world—there’s just too many things going on. Pass.

#tenqueries 5: YA Historical Mystery. There are bits and pieces of this query that are enticing and make me want to read more—but I don’t feel like I have a true grasp on what the story is really about. There were logic holes that also made me question the story's flow. Pass.

#tenqueries 4: YA Sci-fi. This pitch is super long and I'm having trouble finding its focus! Pass.

#tenqueries 3: MG Fantasy. While I love the idea behind the main plot line of this story, I had difficulty connecting to the voice in the pages. It didn’t feel as solidly MG as I am looking for. Pass.

#tenqueries 2: YA Fantasy. After reading the pitch, I felt like perhaps this story had been misclassified as YA—it felt much more adult to me. I also found the first pages to be a bit overwritten. Pass.

#tenqueries 1: Adult Thriller. Though this was a well-written query, it sounded very familiar, both in terms of content and character motivation. I worry that this manuscript doesn't quite stand apart from the pack enough for me personally. Pass.

#tenqueries 10: YA comedy/thriller. While I like the idea of a funny thriller, I found that the humor wasn't landing for me personally. Pass.

#tenqueries 9: Adult Historical Fiction: Once again, I was intrigued by the pitch, but when I got to the pages, I felt like the entire story was being told to me, rather than showing me details that would allow me to connect to the story in my own way. Pass.

#tenqueries 8: MG Historical Fantasy: This query intrigued me because of its historical setting and its brave, outgoing protagonist. I found myself curious about what she might get into, and loved her immediately apparent compassion. Request.

#tenqueries 7: MG Supernatural. While the writing in this query was good, I found the pacing in the first chapter was a little frantic, rushing through events so quickly I couldn't root myself in the narrator's POV or world well enough.

#tenqueries 6: YA Horror. The plot of this query piqued my interest, but the voice didn't quite get me -- a snarky teen whose tendency toward sarcasm feels a little harsh to the secondary characters. Pass.

#tenqueries 5: YA Fantasy. The first pages of this manuscript are well-written, but not particularly exciting. It’s too internal, preventing the reader from beginning to engage with the plot or the characters. Pass.

#tenqueries 4: YA Fantasy. We’re given the hook right away—but there’s no explanation about what that hook will mean for the characters. It's a solid premise, but I almost wonder if the story is told from the wrong character's POV? Pass.

#tenqueries 3: YA Contemporary. The beginning pages of this manuscript focus on too many specific details that don't feel particularly important, making the pacing feel very slow right away. Pass.

#tenqueries 2: Adult Literary Fiction. This query doesn’t follow my guidelines (it includes an attachment rather than pasting pages in the body of the email) & it also hints at many vague plot details -- I'd need more specifics to get excited. Pass.

#tenqueries 1: YA. No genre is given, but the description says speculative. The voice in the query is inviting and clear, and the author bio stood out as rather endearing, but the plot felt a little quiet for me. Pass.