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Simone Kern @simone_kern_YA
@kate_mckean @Blind_Nycteris You start querying, get several PRs, & while you’re waiting to hear back, realize the rest of the book doesn’t deliver on the promise of the opening act. You can make it better, but you need time. Then you get a full MS request. Send what you’ve got? Or request time for revision?That's tough. You can be upfront with the full-requesting agent and see what they say. They may disagree with you! Just don't revise and send a new version weeks later saying NO NO NO READ THIS ONEEEEE
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Shawn McKee @shawnrmckee
@kate_mckean Why is it that submission guidelines often ask for a specific number of pages, when a “page” is a subjective measurement depending on font choice and size?Use 12pt font, one inch margins, standard font (like TNR) and don't try to cheat the system. :) Use your best judgement. If an agent asks for 30 pages and your ch. 2 ends on page 32, send 32 pp. You won't get booted out of the system.
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DonnaDechen Birdwell @donnadechen
@kate_mckean What are the main things you hope to learn from a synopsis?Why the main character did what they did and what's at stake if they DIDN'T get to do it.
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Jenna Aker @jenbarie
@kate_mckean How does a writer who wants to publish in multiple genres find an agent?It's tough. You have to start with one book. If you get an offer, talk to that agent about the other genres you want to do. See if you're a match. Avoid having multiple agents. Of course, you have to pub in 1 genre first, before you can pub in another. :)
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Jess Hernandez @FinkHernandez
@kate_mckean Anything in particular you'd like to see more of, particularly in women's fiction?feminist literary fiction! historical set in the 20C that's not war related! Books about women getting shit done!
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Monadiki @MonadikiFierce
@kate_mckean Ah this makes so much sense. Thank you for taking the time to answer. And I suppose each stands on it's own unless there is one book that looks great for a movie or such?It's just really really rare for a movie to sell before the book, unless you are already mega famous.
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Crystal R Gehrt @Crystal_R_Gehrt
@kate_mckean @Jess_Wade If I plan to write a trilogy, is it okay to end the first book with the reader not knowing the antagonist's motivation? If so, do you let the agent know when you pitch? Write second book or wait to be picked up first?Nope, that's not a great idea. You can't sell book 2 until you sell book 1. If book 1 doesn't do well, you might not get to write/sell book 2. Book 1 has to stand on it's own two legs.
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Emily F. Popek @EmilyPopek
@kate_mckean Any tips on building a platform as a fiction writer?Write wherever you can. Better is tangentially related to your book's themes. (Mental health? Feminism? Historical medical quackery? Whatever you got). But just keep writing.
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Sadclown Megan @ThunderTheft
@kate_mckean @FinkHernandez I love both those questions! To combine the two, what tropes are over used in children's books?About a hundred million of them. :) And varies by picbook, MG, YA. But I've seen a lot of overcoming bullying stories and I think we're good there for a while.
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Monadiki @MonadikiFierce
@kate_mckean Do agents only pitch to the big publishers or do they have visions that are bigger, like movies, TV, merchandise etc?Books and movies are two different pitches. We do both. Merchandise is harder because that is most often tied up with movie rights. Book agents usually pitch book first, then movie. Movies don't really want an untested book.
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Lynn(e) Schmidt @LynneSchmidt
@kate_mckean How does one go about querying a poetry manuscript? #AskAgentOooof. There are very few agents who rep poetry. Find them first. But you can also go straight to small pubs who do poetry without an agent. I don't do poetry so I'm not the best resource.
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Troy Wilderson @MizGolightly
@kate_mckean Which is worse: a ten-year-old comp with a comp to another writer or no comps at all? Thanks!#amquerying #querytip
If we still recall that 10yo book, then that's fine. But it's not a strike against a query to have no comps, IMHO.
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Leigh A. Hartman @barefoot4life85
@kate_mckean @BookEndsJessica What do you look for in a writer who's querying their debut novel/novella? Someone who has no awards or accolades to their name?A good book. Awards are well and good, but they don't turn the tide (unless you have, like, a Nobel or something). (I don't rep novellas, FYI.)
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Jess Hernandez @FinkHernandez
@kate_mckean What's a motif or trope you're seeing too much of lately?OMG APOCALYPSE CLIMATE COLLAPSE OMG WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DOOOO. I feel like this was covered in the dystopian crazy of a few years ago.
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Ashley 🏈🍸🌴 @BamaBelle6969
@kate_mckean @GlynnMacN What is preferred - concept where publisher can hire ghost writer, or a fully fleshed out manuscript? Agent or publisher first?Manuscript. Agent first. Some other agents work more with ghostwriters, but I don't.
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Clyde Williams @Choodomir
@kate_mckean What do you think of the new LITRPG sub-genre, and why?It looks great! I'm reading one now. I don't play RPGs so I'm not super versed in it. It's a big part of the culture so I say, bring it on.
