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Somebody wrote to tell me that my latest "Best of #AskAgent " newsletter about personalizing queries was confusing. Which... part? I'm happy to clarify but I honestly THOUGHT I was being as clear as it was humanly possible to be. Maybe not! 😬 Sorry???
literaticat.substack.com/p/best-of-ask-…
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At least you’ll know. And it’ll only help you be a better writer if you try new things and practice your craft.
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If you do decide to revise based on feedback and the market, keep the old version. You can always have that version for yourself.
However with time and contemplation of the ways you can improve, you might end up loving it more. Play with new ideas. If they don’t work...
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that you don’t have to take their advice. As the author you have the right to reject any feedback, including reviews if you’re published.
But know your story (theme, plot, world and characters) well enough to know why it would or wouldn’t be improved by the feedback.
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Excited to be with @scbwi_ksmo in St. Louis today!
A quick reminder:
Not all editing styles wil fit you or your manuscript. Sometimes an editor’s best intentions can kill your love for a project. So go into it with an open mind but realize...
#amwriting #askagent #askeditor
Literary Agent
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Diba @DibaB_
@UweStenderPhD Is there a 'maybe' pile for some queries you get, and what do you find usually determines your decision to go ahead and pursue it?No. I either reject the query or request the full. For me, it's like music, I either listen to the whole song or skip to the next one. Totally subjective.
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Adrianne Karasek @AdrianneKar
@UweStenderPhD How helpful/useful do R&Rs tend to be? I've heard very different rates of success.Of course there are different rates of success as some people do them very well, and others don't. Case by case, ability by ability.
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Adrianne Karasek @AdrianneKar
@UweStenderPhD If a writer has queried an agent a couple of times with mss that she really liked but didn't love enough to offer rep, is that a sign the writer should try again with a new ms or understand that 2 misses make it unlikely for the agent and writer to "click" enough to offer rep?EVERY rejection is for THAT PARTICULAR book ONLY. You can query me with a hundred different books. Maybe I will say YES to book 101.
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Thereza Dos Santos @TherezaDSWrites
@UweStenderPhD @whitney_DG Is that common to query different agents for different genres? I have wondered that as a YA and PB writer. Thx.I don't know how common that is. Our agency represents everything, so that has NEVER come up. BUT, I have signed nonfiction clients in the past when THEIR agencies did not represent nonfiction (WITH their agencies' approval and verification!)
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author whitney d. grandison @whitney_DG
@UweStenderPhD What do you do when your client writes something you don’t represent?That is fairly unlikely as I represent almost everything. But if I don't, then I will check with another #Teamtriada agent to see if they do. IF they don't, then I would tell the client to query THAT book (or potentially THAT genre) to another agency.
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I got really fired up about this #AskAgent question. Like, I want to reach through time and space and beat somebody up. I'M STILL MAD. "An editor said being young and attractive helps people get book deals. REALLY?!" 😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡
literaticat.tumblr.com/post/190894824…
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What Happens After You Sign with an Agent #askagent bookendsliterary.com/2020/02/13/wha…
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Shalana Battles @shalanabattles
@UweStenderPhD Hello. :)My novel is about a soul, and discusses the afterlife but is not religious. There's also romance. Would I pitch as paranormal romance? I wasn't sure between that, fantasy, or speculative. Thank you for your time!
My guess is paranormal romance, but don't bet your life on it.
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RJE @rje0807
@UweStenderPhD Thank you for your support! If “first 10 pages” of a manuscript are requested in the query process to be pasted into an email, is that asking for 10 double-spaced Word Doc pages? Also, should a chapter always start on a new page to make for an easier read if a full is requested?Hard to answer since I never want to see the first pages in a query. My best GUESS is, yes 10 double spaced MSWORD Times New Roman pages. I think a chapter should start on a new page, but that is a formatting, not a content question, and thus is fixable.
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JRPyle-Carter @JrpyleC
@UweStenderPhD @Maria_Tureaud If the agent doesn't specify, should one assume that the page count of requested material means page count double spaced?Word count matters. Page count is meaningless to me.
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Laura Kat Young @laurakatyoung
@UweStenderPhD What genre or storyline would you love to see?YA rom com. YA, as well as adult, thrillers. Rihanna's memoir.
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Randi Lynn Mrvos @RandiLynnMrvos
@UweStenderPhD I've written a picture book that relies on the playful use of words within the text (for example, the word big is in all caps and in a larger font). Also, the story is written in rhyming stanzas. Would this kind of formatting annoy agents?Ha, I don't know if it would annoy others. Would it annoy me?!? It depends on the execution. But since I only rep picture books by current clients, I have no personal horse in the race.
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Alex Emerson @PenningEmerson
@UweStenderPhD Greetings and congrats on your successes! How important is it, in your opinion, for perspective clients to have previous publication creds? Further, does it matter if the creds are in a different genre or format, say selling a short horror story but pitching a kid's chapter book?Thank you. I personally could not care less one way or the other.
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Susan James Pierce is on deadline🌹 @sjpierce_author
@UweStenderPhD Hi there! Congrats on the success and thanks for doing this! If a work of YA fiction is a Me Too story, is that something worth mentioning in the query? It's not the main focus of the book.Thank you. That is your decision. I can't think of overwhelming pros or cons, but that's just me. So, it happened to you, feel free to mention it IF you are comfortable with that, but if not, don't. It's nobody's business if you don't want to share that info.