Def apply for internships! Most agencies now offer in-person + remote. You’d have a really good start if you were able to land two internships 👍🏼 Make as many connections as you can and ALWAYS send hand-written thank you cards to anyone who has helped you in your journey!

I think a few things that definitely turn me off from a pitch are misspellings, lack of punctuation, and no clear idea of what the book is about 😬 lol

I personally don’t have experience working w/ translations, as I’m just building my list, but I would be open to considering. So, if you have an agent in mind, I’d reach out and inquire what their stance is on translations, if it’s not mentioned in their submission guidelines.

Likely, yes. If I pass on a MS, I always invite writers to reach out again if they have new work b/c there’s always a chance this could happen, esp if the new MS is in a different genre or narrative style/POV.

I can’t speak for other agents, but I’m OK with citing at least one classic, as I’ll likely be able to relate to it quite easily. And since the comp will speak for itself, I’ll also have a much better idea about the vision you have for your MS.

As for what makes a pitch stand out, that’s hard to say! Sometimes mood boards help me b/c I’m very visual. But I love a good hook that quickly sets the scene, presents a problem, and leaves me wondering if the main character prevails in the end!

Having a plotline re "shrinking characters" in and by itself is not an infringement. But there are details and circumstances that make this a question I cannot answer in this format.

That's a great, yet tough, question. If I queried, I would query one project, and if I were to get multiple offers, then I would discuss with the offering agent if the other project would work for the agency or not and go from there.

There appears to be a hesitation in acquiring in general, incl. YA contemporary. BUT I, personally, still think that great projects can, and will, find a path to publication.

What’s most attractive is a really good story. ❤️

Critque groups and partners are a great way to seek out early feedback on things. Likely it means swapping, so you provide them feedback and they provide you feedback.

It needs to be as good as it needs to be for you to be able to work on it ❤️
There’s no right or wrong process in writing a book. Just my tip is —don’t query a first draft 😉 but you likely know that ❤️

PBs aren’t my expertise but I would think it would be worth mentioning it could be helpful to these readers would be good

Likely the question of authenticity will come up so it’s likely best to address it head on

I mean it can be like setting the bar really high for yourself so I think it’s about the execution
There’s a difference between - this will be as popular as Glass Onion and this has the mystery elements of Glass Onion 😉

No.

If they passed on the full and you’ve made changes, reaching out with — I’ve made significant changes would you be interested in taking a look - I think is okay. Just be up front about it.

Pages are always double spaced, yes

Yes. I have a client in Australia, and I’ve spoken with authors in a number of different countries. Location of an author doesn’t really matter

First I would make sure the question is - are you previously published - or is this book you are querying previously published - because the first isn’t a black mark but the second generally can be