Genevieve Gagne-Hawes

Query #10: Literary fiction with a hooky, twisty family plot set in the Midwest; it's not explicitly comped, but this reminds me a lot of My Absolute Darling and Educated. Request.

Query #9: A memoir query -- the story sounds interesting, actually, but Amy isn't acquiring memoir and we get so many Running with Scissors comps each year; this is a genre where you have to strive to stand out. Pass.

Query #8: Super quirky commercial fiction, which I like, but the plot sounds like it consists of a lot of extreme, purposeless violence toward the female main character, which really puts me off. Pass.

Query #7: Adult, multi-POV novel set in a small town -- very good. But it's extremely short (at 45K words), and the query is more a long character summary than a description of the novel, which makes me dubious about the plotting. Pass.

Query #6: A (never been staged) play that the author would like assistance turning into a novel. This isn't the role of a literary agent. Pass. Also a good reminder to finish your novel before querying! I don't request unfinished manuscripts.

Query #5: Author begins by saying, in effect, "I don't think there's a market for my fiction." From there, it takes about two pages to get to the title of the book being queried. Don't submarine yourself at the outset, and edit your query letters! Pass.

Query #4: Picture book; Amy's not acquiring picture books. Pass.

Query #3: I waffle -- literary women's fiction (PERFECT), but it sounds extremely sad/serious, whereas the author's (great) credentials are all in comedy. Still, a comp title is one of Amy's faves (Where'd You Go, Bernadette), and I like the voice in the query. Request.

Query #2: Self-help, which Amy doesn't (and hasn't ever) represented, and it's mostly a meandering paean to the author's awesomeness (written, oddly, in third person), rather than a description of the book. Pass.

Query #1: Literary fiction riffing on an iconic American novel -- this I like. Word count of more than 200,000 -- this I do not. The included writing sample is very wordy and meandering, confirming my instincts. Pass.

Q10: literary love story. Great setting and characters; good publishing history. Request. #tenqueries

Q9: vampire love story. Too many familiar elements in an arena where you MUST be distinctive. Pass. #tenqueries

Q8: illustrated poetry collections. Amy doesn't acquire poetry. Pass. #tenqueries

Q7: literary apocalyptic fic with zombies. Am avoiding zombies right now (overdone). Pass. #tenqueries

Q6: VERY high-concept philosophical fiction. Pitch confused me and sounded a little lofty w/o meaning. Pass. #tenqueries

Q5: nonfiction memoir. Super hard category and this one doesn't sound distinctive enough. Pass. #tenqueries

Q4: lit women's fiction about reproductive rights. Perfect! Love the historical sweep of narrative, too. Request. #tenqueries

Q3: literary sci-fi. Written in vignettes (hard to pull off) and sounds way too complicated. Pass. #tenqueries

Q2: a music novel. Sounds too small in scale and pitch isn't funny enough for a humorous book. Pass. #tenqueries

Q1: erotic romance. Love the India setting & focus on women but Amy isn't taking on erotic romance projects. #tenqueries