#3 = fantasy romance. Heroine is forced to marry hero and then she finally figures out a way to kill him in his sleep and take the throne. This is not a romance novel! PASS #5queriesIn5Tweets

#2 = contemporary young adult. The first two paragraphs of the query describe backstory entirely. Protagonist isn't introduced until very end of query. PASS #5queriesIn5Tweets

a note on genre = imagine walking into a bookstore. On what shelf do you picture your book being shelved? That's the genre. #5queriesIn5Tweets

#1 = "science fiction with fantasy, romance and horror that straddles the young adult and adult market." ouch. It's really important to nail genre in a query letter. PASS. #5queriesIn5Tweets

Q10 Romance. Good dialogue and realistic setting but characters feel flat. Needs more plot. Not for me. #tenqueries

Q9 YA Fantasy. I don't rep fantasy. Not for me. #tenqueries

#tenqueries intermission and quiz: how does this email fail as an engaging approach to a literary agent?

Q8 Rom com. Promising writing style but premise not interesting and themes/plot possibly not right for this genre. Not for me. #tenqueries

Q7 Children's picture books. Charming looking idea but I don't rep picture books. Not for me. #tenqueries

Q7 Memoir. Lively and engaging writing but not an area of interest for me in terms of subject matter. Not for me. #tenqueries

Q6. Rom com. Great title and premise. So great in fact that I can't not now have a look at the whole manuscript. Requesting the full. #tenqueries

Q5 YA. Interesting international setting but I am lost as to what is going on. Needs to intro characters and setting. Not for me. #tenqueries

Q4 Thriller. Atmospheric writing, compelling plot outline. Queries like this remind me why I became an agent. Requesting the full! #tenqueries

Q3 Contemporary fiction. I just can't pin down what this story is about. Not for me. #tenqueries

Q2 YA. Writing is good but I am not convinced by the plot. Too far fetched / complicated. Not for me. #tenqueries

Q1 Fantasy short stories. I don't rep fantasy and I don't rep short stories. Not for me. #tenqueries

About to start on my very first #tenqueries I'm a UK literary agent and I ask for a sample chapter & synopsis, so bear with me as I'll be reading chapters for this #literaryagent

Keep at it y'all! #queries

90% of my clients are query slush pile finds. Yes, querying is a crazy, opaque, intimidating process but it works! I read all queries, myself, carefully. #5QueriesIn5Tweets

New York Times bestselling author @MarRogerson was a query slush pile find. Here is her original query letter as an example of ACCEPT = writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/g… #5QueriesIn5Tweets

When reading queries, I'm looking for superior craft (excellent writing) plus a high concept pitch (a book that's easy to describe in a sentence) plus some personality/ chemistry (I love it and want to read more!) #5QueriesIn5Tweets