Marie Lamba
@marielamba
Literary Agent
Author of GREEN GREEN, A DAY SO GRAY, WHAT I MEANT..., DRAWN, and OVER MY HEAD. Literary Agent at Jennifer De Chiara Literary. My opinions are my own.
55 MSWL
20 Queries
43 Tips

Query 3 - Picture book manuscript by a first-timer. My guidelines say I'm only looking at established pb authors, but okay. The rhyme is forced. Rejection sent. #querytip #amquerying #pubtip #amwriting

Marie Lamba
@marielamba
Literary Agent
Author of GREEN GREEN, A DAY SO GRAY, WHAT I MEANT..., DRAWN, and OVER MY HEAD. Literary Agent at Jennifer De Chiara Literary. My opinions are my own.
55 MSWL
20 Queries
43 Tips

Query 2 - My name is misspelled. There are typos and grammatical errors in the first 5 lines of the query. I'm passing without reading further. #querytip #amquerying #pubtip #amwriting

Marie Lamba
@marielamba
Literary Agent
Author of GREEN GREEN, A DAY SO GRAY, WHAT I MEANT..., DRAWN, and OVER MY HEAD. Literary Agent at Jennifer De Chiara Literary. My opinions are my own.
55 MSWL
20 Queries
43 Tips

Query 1 - Has an attachment. My guidelines say NO ATTACHMENTS. Delete. #querytip #amquerying #pubtip #amwriting

Laura Zats
@LZats
Literary Agent
Founder & Agent @HeadwaterLit . Host of the award-winning @printrunpodcast . Publishers Weekly industry MVP. She/her & Ms/Mx. Open to queries!
213 MSWL
176 AskAgent
3124 Queries
162 Tips

Q40: SF. Too military without an MC to root for in the war. Pass. #500queries

Laura Zats
@LZats
Literary Agent
Founder & Agent @HeadwaterLit . Host of the award-winning @printrunpodcast . Publishers Weekly industry MVP. She/her & Ms/Mx. Open to queries!
213 MSWL
176 AskAgent
3124 Queries
162 Tips

Q39: I am not your girl for western heaven/hell stuff. Pass. #500queries

Laura Zats
@LZats
Literary Agent
Founder & Agent @HeadwaterLit . Host of the award-winning @printrunpodcast . Publishers Weekly industry MVP. She/her & Ms/Mx. Open to queries!
213 MSWL
176 AskAgent
3124 Queries
162 Tips

Q38: YA C. Sounds sweet, but the pitch wasn’t quite special enough to make me request. Pass. #500queries

Laura Zats
@LZats
Literary Agent
Founder & Agent @HeadwaterLit . Host of the award-winning @printrunpodcast . Publishers Weekly industry MVP. She/her & Ms/Mx. Open to queries!
213 MSWL
176 AskAgent
3124 Queries
162 Tips

Q37: SF. I think it’s spent too much time being cerebral, and not enough time considering the reader. Pass. #500queries

Laura Zats
@LZats
Literary Agent
Founder & Agent @HeadwaterLit . Host of the award-winning @printrunpodcast . Publishers Weekly industry MVP. She/her & Ms/Mx. Open to queries!
213 MSWL
176 AskAgent
3124 Queries
162 Tips

Q36: This C F sounds super weird, but its elements are everything I love, so I’ll give it a shot. Request. #500queries

Laura Zats
@LZats
Literary Agent
Founder & Agent @HeadwaterLit . Host of the award-winning @printrunpodcast . Publishers Weekly industry MVP. She/her & Ms/Mx. Open to queries!
213 MSWL
176 AskAgent
3124 Queries
162 Tips

Q35: Bible-based fantasies aren’t really my jam. Pass. #500queries

Laura Zats
@LZats
Literary Agent
Founder & Agent @HeadwaterLit . Host of the award-winning @printrunpodcast . Publishers Weekly industry MVP. She/her & Ms/Mx. Open to queries!
213 MSWL
176 AskAgent
3124 Queries
162 Tips

Q34: This book pitched as YA F sounds like excellent MG, but not great YA. Pass. #500queries

Laura Zats
@LZats
Literary Agent
Founder & Agent @HeadwaterLit . Host of the award-winning @printrunpodcast . Publishers Weekly industry MVP. She/her & Ms/Mx. Open to queries!
213 MSWL
176 AskAgent
3124 Queries
162 Tips

Q33: This romance I’m sure make a lot of sense on the page, but the query jumps all over and is really hard to follow. Pass. #500queries

Laura Zats
@LZats
Literary Agent
Founder & Agent @HeadwaterLit . Host of the award-winning @printrunpodcast . Publishers Weekly industry MVP. She/her & Ms/Mx. Open to queries!
213 MSWL
176 AskAgent
3124 Queries
162 Tips

Q32: Personally, I love NA-that-has-to-be-sold-as-YA but this one didn’t really feel overly authentic/special. Pass. #500queries

Laura Zats
@LZats
Literary Agent
Founder & Agent @HeadwaterLit . Host of the award-winning @printrunpodcast . Publishers Weekly industry MVP. She/her & Ms/Mx. Open to queries!
213 MSWL
176 AskAgent
3124 Queries
162 Tips

Q31: No metadata. Pass. #500queries

Laura Zats
@LZats
Literary Agent
Founder & Agent @HeadwaterLit . Host of the award-winning @printrunpodcast . Publishers Weekly industry MVP. She/her & Ms/Mx. Open to queries!
213 MSWL
176 AskAgent
3124 Queries
162 Tips

Q30: I will always, ALWAYS turn down a book that claims a female character “is not like those other girls.” Pass. #500queries

Laura Zats
@LZats
Literary Agent
Founder & Agent @HeadwaterLit . Host of the award-winning @printrunpodcast . Publishers Weekly industry MVP. She/her & Ms/Mx. Open to queries!
213 MSWL
176 AskAgent
3124 Queries
162 Tips

Q29: Litfic, do not rep. Pass. #500queries

Laura Zats
@LZats
Literary Agent
Founder & Agent @HeadwaterLit . Host of the award-winning @printrunpodcast . Publishers Weekly industry MVP. She/her & Ms/Mx. Open to queries!
213 MSWL
176 AskAgent
3124 Queries
162 Tips

Q28: SF. It’s super vague, so I can’t request. Pass. #500queries

Laura Zats
@LZats
Literary Agent
Founder & Agent @HeadwaterLit . Host of the award-winning @printrunpodcast . Publishers Weekly industry MVP. She/her & Ms/Mx. Open to queries!
213 MSWL
176 AskAgent
3124 Queries
162 Tips

Q27: UGH. This one is so frustrating--it’s billed as romance, and I LOVE the heroine, but it’s not actually romance because the tropes aren’t there. Pass. #500queries

Laura Zats
@LZats
Literary Agent
Founder & Agent @HeadwaterLit . Host of the award-winning @printrunpodcast . Publishers Weekly industry MVP. She/her & Ms/Mx. Open to queries!
213 MSWL
176 AskAgent
3124 Queries
162 Tips

Q26: Very sellable, commercial YA SF concept, but it’s a fairly standard trope and the query didn’t give me enough specifics to give me a reason to read *this* one. Pass. #500queries

Laura Zats
@LZats
Literary Agent
Founder & Agent @HeadwaterLit . Host of the award-winning @printrunpodcast . Publishers Weekly industry MVP. She/her & Ms/Mx. Open to queries!
213 MSWL
176 AskAgent
3124 Queries
162 Tips

Q25: I’ve been looking for a great witch book, but this pitch isn’t quite witchy enough for me. Pass. #500queries

Laura Zats
@LZats
Literary Agent
Founder & Agent @HeadwaterLit . Host of the award-winning @printrunpodcast . Publishers Weekly industry MVP. She/her & Ms/Mx. Open to queries!
213 MSWL
176 AskAgent
3124 Queries
162 Tips

Q24: C YA. Too much like something I already rep. Pass. #500queries