#tenqueries 1: Pitched as a romantic suspense with a promise of danger and intrigue with dash of humor and quirk. Very Janet Evanovich. Another painful pass. Very up my alley but humorous romantic suspense is a tough sell.

#tenqueries 10: YA Fantasy. While it’s clear that this story is set in a different world, the pitch reads as though it’s written for someone already familiar with that world, instead of for readers who’ve never been introduced to it, causing it to come off as confusing. Pass

#tenqueries 9: Adult Psychological Thriller. The thriller aspect of this query is not focused on in the way it should be. It’s not the forefront of the pitch, making it feel like a subplot instead of the crux of the tension. Pass.

#tenqueries 8: Adult Fantasy Thriller. This story centers around a series of trials/games—this gives me pause, as this can often take the reader out of the story, and can feel formulaic rather than unique. Pass.

#tenqueries 7:  Spooky MG. While this isn’t an exact genre per se, I do love a good Halloween adventure, and I quite liked the voice in the attached pages, so I’m looking forward to spending some time with these characters. Request!

#tenqueries 6: YA contemp. This query is pitching a book that was self-published 10 years ago. While the writing is good, many of the references feel dated and the previous publication is a hurdle. Pass with expression of interest to see any new manuscripts from the author.

#tenqueries 5: YA Fantasy. This pitch brings in so many competing fantastical elements, all of which are cool on their own but together are feeling disjointed and not part of a single, cohesive story. Pass.

#tenqueries 4: YA Magical Realism. The opening here moved too quickly; we raced through locations and beats without staying in and fleshing out any one scene, so it was hard as a reader to get my bearings. Pass.

#tenqueries 3: This query dropped me into the middle of a story I didn't quite understand, and didn't include genre/category, so I had trouble pinning down what it was. Pass.

#tenqueries 2: YA Contemporary. The first pages of this query failed to hook me. The writing is a bit disjointed and does more to tell me what’s happening than show me. Pass.

#tenqueries 1: Picture Book. Again, a reminder that I’m not taking on picture books at this time. That said, this query was much too short, even for a PB. Pass #tenqueries

#tenqueries Q10 Make sure your word count falls within guidelines. Kudos for noting it in the query.

#tenqueries Q9 love to read (at the end of the query of course) how active an author is in the writing industry. Shows great commit to honing their craft and a level of confidence what they've submitted will most likely be quality work.

#tenqueries Q8 I personally wish dystopian would make a comeback. I still like to read it but it's too hard to sell right now. Pains me to pass.

#tenqueries Q7 Make sure the agent actually represents what you are pitching. We don't represent screenplays.

#tenqueries Q6 Make sure genre noted in query is actually the genre you've written. Reading in your genre is critical to knowing what agents, editors and readers expect.

#tenqueries Q5 Short and sweet summary of the story including the protagonist's goal motivation and major conflict. Intriguing! Word count? Check. Genre? Check. Comparable titles. Bonus. Guidelines? First three chapters attached. Will be reading the sample chapter for sure.

#tenqueries Q3 Follow the query guidelines. If agent asks for first three chapters as an attachment, please attach. Don't paste them into email. They may not get read and that could be a lost opportunity for us both.

#tenqueries Q4 Summarize your story in one to two sentences before you launch into a long synopsis. We will be more apt to read on if you can grab us from the go.

#tenqueries Q2 If you're not sure where your story fits before you submit...how do you know it fits. If you don't know your genre, how can you know it's something the agent would want to read.