Q8: YA, but tone and length feel like middle grade. Summary starts off strong w/clear main goal and obstacle of protag, but is too vague on what events happen, and what info is revealed. Pass. #tenqueries

Q7: Adult historical fiction. Three paragraphs of introduction. I don't even want to read the summary now, which is 8 paragraphs long. Pass. #tenqueries

Q6: YA gender-bent fairytale retelling. This feels too close to the original plot. I'm looking for a new angle, switching genders isn't enough. Pass #tenqueries

Q5: YA time travel. Cool setting and super clear motivations & conflict. I usually compare all time travel to Back to the Future, which is my bar. Not sure if we've met it, but sounds promising! Request! #tenqueries

Q4: Adult historical fiction. A badass gun-slinging woman, check. Clear goals and villain, check. This is a request! #tenqueries

Q3: I think this is an adult fantasy? It features sentient animals (which as a lover of Redwall, I'm not totally against). But we're not grounded in the dynamics or hierarchy of the world. Plus, are sentient animals right for an adult audience? Pass. #tenqueries

Q2: YA sci-fi. Almost no setup of the world or stakes. Too vague. Pass. #tenqueries

Q1: Adult sci-fi. Compelling premise, but no description of the main characters. Still I'm intrigued enough to read the sample, but it starts dialogue heavy with too many characters speaking without any setup as to who they are. Confusing. Pass #tenqueries

Q10: This author has won a ton of awards and I haven't heard of a single one of them. This author also apparently emailed every agent in publishing at once, because there must be at least 100 email addresses in the recipients bar, including several of my WH colleagues #tenqueries

Q9: DAMMIT! Was really, really excited about this premise (MG suspense/survival thriller), but the writing and delivery didn't work. These are the worst. #tenqueries

Q8: Very obscure sports biography. Sports books are a hard enough sell as it is, and I don't think enough people will care about this particular figure to take a flyer on it. Pass. #tenqueries

Q7: MG where the narrator is addressing the reader directly, complete with dialogue between narrator and reader in which we only know what the narrator is saying. I've never been a fan of this motif personally. Pass. #tenqueries

Q6: Horror about an ancient demon. Been there, done that. Pass. #tenqueries

Q5: WWII memoir proposal, submitted by grandchild about his grandfather. I get these a lot as well. 2 million men served in Europe during WWII. I'm sure each story is amazing, but they aren't all meant to be books. Pass. #tenqueries

Q4: Novella. I've been getting a ton of novella submissions lately. Did I miss a meeting? Are major publishers looking for novellas now? I enjoy reading them, but have never had luck selling them. #tenqueries

Q3: First paragraph is just a series of questions, questions that I'm guessing the book will answer. Struggled to establish, then maintain, tension, and thus lost my interest. Pass. #tenqueries

Q2: 90K MG novel. That's about twice as long as a debut MG should be. Would be a very hard sell. Pass. #tenqueries

Q1: The font is really, really small. Not a dealbreaker unto itself (writing not up to par on this one), but be careful of your formatting. Agents shouldn't have to do extra work to read what you wrote. #tenqueries

Q10: ya contemporary. Pacing was a little slow. I often felt myself skimming the sample pages. Pass #tenqueries

Q9: fantasy, romance. I didn’t connect with the writing. The setting wasn’t clear and the narrator was confusing. Pass. #tenqueries