Q8. YA. The tone of the pitch—which I loved—doesn’t quite match the tone of the manuscript itself. It’s a dark story, but doesn’t read as dark. Bummed about this one! Pass.

#tenqueries

Q7. PB Bio. Zippy writing + I learned about a new person from history’s footnotes! Always a plus for me. Requesting to see more of their work!

#tenqueries

Q6. PB. Submitter has HUGE platform, but just sent a proposal + says they haven’t written the manuscript yet. I can’t move forward until I see a manuscript…

#tenqueries

Q5. MG Historical Fiction. Good writing, but not gripped by the premise. Pass.

#tenqueries

Q4. YA Gothic Fantasy. Clear concept. Lovely, fluid writing. Followed submission guidelines. Researched me ahead of time. Premise is totally up my alley. Request!

#tenqueries

Q3. PB. Pitched as 3-book picture book series about one individual from history. The writing is great, but I can’t think of a publisher who would go for this structure. Recommending they consolidate into one manuscript, then I’ll take another look. Momentary pass.

#tenqueries

Q2. YA Historical Fiction. Great voice + complex exploration of identity. The main character is very likable. Request!

Q1. PB. A retelling of a common nursery rhyme. I don’t typically gravitate toward these types of projects, because there are SO many in any given slush pile + they rarely feel fresh or unique. Pass.

Q10: YA Fantasy. Not convinced vampires are ready for a comeback yet. And the writing didn't have that fantasy feeling that I need in my fantasies. Pass. #tenqueries

Q9: YA Fantasy. The query looked intriguing and like it might address a #MSWL list of mine, but then the writing falls into the dreaded telling and therefor glosses over the character development. Sad. Pass. #tenqueries

Q8: MG. A MG voice is so hard to capture. Not sure about the plot though. I see problems ahead if this is not handled right. Will request along with a synopsis. #tenqueries

Q7: YA Fantasy. Writing is good, but I don't see a market for this story. I'm going to pass, but ask if they have other manuscripts ready to query. #tenqueries

Q6: YA Magical Realism. I have reservations about this one, but the writing is good. Let's see what happens. Request. #tenqueries

Q5: YA Historical. A referral and the title alone made me pause. Started reading and I am just not feeling the story the way I had hoped to. Pass. #tenqueries

Q4: NF. I'm marking for @jamerrson to look at. I like the subject matter, but on the fence and need a second opinion. So holding pattern for now. #tenqueries

Q3: YA Fantasy. The query was good, but the writing is actually not as strong. The word choices are weird. Read on a but further and I think the novel starts in the wrong spot. Since it wasn't the strongest sample, I am going to pass. #tenqueries

Q2: YA Fantasy. The prologue is what made me originally pause on this but after looking again, I think this might be better geared towards adults. Pass. #tenqueries

Q1: YA Fantasy. Much better than the last ms I saw from this author. Writing is good, but still needs to improve to give more heft to the characters. A pass for now. #tenqueries

Special edition of #tenqueries commencing. Background: these are the queries that needed more investigation after I glanced at them in my first run. So they were "intriguing" and now I must make a decision. So let's go!

I'm going to go through the rest of these and then let's do a special edition of #tenqueries on the ones that needed further investigating. Longer reasons for why a pass/sit on/request.