#tenqueries: Lower MG fantasy. No discernable problem for the MC to solve and a bit of a Mary Sue. I’m afraid it lacks legs but can’t tell since the bio is actually longer than the pitch. #pass

#tenqueries 10: YA Contemporary. This story is a retelling that’s just a bit too familiar to really stand out amongst its counterparts. It was a close call though—it sounds very sweet, but I wasn’t pulled in by writing enough to overcome the familiarity. Pass.

#tenqueries 9: YA Fantasy. This story is seeking to profit off a successful, existing fantasy franchise without express consent from the author. I would not advise anyone to query a story like this. Pass.

#tenqueries 8: MG Contemporary Fantasy. Filled with intriguing mythology, adventure, and magic, this story is exactly the kind of MG I’m looking for. Request.

#tenqueries 7: Adult Non-Fiction. Upon reading the first pages, I found the writing style to be very jarring—large paragraphs of narrative and dialogue with no breaks—and there were quite a few distracting typos that stood out. Pass.

#tenqueries 6: YA Contemporary. This query had a bit of a thriller or mystery element to it, but I wasn’t drawn in enough by the pitch to want to know what secrets were hidden within the characters’ lives. Pass.

#tenqueries 5: YA Dystopian. This query is called a fantasy and a dystopian at different points (I'm pretty sure it's just dystopian), and the plot seemed like it was going to be a touch too thin. Pass.

#tenqueries 4: YA Contemporary Fantasy. This book had an awesome title, but the plot felt young as compared to the target audience and tone, which prevented me from feeling intrigued enough to request it. Pass.

#tenqueries 3: Adult Fiction. Three quarters of this query is filled with reasons that the book was written and why the author has begun to query. That’s not necessary at this stage—what book you’ve written should be at the forefront of the query. Pass.

#tenqueries 2.. Adult Fiction. This query is a synopsis of the book, rather than an enticing pitch that leaves me hanging. If I know everything before reading, what’s going to drive me to read until the end? Pass.

#tenqueries 1: YA Fantasy. I really enjoyed the quirky voice in this pitch—it was genuinely funny without being forced. But I wasn’t given sufficient detail about the plot, and the pages were lacking in the same humor. Pass.

Time for an early morning stretch with #tenqueries. A reminder that there's usually not any one reason I pass, so these are representative of a reason that may've contributed to the pass, but in truth it's about how everything came together, and how it resonated with me.

#tenqueries 10: Adult Fiction. The author starts with a long bio (always start with the plot for fiction, I personally feel; I want to hear about your book first and foremost) & after a three-sentence plot pitch, there are no sample pages from the MS. Pass.

#tenqueries 9: MG Magical Realism. I like the strong theme of friendship present in this pitch, as well as the unique setting and foreshadowed relatable interactions between school peers. I'm certainly curious about this one. Request.

#tenqueries 8: MG fantasy. I was intrigued b/c this seemed to be a coming of age story in a fantasy setting, but ultimately it didn't work--the first pages felt slow, and I worry the plot won't take advantage of the cool fantasy world it's set in. Pass

#tenqueries 7: YA Fantasy. Another query where there are a lot of plot threads presented, but it's unclear what is at the center here. What's the central conflict/premise? Pass.

#tenqueries 6: Adult historical fiction. There is so much going on in this query! But my ultimate reason for passing is that the writing just didn't capture me in the way I need to be the right agent to take it on. Pass.

#tenqueries 5: MG Sci-fi. This is a much twistier, more intense query than I've seen in MG for a while-I am coming up with way more YA comps than MG-and the voice of the pages also feels YA. Pass.

#tenqueries 4: YA Fantasy. I actually really liked this query: it presented a high stakes world and plot and intriguing characters, but then the opening pages were dense, with lots of exposition/world building but little plot. I definitely am a plot person in YA fantasy. Pass.

#tenqueries 3: MG Contemporary. The voice in these pages breaks the fourth wall quite a few times--this is clearly a purposeful choice on the author's part, but it wasn't working for me personally here, as it distracted me from the actual action. Pass