Pitching a "Crossover" Book youtu.be/ibv0c9Nsen0 via @YouTube #querytip

Let's talk about technology in kidlit. (A thread?)
A lot of people who write kidlit didn't grow up with a smart phone in their hands, so they try to avoid using it in their writing. Which can work, however in contemporary fiction...
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If you’re not even taking the time to address your query letter to me, I’m gonna be a lot less inclined to read it. #querytip

Please don’t send pandemic thrillers to me. #querytip

Things I’d ask:
- How many clients do you have so far? (Too many is a bad sign.)
- Who is guiding you? What does that mentorship look like? #querytip

#querytip Google your book title before you get too attached! Try to avoid titles already in print: you want people to be able to find YOUR book when they search for it, not get confused & buy somebody else's by mistake. Ditto for the author name you want to use!

I fully support signing with a newer agent who has GOOD mentorship. We all started somewhere. But if you have gotten an offer from a fresh agent, you need to ask questions to make sure that person is supported. #querytip #pubtip

Don’t forget to include your signature in your query! It’s important, period, but I also prefer to personalize my responses, which is hard to do if your name is nowhere in your query. #querytip

As you’re querying, keep in mind I am NOT the right agent for:

-marriage plots
-pregnancies
-Chosen One plots
-MC Discovering Unknown World/Powers plots
-magic schools/academies
-graphic sexual assault

#querytip #antiMSWL #amquerying #amwriting #writingcommunity #writers

Querying a lit agent is like applying for a job. Do your due diligence. As you learn about that person, make sure you're as respectful and polite as possible. If you want to reach out to authors who know the person, that's fine! But respect their boundaries. #querytip

#querytip: If you write under a pseudonym, query agents using your real name in the signature—it's a business partnership, not a whodunit.

#querytip Word Count matters. Was reading a query that sounded intriguing, then learned that the MS is 176K words. That means that even if I LOVE it, it needs to be cut in half before I can submit it. That’s an incredibly tall order

Please be gentle with literary agents, and please don't take it personally if agents pass with a form letter. Personalized passes take a lot of time, and so many agents are already stretched so thin. #querytip #amquerying #amwriting

I hope this offers some context. I'm doing, quite literally, all I can.

It's a new month, & as always, I'm very excited to read every query that I'm sent! Please keep 'em comin'. 7/7

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(& I still have to do things like eat & sleep & spend time with my family & not stare at the computer for so long I get ocular migraines. 6/)

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& on top of that, a day job. Much of this is done outside of regular work hours.

I'd love to be able to give feedback on every query, but if I spent even five extra minutes on each query, that would be 44 extra hours per month. 5/

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Not counting reading requested subs, which is many hours. & the hours spent on my clients' work, which always comes first: reading manuscripts, editing, writing sub letters, making sub lists, talking to editors, etc. This is many hours. 4/

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Let's say I spent just five minutes with each query, that's 44 hours spent reading queries in April. 3/

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I hope putting some numbers out here will show how much time agents are already putting into this process.

Queries received in April: 527
Rejected: 498
Undecided/unread: 27 
Requested fulls/partials: 2
Offers made: 1

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2/

I've read SO many manuscripts opening with the main character waking up and they all feel the same. PLEASE, querying authors, don't begin on a wake-up scene! Find somewhere unique to start your novel! #querytip