Kickass Queries Series! #13 - Greg Andree

Happy Autumn, everyone!

With the new season comes a new installment of the Kickass Queries Series, this time featuring Greg Andree and his query for INCONCEIVABLE WISDOM, which nabbed him representation from Caitie Flum at Liza Dawson Associates.

THE QUERY:

Dear Ms. Flum,

I am seeking representation for my contemporary YA novel THE INCONCEIVABLE SCOTT WISDOM. I’m querying you because when tweeting about Supergirl, John Oliver, and other topics I can see your sense of story, politics, and humor are very similar to mine. I think you’ll particularly like Izzy Kim, one of my main characters. She’s smart, funny, and always calls people on their nonsense.  I hope you’ll see yourself as a good fit for this project.

 Scott Fischer is the chosen one. He will take on the mantle of Wisdom and . . . write an advice column.

Words of Wisdom has been a part of Prince Henry High School’s newspaper for over one hundred years, and for unknown reasons Scott has been chosen to carry on the tradition. He isn’t the best writer, student, or anything else, but he's determined to breathe new life into this assignment. Though how can Scott give other people advice when his own life is so broken?

Yura "Izzy" Kim is a force of chaos who inserts herself into Scott’s life. She is a feminist that loves to play with surrealism in her art. She has plans within plans for Wisdom, Scott, and the school that will be an artistic masterpiece.

Oh yeah, and Dennis, the guy from homeroom? He's formed a cult based on Scott's Words of Wisdom, and Principal Lewis is not a fan.

While writing his column and trying to maintain a secret identity Scott stumbles into friendships, trouble, and cosmic contemplations on the meanings of life, love, tattoos, and why some people can’t bring themselves to take down decorations from holidays long past.

Can Scott find a way to fix what’s broken inside of him, or will he lose everything to the grief that fractured his family?

THE INCONCEIVABLE SCOTT WISDOM is 83k words, and feels like a collision of A.S. King’s Everybody Sees the Ants, E. Lockhart’s The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, and the classic teen rebellion movie Pump Up The Volume. It plays with ideas of how art and words can create meaning out of chaos, be misinterpreted, or remain inconceivable to people who don't share your experiences.

I have a BA in Literature, an MA in writing, and teach 8^th graders about all that fun stuff. Working with teenagers is a constant reminder of how awkward, horrible, fun, and overwhelming their lives can be, which keeps my writing reality-based, and mostly nostalgia free.

I appreciate your time and consideration.

THE INTERVIEW

GMC: How many manuscripts did you query before signing with your agent?

GA: I’d written five manuscripts and queried two before writing INCONCEIVABLE WISDOM and signing with Caitie Flum at Liza Dawson Associates. One was weirdly experimental that told the evolution of a world religion that formed on the foundation of an advice column after the column’s writer mysteriously vanished. The body of the book was the advice column itself, and I showed the evolution of the religion’s traditions, sects, and such in footnotes and scholarly essays. I thought it was brilliant. It was not brilliant. Agents didn’t’ know what to make of it, never mind how to place it. It deserved every rejection in the universe and more, but it was my first “book” and without it I never could have written the manuscript that connected me with my agent. Each epic failure in writing was a step closer to me learning how to write a solid book. Not one of those manuscripts was a waste of time. They were lessons in concept, story, and character, but most importantly each was an exercise in how to actually finish a manuscript.

GMC: How long did it take to write your query, and what things/steps do you think were most important to make it agent-ready?

GA: While I was doing my final revision before querying I wrote and rewrote my query letter at least ten times. Added a detail, cut a line, changed the wording of something to make it click. When it was done I tightened it up by cutting a quarter of the word count. Once I had the description of the story I switched focus to the agents I knew I’d be submitting to. Every night for a week I’d write a personalized opening for each query. In each I explained why I chose that agent to query, specifics about my story that connected to their #MSWL, their clients I read, or something they tweeted about a book or movie that made me think they’d like my manuscript. Sometimes I’d spend an hour trying to craft that perfect personalized line. I wanted them to understand I thought deeply about querying them. I wasn’t just throwing this into the crowd and hoping for the best.

GMC: Tell us about your query style – do you approach your entire list of prospectives at once, or query in small batches and revise in between?

GA: Over a week, as I perfected each personalized query I’d send them out. Two days after I sent the first few I got requests from two agents to read my full, and over the next two weeks I got requests for five more. Ten days after Caitie Flum requested my full manuscript she emailed to set up a phone call. Terrifying, right?

GMC: Now the fun part – what was “the call” like? How did you know your agent was the right person to represent your project?

GA: Caitie was kind and insightful about my manuscript. She also said it wasn’t ready, and told me all the reasons why. That was painful. She asked for a rewrite/resubmit on the first thirty pages with the changes she thought it needed. I knew it was a kind of test to see if I could take a critique, and build on her ideas, but it also made me see that the opening of my ms wasn’t as strong as the middle and end. I took a couple of weeks, re-read, took notes, made the changes she wanted, and she was right. She was totally right. When I talked to her a few days later she offered representation. She saw my story, understood it, and knew how it could be more. That’s when I knew she was the right agent for me.

GMC: If you could give one piece of advice to authors seeking publication, what would it be?

GA: So many things in publishing are beyond your control, so control the things you can. Write the best book you can, then rewrite, revise, and make it better. Don’t set artificial deadlines. Take the time you need. And when you’re ready take as much care in querying agents as you did writing your book. You’re finding someone you can trust with your writing career, a partner in all things literary, don’t just throw your manuscript into the crowd.

Excellent advice! Thanks so much for sharing this part of your publishing journey with us, Greg, and best of luck finding the right home for INCONCEIVABLE WISDOM. 
If you'd like to learn more about Greg Andree, you can find him on Twitter (@GregAndree71) or on his website (www.AndreeInstitute.com). 

Kickass Queries Series! # 12 - Emily R. King

It's baaaaaaaaack!!!

I know it's been a very long time since I've been active on this blog, and for an almost equally long time, I've wanted to change that. As a result, I've decided to bring back the Kickass Queries Series installments, wherein authors share the query that nabbed them their agents. It's fun, it's useful, and y'all seemed to really appreciate the last go-round, so it felt like the perfect way to ease back into the blogosphere.

Here today to kick off the brand new series is Emily R. King, who not only scored representation with Marlene Stringer at Stringer Literary Agency, but also recently sold her book to Skyscape for Publication in 2017:

 CONGRATULATIONS, EMILY!!!

Curious to know how Emily went about pitching her book? Well, you're in luck. Because not only has she shared the query, but she's also answered a few questions to help those who want to follow in her footsteps. Let's start with the query:

Pitch for YA fantasy, THE HUNDREDTH QUEEN:

Rajah Tarek claimed ninety-nine wives and countless courtesans before he came to Kali’s temple looking for his final queen. When she sees his gold carriage, she knows a benefactor has arrived. She knows he will pick the prettiest, strongest girl. And she knows with her plain looks and history of fevers it won’t be her.

She is mistaken.   

                                  

The rajah claims Kali, ripping her away from her simple life high in the mountains to his desert palace. But before she’s to wed him, Kali must defend her position as his final wife in an age-old rank tournament, battling to the death against young courtesans vying for her throne. In this competitive female hierarchy, sabotage rules. Kali’s only peace is found while in the company of her kind imperial guard. A man she’s forbidden to love.

When Kali’s fevers prove to be more than an illness, but a feared power, she agrees to aid a warlord and end the rajah’s tyranny. Her one chance of being alone with Rajah Tarek—and killing him—is on their wedding night. A wedding that will only take place if she sacrifices the love of an honorable man to end the reign of a monster and is crowned the hundredth queen.

Pitch for YA fantasy, THE HUNDREDTH QUEEN:

Rajah Tarek claimed ninety-nine wives and countless courtesans before he came to Kali’s temple

looking for his final queen. When she sees his gold carriage, she knows a benefactor has arrived.

She knows he will pick the prettiest, strongest girl. And she knows with her plain looks and

history of fevers it won’t be her.

She is mistaken.

The rajah claims Kali, ripping her away from her simple life high in the mountains to his desert

palace. But before she’s to wed him, Kali must defend her position as his final wife in an age-old

rank tournament, battling to the death against young courtesans vying for her throne. In this

competitive female hierarchy, sabotage rules. Kali’s only peace is found while in the company of

her kind imperial guard. A man she’s forbidden to love.

When Kali’s fevers prove to be more than an illness, but a feared power, she agrees to aid a

warlord and end the rajah’s tyranny. Her one chance of being alone with Rajah Tarek—and

killing him—is on their wedding night. A wedding that will only take place if she sacrifices the

love of an honorable man to end the reign of a monster and is crowned the hundredth queen

WOW, am I right? And here's what Emily had to say about her querying process:

G: How many manuscripts did you query prior to signing with your agent/publisher?

ERK: I queried four manuscripts before signing with my first agent; I signed with my second agent after querying one manuscript; and I was on submission with two manuscripts before signing with my publisher.

G: How long did it take to write your query/pitch, and what things/steps do you think were most important to make it agent/editor/contest-ready?

ERK: I suggest that writers compose their pitch before they draft. A pitch is a snapshot of the premise. The more specific yet concise a pitch is the stronger the manuscript will be. This is why I write the pitch before or while drafting. Catching a weak spot in my pitch has prevented larger revisions in my manuscript later. Also, writing a pitch while drafting helps fine-tune your story before your brain is bogged down by unnecessary details. After your manuscript is written, it can be a monumental task to condense thousands of words into an enticing 250-word pitch. In the drafting stage, the story isn’t as ingrained in your mind. You can more easily filter through what’s necessary and what’s clutter. 

G: Tell us about your query style – do you approach your entire list of prospectives at once, or query in small batches and revise in between?

ERK: First: Research, research, research! Utilize websites, social media, and your writer/author friends. Follow agents and editors on social media and introduce yourself to them at writer conferences. Visit literary agency/agent websites. Know who is currently open to submissions, what their guidelines are, and their feedback style. Write down everything you learn and form lists of ten or so agents. When your manuscript is ready, send the first ten queries. After a few requests/passes, send another ten queries. Query in small batches so that if you receive feedback for revisions you haven’t botched your opportunity with every agent in the land. Most agents are amenable to revisions, but only if they request them.

A query is your one shot to make a good first impression. So have a finished manuscript, study the agents you query, and be ready with another story to work on. Don’t wait for good fortune to come your way. Write. This will be hard, especially when you’re tempted to check your email constantly, but writing is the only true cure for querying anxiety. 

G: Now the fun part – what was “the call” like? How did you know your agent/editor was the right person to represent/publish your project?

ERK: Querying is like dating. Don’t look for a girlfriend/boyfriend, look for a spouse. For many reasons these agent/client partnerships, although well-intended, don’t always work out. Suffice to say, a year after signing with my first agent, we amicably parted ways. I reentered the query trenches with a manuscript no editor or agent had seen. Within a week, I got an offer from an agent who shared the same vision for my career. I had found my match.

This story has a happy ending, but some writers are still looking for theirs. I’ve been approached by writers who are unhappy with their agent, but terrified to “start over.” No writer should stay in a stagnant business partnership, risking their career because they’re afraid of querying again. To those of you in this situation—have every confidence in your writing. An agent offered you representation before and it can happen again!

G: If you could give one piece of advice to authors seeking publication, what would it be?

ERK: No matter where you are in your career, you are not alone. Every writer experiences rejection, disappointment, frustration, and makes missteps. If you love to write— and I mean LOVE—you will find a way to achieve your publishing goals.

Thank you, Emily, for your fantastic advice. I know I can't wait to see THE HUNDREDTH QUEEN on shelves (and anyone who feels the same can click the book's title and add it to their Goodreads shelf). Best of luck and thanks again for sharing your query! 

Rajah Tarek claimed ninety-nine wives and countless courtesans before he came to Kali’s temple

looking for his final queen. When she sees his gold carriage, she knows a benefactor has arrived.

She knows he will pick the prettiest, strongest girl. And she knows with her plain looks and

history of fevers it won’t be her.

She is mistaken.

The rajah claims Kali, ripping her away from her simple life high in the mountains to his desert

palace. But before she’s to wed him, Kali must defend her position as his final wife in an age-old

rank tournament, battling to the death against young courtesans vying for her throne. In this

competitive female hierarchy, sabotage rules. Kali’s only peace is found while in the company of

her kind imperial guard. A man she’s forbidden to love.

When Kali’s fevers prove to be more than an illness, but a feared power, she agrees to aid a

warlord and end the rajah’s tyranny. Her one chance of being alone with Rajah Tarek—and

killing him—is on their wedding night. A wedding that will only take place if she sacrifices the

love of an honorable man to end the reign of a monster and is crowned the hundredth queen.

Rajah Tarek claimed ninety-nine wives and countless courtesans before he came to Kali’s temple

looking for his final queen. When she sees his gold carriage, she knows a benefactor has arrived.

She knows he will pick the prettiest, strongest girl. And she knows with her plain looks and

history of fevers it won’t be her.

She is mistaken.

The rajah claims Kali, ripping her away from her simple life high in the mountains to his desert

palace. But before she’s to wed him, Kali must defend her position as his final wife in an age-old

rank tournament, battling to the death against young courtesans vying for her throne. In this

competitive female hierarchy, sabotage rules. Kali’s only peace is found while in the company of

her kind imperial guard. A man she’s forbidden to love.

When Kali’s fevers prove to be more than an illness, but a feared power, she agrees to aid a

warlord and end the rajah’s tyranny. Her one chance of being alone with Rajah Tarek—and

killing him—is on their wedding night. A wedding that will only take place if she sacrifices the

love of an honorable man to end the reign of a monster and is crowned the hundredth queen.

Kickass Queries Series! # 11 - Caitlin Sinead

Well hello there!

It's been a while since I've been able to get around to posting, but never fear - I'm back, and I have another installment of the Kickass Queries Series for you!

Today we're talking with Caitlin Sinead about the query that scored rep from Andrea Somberg at Harvey Klinger, Inc. - and who recently sold the novel, LOVE, AND OTHER EPIDEMICS, to Carina Press for publication in 2015! Congrats, Caitlin!

Caitlin's Query:

Even as a senior in college, Quinn is not so good at understanding the difference between bacteria and viruses or explaining to smitten men that she’d really just prefer a dash of random hookups.

Quinn is good at other things. Like drinking wine in the Virginia college town’s civil war graveyard and crafting plucky modern dance routines. But these skills aren’t exactly useful when she wakes up one morning with purple eyes.

They don’t hurt. In fact, the condition seems to spur speedy healing. After a religious group attacks her—the eyes are evil, obviously—her bloody coughs and broken arms become mere memories within hours. However, as more students’ eyes shift to purple, the violence increases. It becomes painfully clear that the healing disease can’t save you from a five-story fall. Or decapitation.

Thing is, the religious group isn't responsible for the rash of killings. A small town plus an unknown serial killer is bad, but it gets worse when a quarantine is added to the equation. Once there is no escape, Quinn realizes she can’t rely on “smarter people” to save her and her friends.

Fortunately, she has a theory. She just needs proof, which demands that she study scientific terminology and hone her deductive reasoning skills. And she will also have to try to work with the local cops. Even if the young lead detective just so happens to be one of those aforementioned smitten men.

G: How many manuscripts did you query prior to signing with your agent?

C: This was my second manuscript

G: How long did it take to write your query, and what things/steps do you think were most important to make it agent-ready?

C: Warning: this is going to be a frustrating answer….

For my first manuscript, I took weeks upon weeks and hours upon hours crafting the query.

For this one, I was in a Writeoncon forum getting feedback on the first pages. I had a strong draft of the book, but it wasn’t even ready for CPs, so I hadn’t started with query writing. However, another writer wanted to know more about the book. So I whipped together a query in about an hour and posted it for her.  I got a few bits of minor feedback and tweaked it slightly….and then a ninja agent came by and asked to see the MS when it was ready!

After doing a happy dance, I did, in fact, slam my forehead into the keyboard. (Okay, not literally.) I spent about an hour on a query and got a request.

Even though it was successful practically right off the bat, I did make a few additional improvements, but it was nothing like my first query, which I constantly overhauled. In fact, I probably spent more than thirty hours writing and rewriting. In the end, it got me seven requests. This one, which all-in-all I probably spent less than five hours on, got me sixteen requests.

I think I needed to spend thirty hours on the first one though to get the knack for query writing. And, when it comes down to it, I guess my second book could have just been a stronger, more enticing story. 

G: Tell us about your query style – do you approach your entire list of prospectives at once, or query in small batches and revise in between?

C: I was sort of addicted to querying. J

I told myself to just query a few at first to make sure it worked. But every day I got excited and sent out a few more anyway. When I got a rejection, I wanted to jump right back in and send it to someone else! And when I got a request, I gained more confidence in the project and query and wanted to send it to more agents! And when I clicked the refresh on my email and it was empty, I wanted to be productive instead of impatient, so I sent out more queries!

So, basically, I probably spent a couple of weeks just sending out a few each day. (Though that wasn’t so much the “plan” as it was just me not being able to help myself.)

G: Now the fun part – what was “the call” like? How did you know your agent was the right person to represent your project?

C: It was surreal. Honestly, if she hadn’t kept mentioning the characters in my book and specific plot points, I would have been fairly certain there had to have been some kind of mix up. She gushed about what a great writer I was and how much she loved the characters and even told me that she canceled going out for drinks because she was so caught up in the book. …My book!

It was definitely one of my most fun moments in the publishing process so far. J

I knew she was the right person because of her enthusiasm but also because of her vision for the project. She wanted me to make a lot of changes. Instead of that scaring me, I felt that she was contributing valuable input to help the book be even stronger, and I saw it as evidence that she must really like it if she was willing to put so much additional effort into it. 

G: If you could give one piece of advice to authors seeking publication, what would it be?

C: Enjoy the process.

I know this is going to sound a little crazy, but I actually sort of miss querying. There was such camaraderie among writers. We were all in the trenches together, supporting each other through rejections and cheering each other on when we got requests. And it was neat to get that fun feeling every time my email dinged knowing it might be a request or an agent offering personal feedback or…an offer!

Obviously, I’m thrilled to have an agent and now a publishing deal and I’m loving the new steps involved. (And will definitely continue to need support from the writing community through the ups and downs.) But querying was a cool experience too.  So, have fun with it as much as you can; enjoy the process and not just the end results. 

Thanks for you honest and enthusiastic answers, Caitlin! Wishing you the best of luck with EPIDEMICS and all your future endeavors!

Caitlin Sinead earned a master’s degree in writing from Johns Hopkins University. Her story “A New Life at 30” was shortlisted in the 2012 Writers & Artists Short Story Competition. Her writing has appeared (or is forthcoming) in multiple publications including The Alarmist, The Binnacle, The Idiom, Jersey Devil Press, Northern Virginia Magazine, and On Tap. You can find her on Twitter, @CaitlinSineadJ, or on her website, http://www.caitlinsinead.com/

Kickass Queries Series! # 9 - Michelle Modesto

Good Morning!

Today we have a double feature of sorts for the Kickass Queries Series. My agent sister, Michelle Modesto, is here - and over at the YA Misfits blog - talking about her novel, MACHINE AND THE WILD, which debuts with Balzer + Bray in 2016.

Michelle's deal was announced the same week as mine, and if you're looking for a 2016 book to be excited about, look no further. Here's why:

Michelle's Query:

It's been several years since seventeen-year-old Westie lost her family and her arm to cannibals while traveling west on the wagon trail, yet the memory still haunts her.

She's on a downward spiral, spending her time in saloons, preferring the warmth of whiskey to the cold hands of everyday life. It's only when fate brings those cannibals to Rogue City where she lives with a brilliant inventor and a band of misfits, she discovers her will to live again. She trades booze and gambling for a stronger drug: vengeance. 

Now, with a powerful mechanical arm, there's nothing to stop her except maybe her own reckless ways. If she’s not careful, the revenge she seeks for those she lost years ago could cost her the family she has now.

G: How many manuscripts did you query prior to signing with your agent?

M: I’d written four other novels, but only queried one other MS prior to Machine and the Wild. The others were more like practice books, a way to strengthen my craft. So, in other words, they sucked.

G: How long did it take to write your query, and what things/steps do you think were most important to make it agent-ready?

M: I started writing my query letter when I started writing the book and it changed as the book changed. Overall, I think it took about six months. When I was done I entered it into a query contest on Twitter where I was able to get it critiqued. That was so much help. I recommend Twitter contests to everyone.

G: Tell us about your query style – do you approach your entire list of prospectives at once, or query in small batches and revise in between?

M: I always queried in small batches, about five at a time. Keeps things clean and focused.

G: Now the fun part – what was “the call” like? How did you know your agent was the right person to represent your project?

M: Yay! This really is the fun part. So, we all have that dream agent, right? The one we’ve had our eye on for some time. John M. Cusick was that agent. It happened after I read Girl Parts a few years ago. That book was weird and wonderful and one of my all-time fave YA novels. When I got the idea for Machine and the Wild, he was the first agent I knew for sure I wanted to work with.

The “call” was equal amounts of excitement and terror. Here was my dream agent and he was interested in my book. I kept thinking, he likes my book, this is awesome, I’ve got this. Then when my phone rang I totally panicked, like, oh my dog this is really happening, what did I get myself into? I felt like an imposter and that somehow he’d made a mistake. But he loved my book and was a super chill dude, easy to talk to. When we started talking about changes for the book and I saw our visions for it align, it was pencils down, the search was over.  

G: If you could give one piece of advice to authors seeking publication, what would it be?

M: My advice for authors seeking publication is, get on Twitter and follow agents and editors. They are always tweeting their wish lists and other helpful advice.

Thanks, Michelle! To learn more about MACHINE AND THE WILD, head over to today's YA Misfits post and check out our interview!