What Do You Think of This Query for My YA Fantasy?

As many of you know, my agent medically retired toward the beginning of last year. I'd already been struggling to come up with my next project, and this setback didn't help. Gladly, #PitchMe came along, which gave me time to plot and plan. I wrote and revised a PB as soon as #PitchMe was done, then started working on a YA I'd been pondering for months. I've nearly finished the first draft, so now I'm just starting to think about how to pitch this project. It's still several months away from being ready to query, but I would love to get your thoughts on my query in the meantime. This is only the first draft, so I'm open to all feedback:

Dear [Agent]:

As the adopted son of the highest high chief of the Lands, Almundemba’s never felt like he actually belongs. He’s too pale, too paranoid, and more interested in plants than in governing the Lands. But Almund has one use for his political cachet, and that’s to alter the Exchange. For too long, this exercise of trading children like kukuis has benefitted his birth country more than his adopted one; he wants to rebalance the scales.

Relentless as the Tide used to be the only child of the highest high chief of the Lands—until he traded her for the Homish sovereign’s newborn when Relentless was a toddler. Twelve and seven years later, Relentless finally figures out why her adopted mother willingly Exchanged her son: because she needed a daughter to pledge marriage to the heir of her country’s vengeful neighbor. Relentless wants no part of this and hijacks the steamer bound for the Lands and the Exchange to abolish it for good.

This won’t be easy, though. The highest high chief of the Lands doesn’t wish to void the treaty that has kept his nation safe, and Almund has his own agenda. Luckily, Relentless has one more bargaining chip: a biological half sister who resembles her a lot. Setting her principles aside, Relentless kidnaps her half sister to pledge marriage in her place.

When Almund learns they’ve disappeared, he vows to bring his sister back. She’s the heir their country needs. But sisters have minds of their own, and this one has other plans. Now Almund must convince her she requires rescuing before she marries a monster—and he’ll need Relentless’s help.

[TITLE] is a 100,000-word fantasy for young adults inspired by h­ānai, the traditional Hawaiian practice of informally adopting children to bolster alliances. After my previous agent medically retired last year, I spent the next several months formulating the right project with which to secure a new one. This manuscript is that right project and has never been submitted.

Like my main characters, I was adopted as an infant. I’m also part Hawaiian and the author of four middle grade novels, including THE SOUND OF LIFE AND EVERYTHING (Putnam 2015) and THE MULTIPLYING MYSTERIES OF MOUNT TEN (Bloomsbury 2019).

Thank you for your time and especially your consideration.

When Hindsight Becomes Foresight

Spoiler alert: this blog post mentions infertility, depression, and suicidal ideation. I've tried to address these topics with sensitivity and authenticity, but if you need to skip this post for the sake of your own mental health, I completely understand.

About seven years ago, I decided it was time to have another kid. We already had three, but I'd thought for several years that our family wouldn't be complete until we had one more, and now the time finally felt right. My depression was under control, I'd stopped taking medication, and we'd moved closer to family. Plus, it felt like God was telling me the time was finally right. I was energized and hopeful.

I didn't get pregnant the first month, which wasn't weird, so it was fine. I didn't the second month, either--but my sister-in-law did. They announced their awesome news at a family gathering. I probably felt a little bad, but the women in my husband's family are notoriously fertile. It was fine. Completely fine.

I told my brother-in-law's wife that we were trying to conceive. She knew exactly how I felt. Though she and her husband didn't have trouble conceiving, she did have a hard time carrying pregnancies to term. We'd bonded before over our shared misery of having married into such a baby-come-easy family.

Then, a month or several later, she said she was pregnant, too.

This made me feel a little worse--or, you know, maybe a lot worse. I tried to be happy for her, but I wasn't, not at all. Now I was an awful person in addition to *not* pregnant.

This was sometime in the winter, which was colder, snowier, and generally more miserable than my last ten winters had been. I'm sure this had something to do with my worsening depression, but I was too far gone to make that logical connection, and my depression quickly spiraled into suicidal thoughts. Church was soul-suckingly bad, and family gatherings were worse. At least my *other* brother-in-law's wife had no bun in the proverbial oven and showed no signs of wanting one. We didn't talk as much, but I decided we were tight, on the same side, and all of that.

Until--you guessed it--she announced that she was having her first baby.

There were now three babies coming to my husband's family, and not a single one was mine. Why was God rewarding them but somehow not rewarding me? Was I less righteous, less deserving? Then why had I felt so strongly that the time was finally right?

This was in, like, February, and my suicidal thoughts were pretty much out of control. After sitting down to talk about it with my husband's parents, I decided I would give myself two more months to conceive. The thought of giving God a deadline didn't sit quite right with me, but even I could tell that this was rapidly becoming a life-or-death situation. Two more tedious months passed, and I didn't get pregnant.

Still.

I was beaten. I was vanquished. Scheduling that doctor's visit felt like admitting defeat. I mean, I knew I had to do it--for myself, my family--but I didn't *want* to do it. And I didn't understand why God had let me wander recklessly so far down the wrong path.

The day of the appointment came. I told the doctor all my crap. (I've been doing authenticity since before it became cool.) Then she told me something wondrous, something I'd wondered about but never let myself believe: there was a type of medication that would *not* affect the fetus even if I took it straight through an entire pregnancy.

This, of course, was the solution, the detour I couldn't see from where I was firmly stuck. I started this new medication, and after working out the dosage over the next several months, I managed to sweet-talk my husband into trying to conceive again. (He was understandably gun-shy after the year that we'd endured.)

We got pregnant right away, and our Gummy Bear was born in April of 2018.

This wasn't the first time that, with the benefit of hindsight, I could see how Heavenly Father's plan was so much better than *my* plan, but I swore it would be the last. This ordeal had to have changed me. The next time I hit a roadblock, I couldn't spend weeks, months, or years working myself into a frenzy or shaking my fists at God. I had to hope. I had to trust. I had to let myself believe that God really does know what He's doing, that He's looking out for me, and that He knows how to do more with and make more of my life than I ever could alone.

I didn't know it then, but as it turned out, my next hard thing had already begun. EARTH TO DAD had sold to Capstone in February of 2017--right when, incidentally, I was going nuclear--and since then, perhaps you've noticed that I haven't sold a thing. *I* didn't notice right away, but it's become hard to ignore. I also had to leave an agent after he didn't connect with the new stuff I was writing, and the new agent I found had to medically retire in May earlier this year.

But honestly? I'm fine. Actually, completely fine. Do I wish I'd made a sale in the last six or seven years? Um, of course, yes, absolutely. But am I foaming at the mouth because my journey hasn't gone the way I wanted it to go? For once, thankfully, no. I still have some not-great days, but for the most part, I've been able to keep writing, writing, writing and give God the time and space to lead me down the proper road. I hope I'll know it when I see it, but until then, I'm content to keep waiting on the Lord. There are much worse ways to wait.

#PitchMe 2023 Results

Our most successful round of #PitchMe EVER came to a close last week, and once again, I'm delightfully worn out. All told, this year's pitches racked up 95 total likes, several of which came from 6 additional agents and an extra editor who jumped in to make requests over the course of the day. What's more, EVERY SINGLE ENTRY got at least one like this year! Here's a breakdown of the action:

#1 PB: WREN'S FRIENDS Amy Giuffrida, Saribel Pages

#2 PB: EILEEN COLLINS: DETERMINED, FOCUSED, FIERCE - NASA'S FIRST FEMALE PILOT & MISSION COMMANDER Michelle Jackson, Morgan Strehlow, Natalia Vázquez

#3 PB: THE COPPER-COLORED MITTENS Michelle Jackson, Amy Giuffrida

#4 PB: THE BOY OF THE CINNAMON ISLAND Amy Giuffrida, Michelle Jackson

#5 PB: ECHO CAVE Ivan Taurisano

#6 PB: SPACE KNIFE: THE TRUE STORY OF KING TUT'S DAGGER Michelle Jackson, Natalia Vázquez

#7 MG: NO FINER THAN I AM Elisa Houot, Jynastie Wilson

#8 MG: WHAT LINGERS AT THE CRESCENT Alison Weiss, Saribel Pages

#9 MG: THE MARITIME DETECTIVE COMPANY: THE CURSE OF THE MERMAID'S PEARL Jynastie Wilson, Whitney Ross, Morgan Hughes, Alison Weiss, Lindsay Auld, Elisa Houot, Kristin Ostby

#10 MG: THE SORCERER OF WESTMINSTER Whitney Ross

#11 MG: HOW NOT TO DIE IN A SWAMP Jynastie Wilson, Saribel Pages, Natalia Vázquez

#12 MG: TANGLED UP Michelle Jackson, Asia Harden, Amy Giuffrida, Natalia Vázquez, Jennifer March Soloway

#13 MG: THE ODD ONES Amy Giuffrida, Michelle Jackson, Kristin Ostby, Lindsay Auld, Vicky Weber

#14 YA: MURDERLAND Shari Maurer, Jynastie Wilson

#15 YA: DEEP ROOTS Joanna MacKenzie, Michelle Jackson, Jen Nadol, Jynastie Wilson, Whitney Ross, Andie Smith, Lindsay Auld, Jennifer March Soloway

#16 YA: A GOOD NIGHT TO SAY GOODBYE Vicky Weber, Asia Harden, Najla Mamou, Amy Giuffrida, Michelle Jackson, Whitney Ross

#17 YA: TERRA Asia Harden

#18 YA: LAWNMOWER LEAVING Jynastie Wilson, Christina Lopez

#19 YA: SECRETS DON'T STAY BURIED Elisa Houot, Joanna MacKenzie, Michelle Jackson, Asia Harden, Jen Nadol, Najla Mamou, Amy Giuffrida, Whitney Ross, Lindsay Auld, Jennifer March Soloway, Christina Lopez, Ann Leslie Tuttle

#20 YA: THE AMULET OF AMUN Ellen Goff, Whitney Ross

#21 A: THE SELF-DESTRUCTION OF SYMPATHY D Jennifer March Soloway

#22 A: BYSTANDER Andie Smith

#23 A: BETWEEN BREATHS Kimberly Fernando, Christina Lopez, Ann Leslie Tuttle

#24 A: THE LOST DIARIES OF VIVIAN SUMNER Vicky Weber, Joanna MacKenzie, Michelle Jackson, Jenna Jankowski, Amy Giuffrida, Kimberly Fernando, Whitney Ross, Morgan Hughes, Andie Smith, Lindsay Auld, Jennifer March Soloway

#25 A: A LITTLE OVER THE TOP Michelle Jackson

#26 A: THE DREAMS THEY CARRY Jen Nadol, Najla Mamou

#27 A: HEIST RACE Kristin Ostby, Christina Lopez, Joanna MacKenzie

#28 A: SWEETHEARTS OF THE OVERTHROW Vicky Weber, Joanna MacKenzie, Kimberly Fernando

In addition, our two other finalists didn't make it to the agent and editor round because they accepted offers of representation after being selected!

Last but certainly not least, THANK YOU. Whether you were an agent, an editor, an entrant, or a finalist, #PitchMe doesn't work without all of you. And #PitchMe REALLY wouldn't work without Tara Shiroff, my partner (pitcher?)-in-crime. Thanks again for all your insights and boundless enthusiasm.

#PitchMe Finalists 2023

Please note that we had several entries with very similar titles, so definitely make sure your title AND initials match before you get too excited:

PB

A.N.W.'s ECHO CAVE

K.M.'s SPACE KNIFE: THE TRUE STORY OF KING TUT'S DAGGER

E.E.'s THE COPPER-COLORED MITTENS

M.T.'s EILEEN COLLINS: DETERMINED, FOCUSED, FIERCE - NASA'S FIRST FEMALE PILOT & MISSION COMMANDER

S.G.'s THE BOY OF THE CINNAMON ISLAND

M.S.'s WREN'S FRIENDS

N.G.'s THE LOCKDOWN RULE

MG

C.L.'s TANGLED UP (contemporary)

M.B.'s WHAT LINGERS AT THE CRESCENT (horror)

E.M.'s THE SORCERER OF WESTMINSTER (historical fantasy)

R.B.'s NIGHT BECOMES NOON (contemporary)

T.B.'s THE ODD ONES (fantasy)

M.A.'s THE MARITIME DETECTIVE COMPANY: THE CURSE OF THE MERMAID'S PEARL (mystery)

J.K.'s THE PECULIAR BLOOMS OF POSEY AVENUE (magical realism graphic novel)

M.D.'s HOW NOT TO DIE IN A SWAMP (horror)

YA

B.R.'s A GOOD NIGHT TO SAY GOODBYE (historical mystery)

A.L.R.'s DEEP ROOTS (contemporary)

O.S.'s TERRA (fantasy)

M.R.'s MURDERLAND (thriller)

J.D.M.'s SECRETS DON'T STAY BURIED (thriller)

R.B.'s LAWNMOWER LEAVING (contemporary)

N.M.'s THE AMULET OF AMUN (historical adventure)

Adult

F.T.'s THE SELF-DESTRUCTION OF SYMPATHY D (speculative)

R.J.'s A LITTLE OVER THE TOP (contemporary romance)

L.F.'s BYSTANDER (thriller)

S.L.'s THE LOST DIARIES (Gothic mystery)

J.K.'s BETWEEN BREATHS (historical women's fiction)

D.L.'s THE DREAMS THEY CARRY (magical realism)

S.S.'s THE IMPERFECT STORMS (women's fiction)

S.P.'s HEIST RACE (thriller)

Congratulations, finalists! Tara and I can't wait to dig in and ultimately share these awesome projects with our agents and editors.

On the other hand, I know that this news comes as a huge letdown to the majority of you. I wish one writer's acceptance didn't always have to equal another writer's rejection, but in most cases, it does (and in most cases, I've been on the raw end of that equation, so I know how much it hurts). To try to mitigate the sting, I'm once again offering feedback to everyone who entered #PitchMe. I took notes on every entry and wrote down something positive about every single one (and usually a suggestion, too). If you don't find an agent between now and October 26 and would like to hear my thoughts on your pitch, query, and first page, you're more than welcome to respond to your original submission with a request for that feedback. I only ask that you hold off until Thursday, October 26, the day AFTER the agent round, so I can spend these next few weeks reviewing the finalists' work.

A Couple of Notes on This Year's #PitchMe Entries

First off, thank you, thank you, thank you for submitting to #PitchMe. This contest doesn't work if we don't get a hefty batch of super promising submissions, and once again, you guys delivered. We've finalized most of our picks, but this year's entries were so great that we're still dilly-dallying over the last couple of slots.

Overall Impressions

• Maybe it's because I've gotten used to reading queries, but so many of the little things that stuck out to me last year didn't stick out to me this one. I didn't notice or care how you spelled my name (or didn't), whether you admitted you're a first-time novelist, or even how you closed your query. I scanned for title, word count, category, and genre, then dove straight into the summary. If the author's bio paragraph connected their lived experience to their book's subject matter, that was certainly a plus, but if a query happened to skip over that pesky bio paragraph, I honestly might not have noticed. The story itself was king.
• Established, best-selling authors can write anything they want, and publishers will throw money at it, but break-in stories have to clear a much, much, much, much higher bar. Write what you love, they say, and let your passion sell itself, but a part of me wonders how much experience such authors have with not selling anything. If you've been at this for a while, if agents and editors compliment your writing but never give you the time of day, it may be because your concepts aren't standing out.

PB Notes

• There were 84 submissions within this category.
• My #PitchMe spreadsheet has two columns for note-taking on each entry: "Pros" and "Cons." Too often, I found myself typing "Good query" under "Pros" and "Concept may not stand out enough" under "Cons." It's clear that so many of you are seasoned writers who've learned how to craft pitch-perfect queries and even manuscripts, but if agents have seen your concept over and over again, it may not matter how strong your query or even your manuscript is. Tara agreed. She pointed out that several of these entries were exceptionally well-written--but about a dog or cat.
• On the whole, Tara thought these entries were really, really strong. In more than one case, she decided not to pick an entry simply because she didn't think it needed #PitchMe's help.
• She--and I--also shied away from rhyming picture books because they're hard to critique and really have to be pitch-perfect to catch an agent's eye. If the verse is on, it's ON, but if the meter is off by even a single syllable, the whole thing kind of falls apart.

MG Notes

• There were 44 submissions within this category.
• And more than half of them--28, to be precise--were some kind of fantasy. Throw in the horrors with fantastical elements, and the number would be well over 30. Nothing wrong with fantasy, of course, and I loved some of these entries, but MG in general and MG fantasy in particular has become quite tricky to sell, so your project really has to go above and beyond.
• Maybe it's just the time of year, but I also came across enough ghost stories in these entries that I started to take note. Here again, some of these ghost stories were my very favorite entries, but it also made me wonder if our agents might be experiencing ghost-story fatigue. 
• Lastly, multiple stories started on the first or last day of school, so those first pages had to work even harder to stand out.

YA Notes

• There were 49 submissions within this category.
• And quite a few of them were also fantasies. That said, there weren't nearly as many, but there were certainly enough to make me jot down a note.

Adult Notes

• There were 84 submissions within this category.
• And on the whole, I'd say that the adult submissions featured a better mix of genres. That said, experience has taught me that my fantasy and sci-fi tastes don't match up very well with what agents are looking for--which has everything to do with me and absolutely nothing to do with the amazing fantasy and sci-fi authors #PitchMe has featured in the past--so those ones really had to wow me to make it onto my longlist.

You may have done the math yourself, but of the 14 awesome agents and 5 lurking editors who will be checking in on #PitchMe, 6 will be looking for PB, 13 for MG, 13 for YA, and 11 for adult.

Please meet me back here tomorrow for the list of finalists!

Second Submission Window for #PitchMe 2023 Now Open

UPDATE: The submission windows are now closed. We received 84 PBs, 44 MGs, 49 YAs, and 84 adults for a total of 261 entries. Finalists will be announced on Wednesday, September 20!

Welcome to #PitchMe 2023! To enter, your manuscript must meet two conditions. First, it must be COMPLETE, NEVER-PUBLISHED, AND READY TO QUERY, and second, it must be in one of the following genres:

PB fiction and nonfiction (all genres)

MG fiction (all genres)

YA fiction (all genres)

Adult fiction (all genres, including commercial, literary, and/or upmarket but excluding erotica)

1. All submissions must be sent to kvandolzer(at)gmail(dot)com and include A TWITTER PITCH, A QUERY, AND THE FIRST 250 WORDS of your manuscript. (PB author-illustrators are also encouraged to share links to their online portfolios.) You must paste these items IN THE BODY OF YOUR E-MAIL; otherwise, I'll disqualify it.

2. Please submit ONLY ONE PROJECT. If you submit multiple projects, I'll only consider the first.

3. It would also really help if you INCLUDE YOUR CATEGORY--PB, MG, YA, OR ADULT--SOMEWHERE IN YOUR SUBJECT LINE, but it's not a requirement.

4. THERE WILL BE TWO 30-MINUTE SUBMISSION WINDOWS to (try to) accommodate work schedules and international entrants. The first submission window opens on Wednesday, September 6, at 10:30 a.m. EDT and closes at 11:00 a.m. EDT. The second submission window opens later that same day, Wednesday, September 6, at 10:30 p.m. EDT and closes at 11:00 p.m. EDT. Hopefully, you'll be awake and/or not at work during one of these 30-minute intervals!

5. Once you send me your submission, I’ll send you a confirmation e-mail with a summary of these rules.

6. Previous finalists may enter again AS LONG AS THEY HAVE A NEW MANUSCRIPT TO SUBMIT.

For more information, including a timeline of events and a list of participating agents and editors, check out this post. We can't wait to read your work!

First Submission Window for #PitchMe 2023 Now Open

UPDATE: The first submission window is now closed, but the second will open tonight at 10:30 p.m. EDT. For your information, we've received 39 PBs, 29 MGs, 32 YAs, and 59 adults so far!

Welcome to #PitchMe 2023! To enter, your manuscript must meet two conditions. First, it must be COMPLETE, NEVER-PUBLISHED, AND READY TO QUERY, and second, it must be in one of the following genres:

PB fiction and nonfiction (all genres)

MG fiction (all genres)

YA fiction (all genres)

Adult fiction (all genres, including commercial, literary, and/or upmarket but excluding erotica)

1. All submissions must be sent to kvandolzer(at)gmail(dot)com and include A TWITTER PITCH, A QUERY, AND THE FIRST 250 WORDS of your manuscript. (PB author-illustrators are also encouraged to share links to their online portfolios.) You must paste these items IN THE BODY OF YOUR E-MAIL; otherwise, I'll disqualify it.

2. Please submit ONLY ONE PROJECT. If you submit multiple projects, I'll only consider the first.

3. It would also really help if you INCLUDE YOUR CATEGORY--PB, MG, YA, OR ADULT--SOMEWHERE IN YOUR SUBJECT LINE, but it's not a requirement.

4. THERE WILL BE TWO 30-MINUTE SUBMISSION WINDOWS to (try to) accommodate work schedules and international entrants. The first submission window opens on Wednesday, September 6, at 10:30 a.m. EDT and closes at 11:00 a.m. EDT. The second submission window opens later that same day, Wednesday, September 6, at 10:30 p.m. EDT and closes at 11:00 p.m. EDT. Hopefully, you'll be awake and/or not at work during one of these 30-minute intervals!

5. Once you send me your submission, I’ll send you a confirmation e-mail with a summary of these rules.

6. Previous finalists may enter again AS LONG AS THEY HAVE A NEW MANUSCRIPT TO SUBMIT.

For more information, including a timeline of events and a list of participating agents and editors, check out this post. We can't wait to read your work!

Everything You Need to Know for #PitchMe 2023

#PitchMe is back for its third season, and Tara Shiroff and I are ready to get to work. If you take what I love most about multi-agent query contests--mentoring great writers at wherever they happen to be on their publishing journey--and mash it up with a pitch fest, then you've basically got #PitchMe. Are you interested? Read on!

Here’s the timeline:

September 6: The submission windows open
September 20: Selected submissions announced
September 20-October 24: Mentoring takes place
October 25: Revised Twitter pitches posted; agents (and editors!) like their favorites

Submissions

To enter, your manuscript must meet two conditions. First, it must be COMPLETE, NEVER-PUBLISHED, AND READY TO QUERY, and second, it must be in one of the following genres:

PB fiction and nonfiction (all genres)
MG fiction (all genres)
YA fiction (all genres)
Adult fiction (all genres, including commercial, literary, and/or upmarket but excluding erotica)

1. All submissions must be sent to kvandolzer(at)gmail(dot)com and include A TWITTER PITCH, A QUERY, AND THE FIRST 250 WORDS of your manuscript. (PB author-illustrators are also encouraged to share links to their online portfolios.) You must paste these items IN THE BODY OF YOUR E-MAIL; otherwise, I'll disqualify it.

2. Please submit ONLY ONE PROJECT. If you submit multiple projects, I'll only consider the first.

3. It would also really help if you INCLUDE YOUR CATEGORY--PB, MG, YA, OR ADULT--SOMEWHERE IN YOUR SUBJECT LINE, but it's not a requirement.

4. THERE WILL BE TWO 30-MINUTE SUBMISSION WINDOWS to (try to) accommodate work schedules and international entrants. The first submission window opens on Wednesday, September 6, at 10:30 a.m. EDT and closes at 11:00 a.m. EDT. The second submission window opens later that same day, Wednesday, September 6, at 10:30 p.m. EDT and closes at 11:00 p.m. EDT. Hopefully, you'll be awake and/or not at work during one of these 30-minute intervals!

5. Once you send me your submission, I’ll send you a confirmation e-mail with a summary of these rules.

6. Previous finalists may enter again AS LONG AS THEY HAVE A NEW MANUSCRIPT TO SUBMIT.

Selections

I'll select 6 entries within each major category--PB, MG, YA, and adult--and up to 6 wildcards. I may pick 6 adults or 3 YAs and 3 MGs or just a single PB with those wildcards; it depends on what I know the agents are looking for and which submissions seem strongest.

Once I've finalized my picks--with Tara’s help, of course--I'll e-mail the winning writers and announce the winning titles here and/or on my Twitter feed on Wednesday, September 20. Then the real work will begin!

Mentoring

For the next roughly 5 weeks, the winning writers will revise their pitches, queries, and first pages with my and Tara’s help. You won’t be obligated to incorporate our thoughts, and the feedback we provide on your queries and first pages won’t actually be featured in the agent round itself. We just want to help you make your pitches, queries, and first pages the very best that they can be.

Liking

On Wednesday, October 25, I'll post the revised pitches ON MY TWITTER FEED for the agents (and editors!) to review. Here are the awesome agents who’ll be liking your pitches:

Amy Giuffrida of Belcastro Agency

Ann Leslie Tuttle of Dystel, Goderich & Bourret
Elisa Houot of The Seymour Agency

Ellen Goff of HG Literary
Jen Nadol of The Unter Agency

Jennifer March Soloway of Andrea Brown Literary Agency

Joanna MacKenzie of Nelson Literary Agency
Kristin Ostby of Greenhouse Literary Agency
Lindsay Auld of Writers House

Michelle Jackson of LCS Literary Services
Saribel Pages of Gallt & Zacker Literary Agency
Shari Maurer of Stringer Literary Agency
Vicky Weber of The Purcell Agency

Whitney Ross of High Line Literary Collective

Each like will count as a partial or full request based on the agents’ preferences. Agents will be able to review and like your pitches for at least 24 hours, at which point you’ll be allowed to submit your materials to all the agents who requested them. These likes represent serious interest in your project, so PLEASE DON’T ACCEPT AN OFFER OF REPRESENTATION BEFORE GIVING THE #PITCHME AGENTS AN OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE A COMPETING OFFER.

I've also enlisted the aid of some lurking editors. Their likes will also represent requests, BUT EVEN IF THEIR PUBLISHERS ALLOW YOU TO SUBMIT WITHOUT AN AGENT, I STRONGLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU WAIT UNTIL YOU SECURE REPRESENTATION. A smart, savvy agent is worth their weight in gold, and I'm hopeful agents will be even more interested in your project if they know you've got an editor request (or two!) in your back pocket.

Alison Weiss of Pixel + Ink
Asia Harden of Farrar, Straus and Giroux Books for Young Readers

Christina Lopez of St. Martin's Press

Jenna Jankowski of Sourcebooks

Natalia Vázquez of Charlesbridge

So get those pitches polished up and plan to e-mail them to me--with your queries and first pages--on Wednesday, September 6, at 10:30 a.m. or 10:30 p.m. EDT. We can’t wait to read your work!

Have a question? Ask below!