I know that YA high fantasy (and high fantasy in general) is a difficult sell right now, and many agents don’t want to see it at all. What makes a high fantasy novel stand out in a query?

Oct

I know that YA high fantasy (and high fantasy in general) is a difficult sell right now, and many agents don't want to see it at all. What makes a high fantasy novel stand out in a query?

— Anonymous

I’m actually not convinced YA high fantasy is a tough sell—if it’s accessible. Look at books like GRACELING and SERAPHINA.

A high fantasy query should be like every other query. The most important details are who are your main characters and what is the main conflict. You can include some worldbuilding details in the query, but don’t let them bog it down—you want the agent to know it’s fantasy but not feel confused by the world.

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but-notinthenameofthedoctor said: This was incredibly useful. Thanks!
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New Leaf is a full service, boutique literary agency. Founded by Joanna Volpe in June 2012, the agency represents clients in commercial and literary fiction for children and adults and innovative non-fiction. Pouya Shahbazian handles the TV/film rights in-house while Kathleen Ortiz handles sub-rights in-house, and the agency as a whole is working together to publicize clients through its own Author Promo program. Also part of the agency are agent Suzie Townsend, assistant Danielle Barthel, and assistant Jaida Temperly.