This makes me think of a ms I just read! :)
(via and-the-point-is)
Kari Sutherland at HarperTeen has bought North American rights to screenwriter Victoria Aveyard’s debut novel, The Red Queen, which is set in a fantasy world where society is divided by the color of blood. It features a 17-year-old who, to save her family, must assume the role of a long-lost princess while secretly aiding a revolution. The novel was pitched asGraceling meets The Selection; it will be published in winter 2015. Suzie Townsend of New Leaf Literary and Media was the agent.
NYT and USA TODAY bestselling author, Cora Carmack’s novella KEEPING HER, from the perspective of the hero in LOSING IT and his attempts to maintain his happily ever after, again to Amanda Bergeron at William Morrow, in a two-book deal, for publication fall 2013 and winter 2014, by Suzie Townsend at New Leaf Literary & Media.
Author of the Personal Demons trilogy, Lisa Desrochers new adult novel, A LITTLE TOO FAR and two companion novels were pre-empted by Amanda Bergeron at William Morrow for Fall 2013 release. The first novel features a twenty-year-old girl in love with the wrong guy who thinks escaping to Rome for a year abroad will be the answer to her problems, but forbidden love manages to find her there too. The deal, for world English rights, was brokered by Suzie Townsend at New Leaf Literary & Media.
The Nightmare Affair by Mindee Arnett is out today.
I love Sarah Goldberg. Here’s one reason why:
One weekend in early June, while I was at a conference, Sarah emailed me. She said:
“I think you need to read this…”
I was tired and overworked at said conference and I was supposed to leave for New Zealand for my first vacation in forever to visit my sister (who was there picking kiwis, I kid you not). But I trusted Sarah so I opened up The Nightmare Affair, thinking I would read a little and see what I thought.
Several hours later, I was finished. And I thought: If I don’t work on this book I will die.
I called Mindee on Monday before I left for New Zealand and gushed about how much I loved this book, then I checked my email as obsessively as New Zealand’s internet cafes would allow until I received the email from Mindee saying she wanted to work with me too. Then I enjoyed the rest of my vacation.
I am beyond excited that this book is out in the world today for other people to love it as much as I do. Dusty is more than just a character. She’s amazing—I want her to be my best friend.
This is Suzie’s favorite YA book.
(Source: lew-mos)
I’m pretty sure there was something in the water this week…
I had 221 queries in my inbox.
I requested 11 manuscripts.
YA Contemporary
Urban Fantasy
Science Fiction
Romantic Suspense
LGBT Fiction
YA Paranormal
MG Steampunk
MG Contemporary
YA Science Fiction
YA Fantasy
New Adult Romance
I loved the concept, but not the pages of 2 manuscripts.
Women’s Fiction
Mystery
And at 2:56 pm I’m finished!
For our “Now What?” months, we wanted to be sure to get the perspectives of some very elusive publishing types: agents. Who are these mysterious creatures, and what are they looking for in your books? We recently held a chat on Twitter with the awesome folks of New Leaf Literary—Joanna Volpe, Kathleen Ortiz, and Suzie Townsend—about queries, publishing, and their best author advice for 2013:
What are your tips for a great author query?
“Get someone who hasn’t read your manuscript to read your query and give feedback. They should be intrigued and want to read more.” – Suzie (@sztownsend81)
“I love to see a good hook. What makes your story different from others? What makes it awesome? Like, super-awesome? Hook me in and get me to the sample pages. Query goal = accomplished.” – Kathleen (@KOrtizzle)
“There are a ton of query resources online. Check out Query Shark to start!” – Joanna (@JoSVolpe)
“In queries, I want to know the main character and the main plotline without anything weighing it down or confusing me. With queries, concise, well-edited, and professional is always best.” – Suzie
It’s 7:50 pm and my query box is down to zero!
There were 230 queries in the inbox today, and I’d already requested several manuscripts from Brenda Drake’s Pitch Wars.
Yet somehow I managed to request 6 manuscripts. I’m either going to need to read faster or figure out how to pause time to give myself more hours in the day.
Anyway the requests this week line up like this:
Adult Women’s Fiction
New Adult Contemporary Romance
YA (sounds really unique) *
New Adult Contemporary Romance *
MG Fantasy *
YA Historical Mystery *
*requested a query from #pitmad and really enjoyed the sample pages so requested the full
I’ve been seeing a lot of historicals lately—in YA, MG, and Adult. I wonder if this is a new trend?
Happy weekend!
As of 3:53 pm I’m finished with my queries and the inbox is down to zero!
I had 198 queries.
I was in a good mood and requested 5 manuscripts.
Contemporary YA Romance: exactly what I was hoping for
Fantasy: with such an interesting and unique premise
Contemporary Romance: interesting twist on a a great premise
YA Horror/Mystery: I wasn’t so sure by the premise, but then I read the pages and they sucked me in
YA Fantasy: Interesting premise
There were 2 projects that sounded really great but I ended up passing on them anyway.
Contemporary Middle Grade: Just couldn’t get into the writing
Adult Steampunk Romance: Just couldn’t get into the writing
Queries were cleaned out by 6:39 pm on 1/11/2013. I answered queries in my apartment to the backdrop of someone singing opera in the building next door. It was quite relaxing.
Total queries in the inbox: 151
Manuscripts I requested: 6 manuscripts
a dark crime thriller
a historical romance
a YA fantasy
a YA mystery
a really awesome MG
adult paranormal
(Either I was really easy to please today or my queries this week were amazingly good!)
There were 3 manuscripts I hesitated to pass on but ultimately did.
a romantic comedy with a great premise
a speculative thriller with a unique and interesting premise
a new adult contemporary with a cool premise
I ultimately passed on all three of these because the writing just didn’t seem ready for submission.
In terms of what I’ve been seeing a lot of: mind readers. In all genres and as a plot point or just a character trait. I’ve been seeing a lot of mind reading or psychic characters.
Queries were cleaned out by 11:20 pm on 1/4/2013, which I know is kind of late but it was a long day.
Total queries in the inbox: 234
Manuscripts I requested: 3 manuscripts
an adult urban fantasy in the vein of Jim Butcher
a YA paranormal that sounds unique(!) and has great writing
a YA fantasy
On My 2013 Wishlist
a YA contemporary with a super swoony romance
a dark crime thriller
a mystery with series potential and a strong voice
literary middle grade with great characters
a historical romance
Queries were cleared out by 8:00 pm, 12/16/2012
Total Queries in the Inbox: 209
Manuscripts I Requested: 3
YA Fantasy
YA Sci Fi (something I haven’t seen yet!)
Adult Women’s Fiction
In my queries, there was a lot of YA and a lot of really long manuscripts.
The thing about long word counts is that manuscripts a little over 100k words don’t necessarily scare me. Manuscripts that are 150k, 170k, or over 200k, those do scare me. I know there are some great manuscripts that are that long, but for every great one there are hundreds that need a lot of work.
If you have a really long manuscript, make sure you check your pacing. Go scene by scene. Get into each one late, get out early. Make sure each scene moves the plot forwardin some way. Check the dialogue and cut any repetitions.
Then have a beta reader go through your manuscript with the same things in mind.
Then, if you still have a long manuscript go ahead and query. But maybe, and don’t quote me on this, leave your word count out.
