I write stuff for kids...and muse on writing, children's books, and the publishing industry in general

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Twitter Tip Thursday (Agents and Querying Special)

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There were so many great tweets on agents and querying this week I thought I'd concentrate on those. So here they are:

When should you query:

There aren't rules about queries except what's in the agent's guidelines. No days are off limits. It's just weird getting them on a holiday. @RachelleGardner

Wise to Query Agents Around the Holidays? -- One Novelist's Opinion. http://tinyurl.com/yc3eauc @BookEditorLM

'Tis the season to query? http://bit.ly/fzMc35 via @QueryTracker @juliemusil

Query letters:

Agent Bob Silverstein On: Query Letter Tips: Four things that make a great letter.http://bit.ly/eo7yES @4KidLit

You know what really grinds my grits? When a published author thinks they get to not follow query directions. No shortcuts! Sorry! @Natalie_Fischer

I think it's cute that I'm getting queries from writers reassuring me this novel was not a @NaNoWriMo concoction. @ElanaRoth

I never need to know in your query EVER why you want to be a writer. I get it already. You wrote a freakin' book @ElanaRoth

How to interpret rejection letters:

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I think one thing you CAN read into is if you're ONLY getting form rejections. That should be a clear sign something is awry. @ElanaRoth

@ElanaRoth I don't know about you but I feel like there's a lot of stuff that's "good" but it has to be more than that... @sztownsend81

Yup. This. RT @micolz Don't know if it's been said but also important to look at agent criticism in aggregate @ElanaRoth

Most queries just get the "story isn't right for me." Seems the most basic way I can boil it down. Something isn't right for me. @ElanaRoth

"Not enough hook" can really be a death sentence. Have a CONCEPT and then a plot to expand that concept. @ElanaRoth

"Not enough hook" means I know I can't make that book sound exciting to an editor. @ElanaRoth

"Too close to something on my list" means just that. I have too many dystopians, or whatever. @ElanaRoth

Agents:

Getting The Call Means Your Work Gets Harder: Be sure you are ready to go pro. http://bit.ly/fKQflU @4KidLit

Agent Spotlight: Ann Behar: Looking for children's PB to YA as long as it's beautifully written. http://bit.ly/hxrqks @4KidLit

NEW: Open Forum over on the blog - questions answered! http://bit.ly/dmsmdO @Natalie_Fischer

Reversion of Rights: Important questions with excellent answers. http://bit.ly/dH6Wh9 @4KidLit

New Agent Alert: Stephanie DeVita of Dystel & Goderich guidetoliteraryagents.com/blog/New+Agent… @juliemusil

Should you put feelers out before leaving an agent? http://ow.ly/3icR9 @Kid_Lit

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

I always seem to be ready to start querying just before a holiday or August vacation, like right now :(

Grandpa said...

You sure have a couple of good looking agents there Rach!

Michael Di Gesu said...

Thanks for the tips Rach, They are really helpful. I think it's fine querying during the holidays, the agents might be in a better mode with all the office parties.... lol


Michael

Jennie Bailey said...

These are excellent, Rach! Thanks for sharing these.

Joanna St. James said...

oh nice! am going to check out natalie's blog i did ask a question.

Hart Johnson said...

Hey, some great stuff--thank you!

Anonymous said...

It must be Bond week, there's some nice eye candy around this week, thanks Rach!

I particularly like the 'are you sure you're ready to go pro?' one. With Hannah starting terrible twos I'm not so sure I could handle the stress. I'll have to write slower ;)

Jodi Henry said...

I picked up three places to visit off this list. Thanks. And I love that you put up the 'this isn't Nanoed' tweet.

Do people seriously query their NaNo on like Dec. 1 or something?

If so they shouldn't (unless you're CA Marshall-editor extrodinar)it just fluds agents with crap that needs a good month to simmer and then another few to really, I mean really edit.

Do you blogfest. If so I am having a query letter blogfest on Dec. 12-18. There's a prize.

Check it out here:

http://jodilhenry.blogspot.com/p/query-letter-blogfest-page.html

J

Melissa Gill said...

Great tweets. I can't wait to be able to use twitter.

Amy Holder said...

What a great collection of twitter tips!

Stina said...

Great links and tweets. Thanks for including my QT post. :D

Rachael Harrie said...

@Pat, I know, I'm in a similar place as well!

@Grandpa, LOL. I can only dream :)

@Michael, ooh, that would be great!

@Jennie, you're welcome, glad they're helpful :)

@Joanna, I saw that. Great question!

@Hart, no worries :)

@Kangaroobee, LOL. That was a great post, very thought-provoking.

@Jodi, that was a great tweet! I know, I find it hard to believe myself, but apparently it happens a lot. Go figure...

@Melissa, thanks. Can't wait to see you there :)

@Amy, ta muchly :)

@Stina, hugs, no worries :)

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