Teen Eyes Contest Announcement

I'll be hosting an awesome editorial based contest next month for my friend Brent Taylor. There's a lot of info, so I'll just let him explain.

Three teen editors on three blogs with three prizes. Win!

Have you ever wondered if your young adult, new adult, or middle grade manuscript would hook a teen reader? We all have. So what better way to find out then a contest with the talented teens of TEEN EYES EDITORIAL.

Here's a bit about the editors . . .

Brent Taylor

Brent Taylor lives in Louisville, Kentucky. He’s an ex-gymnast and worked as a children’s and YA specialist at a New York-based literary agency for two years. His articles have appeared in School Library Journal and VOYA, and he is a contributing writer at Lambda Literary and Huffington Post Teen.

Brent was raised in middle grade fantasy, hung out with YA contemporary for years, and is now enjoying every stolen moment on his porch swing with nice literary and not-so-literary fiction. He loves narrators that take him on wild rides to worlds and situations he’s never experienced before and fresh plotlines.

You can follow him on Twitter.

Julie Daly

Julie's name is actually Julianne, but nobody ever remembers that. She became serious about being a book blogger while procrastinating finishing her NaNoWriMo novel and hasn't been able to leave the publishing world since. A book blogger for three years, Julie is also the assistant for YA author C.J. Redwine, and a critique partner or occasional beta reader to anyone who asks. She wrote her first book at age nine and has dozens of false starts for novels since then. Despite this, Julie was one of five winners in a short story competition judged by several published authors and a finalist in a competition to get a short story published in a HarperTeen anthology. When not doing any of the above, she's staring at her far-too-large to-be-read pile and trying to figure out what to read next. To the world outside of her computer, Julie's just a girl in NYC trying to get her BA in English Literature and a Publishing Certificate despite the lure of British television.

Julie is a sucker for anything with a good romance in it, especially if it's also historical fiction, fantasy, steampunk, sci-fi, dystopian, cyberpunk, or contemporary. "Time-travel," "fairy tale retelling," and "Downton Abbey" are some of her major buzz words.

You can find Julie on twitter, tumblr, and her YA book review blog.

Grace Smith

Grace is a fourteen year old who likes to think that she is more like an adult. She's known that she's wanted to go into the publishing industry since she was twelve, and was absolutely certain of it after attending BookExpo America in 2012 and falling in love with the publishing world. During those two years, Grace has been passionately blogging about books, entering writing competitions, and critiquing for authors such as Kimberly Sabatini and Lindsay Cummings. Grace is also an intern for Immortal Ink Publishing and is a Paper Lantern Lit Trendsetter. Grace has written one novel, among her many short stories and poems, and is currently hard at work on her second. In her year of competing, she has never lost a writing competition, and is her school's representative in the district competition. She reads about 2-3 books per day and can never read or write enough. When not working or daydreaming about New York City, she is known as an identical twin and a dancer.

Overall, the number one thing that Grace loves in stories is passion. She loves poetic or lyrical writing, fairy tale retellings, books based on folk tales, and she still is in love with the paranormal genre. She loves romance overall, but is also in love with historical fiction, contemporary, sci-fi, and fantasy. Grace wants a book that will make her feel alive or overly emotional.

You can find Grace on her book review blog or on Twitter.

Each editor will read different type of entries for new adult, young adult, and middle grade manuscripts (please see info. below each editor's picture for their genre tastes) on these three blogs . . .

Brenda Drake Writes...under the influence of coffee

Brenda Drake will host editor Brent Taylor who will judge query letters. The winner will receive a $100 gift voucher to use towards any of his editorial services (expires in 2014).

The Quintessentially Questionable Query Experiment

Matthew MacNish will host editor Grace Smith who will judge 1st pages (250-word max.). The winner will receive a 20K in-depth manuscript critique. 

Random Notes from Holly Bodger

Holly Bodger will host editor Julie Daly who will judge logline pitches. The winner will receive a reader’s report of their full manuscript.

The submission posts on all three blogs will go live on August 5 at 8AM EST. Here's the great part, you can enter on one, two, or all three of the blogs for a chance to win the prize on that blog (one prize per person). 

You don't have to follow us on our blogs or on twitter or spread the word to win, but we'd love it if you did. All you have to do is come back and enter on the submission post on August 5.

Note from Matt: I'm also over at Project Mayhem today, discussing FEAR.

Sarah Ahiers' Current Query Critiqued

All right, this is going to be hard enough already, so let's get right to it. Today we have Sarah's query again, this time with my feedback, in blue.

The query:

Dear Agent,

In the country Kingdom of Lovero where families of assassins lawfully kill people for the right price, sixteen-year-old Oleander “Lea” Saldana must sets out on a path of vengeance against the most powerful assassin family of all.

Okay. Hmm. This isn't bad. You've built the world in one nice succinct sentence (actually a single clause, if I remember my eighth grade English), and you hint at a probable inciting incident, but I want your opening paragraph to slam me in the chest a lot harder than this.

I really love this story, and I want to see it on the shelves at the bookstore, so I'm going to have to kind of go off in this critique. Prepare for long windedness.

So - although the world of ATR is a really rich and well painted one, and the unique elements of its religion and culture really make for an engrossing read, like every single story ever written, what actually drives this tale more than anything else is CHARACTER.

Lea is - she's just fucking awesome. There, I said it. In the beginning of the story, especially, she has a naivete and innocence to her, that while she isn't stupid by any means, sort of endears you to hear as a reader, because by the end of the opening scene, you're presented with this incredible dichotomy of personhood in which a sweet, not completely innocent, but perhaps too trusting girl also turns out to be a stone-hearted killer, and not only any old assassin, but one of the very best in her world.

Now, I know that took a while to say, but my point is that even though your world is incredibly strong in the story, and that's certainly a selling point you want to make clear in the query, I still think you need to begin with character. Everything always starts with character.

That said, you don't actually have to lose the world building in your opening hook to include more character. I would suggest you keep the first clause about the Kingdom, but instead of going into the revenge or the Da Vias, introduce us to Lea in a way that we understand her dichotomy, and we care.

Then you can get to the inciting incident right away in the next paragraph.

The list of things Lea can count on in her life has never been long: her mother will try to poison her to make Lea a better assassin, she can beat her boyfriend Val in a fight, (Oxford comma) and her bone mask will keep her safe from the angry ghosts as she kills clips someone her mark in under the cover of night. But when she trusts Val, a member of the powerful Da Vias  Assassin Family, and reveals the secret location of her home, she is betrayed and her family is slaughtered while Lea barely escapes as the sole survivor.

Okay. This is so hard. You've got a lot of great elements here. Lea's character is revealed against the backdrop of her family, and that makes for both great drama and characterization, but ... I'm not sure you need all this.

For one thing, if you change your opening hook to introduce Lea sooner and more fully, you're not going to need to do so again in this second paragraph. You do want to work the bone mask detail in, because that's just so damn awesome, but you could easily include that in the line in which you introduce Lea, and then that would give you room to make this second paragraph all about the inciting incident. 

I for one think it's important to know that the Da Vias invaded the Saldana stronghold, in what at least at the time seemed to be a power-grab, and Lea was forced to watch her entire family die a horrible fiery death. It's a pretty big deal, and motivates Lea's actions through the rest of the story. 

So, in other words, if you lose the detail about her mom's penchant for poisoning (it's awesome, I know, and I hate to see it go, but you need the room) and the detail about her being able to beat Val (introducing her in the opening as the best assassin implies this already, along with making sure it's clear his family is also assassins), then you'll have plenty of room to expand on the inciting incident.

Now there’s only one thing left to do: make the Da Vias pay.

The only problem is, the Da Vias have gone to ground and the one person who can find them is her missing uncle, banished from the Saldanas family years ago. Even if he can be found before the Da Vias realize Lea escaped their knives, Lea can’t trust him. Hells, she can’t trust anyone ever again, and definitely not her uncle’s too-attractive-for-his-own-good apprentice, Alessio, no matter what her heart and body tell her. How can she trust Alessio when the last boy she loved destroyed everything? How can she fall for Alessio when revenge is all she should care about?

I don't think you need these last two sentences. We can already infer both of these questions from what we know of the story that's already presented to us.

But when the Da Vias kidnap her uncle, Lea has a choice: use him as a distraction to finally kill the Da Vias, or trust Alessio and save all that remains of her family.

This though, is killer. One of the best sadistic choices I've seen.

ALL THAT REMAINS is a YA fantasy novel complete at 102,000 words. It would appeal to fans of Kristin Cashore’s GRACELING trilogy and Leigh Bardugo’s SHADOW AND BONE. I've always read that the titles of published works should be in italics, not in ALL CAPS, like the working titles of unpublished manuscripts, but I know you've done your research. I have a BA in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing from the University of Minnesota, served as the fiction editor for 2003 Wayfarer, the literary magazine of the U of MN, am a SCBWI member and have been accepted into the Hamline University’s MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults (January 2014). My young adult horror short story “Smothered” appears in DARK MOON DIGEST YOUNG ADULT #1.

Otherwise, this is all money. Congrats again on getting in to Hamline, by the way. I have so many friends that were undergrads there.

Thank you for your time and consideration,

Sarah Ahiers

So, in summary: I mean, there's not a whole lot to add. I already went off about what I think. The thing is, this query is already really good. The story and the world and the characters are all very strong, and that comes through already as written. But ... it could be a little better.

I really do think that if you change your hook so that it's world clause followed by awesome character clause, and then you spend the second paragraph describing the inciting incident in more detail, you'd be in great shape. Except for the details I pointed out, the ending is great.

That's it.

Man. That was hard as hell. I hope it helps, Sarah! What do you all think? Anyone want to take a stab at writing a new opening hook example?

Sarah Ahiers' Current Query

Today we have one of my oldest and bestest friend's query: Sarah Ahiers, AKA Falen. Please go visit her blog, and make sure you're following. I especially love Wednesday Weird, and Friday Fun.

Now, you'll see tomorrow, when I give my actual critique, that it's going to kind of suck. That's because I've read this manuscript. Much like writing our own queries, critiquing a query for a story in which you already know everything that happens is really hard. I know that may sound counter-intuitive, but trust me, I read a lot of queries.

Anyway, here's her letter:

Dear Agent,

In the country of Lovero where families of assassins lawfully kill people for the right price, sixteen-year-old Oleander “Lea” Saldana sets out on a path of vengeance against the most powerful assassin family of all.

The list of things Lea can count on in her life has never been long: her mother will try to poison her to make Lea a better assassin, she can beat her boyfriend Val in a fight and her bone mask will keep her safe from the angry ghosts as she kills someone in the night. But when she trusts Val, a member of the powerful Da Vias, and reveals the location of her home, she is betrayed and her family is slaughtered while Lea barely escapes as the sole survivor.

Now there’s only one thing left to do: make the Da Vias pay.

The only problem is, the Da Vias have gone to ground and the one person who can find them is her missing uncle, banished from the Saldanas years ago. Even if he can be found before the Da Vias realize Lea escaped their knives, Lea can’t trust him. Hells, she can’t trust anyone ever again, and definitely not her uncle’s too-attractive-for-his-own-good apprentice, Alessio, no matter what her heart and body tell her. How can she trust Alessio when the last boy she loved destroyed everything? How can she fall for Alessio when revenge is all she should care about?

But when the Da Vias kidnap her uncle, Lea has a choice: use him as a distraction to finally kill the Da Vias, or trust Alessio and save all that remains of her family.

ALL THAT REMAINS is a YA fantasy novel complete at 102,000 words. It would appeal to fans of Kristin Cashore’s GRACELING trilogy and Leigh Bardugo’s SHADOW AND BONE. I have a BA in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing from the University of Minnesota, served as the fiction editor for 2003 Wayfarer, the literary magazine of the U of MN, am a SCBWI member and have been accepted into the Hamline University’s MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults (January 2014). My young adult horror short story “Smothered” appears in DARK MOON DIGEST YOUNG ADULT #1.

Thank you for your time and consideration,

Sarah Ahiers

That's it!

Please thank Sarah for being awesome, and like me, save your feedback for tomorrow!

Tashs Seegmiller's Current Query Critiqued

Man, what a tough weekend. After all the sad news lately, we did have one bright spot. My kids decided to rescue a dog that was found near my daughter's new job. He is a Jack Russel Terrier, about 12 weeks old. They have named him Captain Jack Harkness. Whovians and nerds will get it.

Anyway, let's get to work on Tasha's letter. This time it will include my feedback, in blue.

The query:

Dear Agent,

Nora Clark arrives in a cheap hotel room of the afterlife with no recollection of how she got there. Whoa. Huh. This is certainly unique. To check in on her husband of thirty years and their sons, she has to complete the life to life transition. What does that mean? Her progression stalls when, of everyone who died that day, Nora is unable to complete the first major step.

Wow. Okay. I'm really undecided about this opening hook. On the one hand, it's so unique, you may get requests on premise alone. On the other hand, we have absolutely no sense of Nora's character. I always counsel people to introduce a character, and clue readers in to why we should care about them before introducing us to what happens to them, but I'm not actually sure that would work here.

If you introduced us to living Nora first, you would lose all the punch this unique opening hook packs as is. 

She is told the problem is simply that she hasn’t accepted her death, but the pain of separation from her husband and sons has made that reality clear enough. Then, Nora discovers she can interact with strangers still living, and is certain they need her help. When her assistance allows glimpses of her family, her resolve strengthens.

Okay, I'm struggling to put my finger on tone here. At first, with the mention of the cheap hotel room, I was getting a kind of a Beetlejuice vibe, but now it sounds more like Ghost. Either one is fine, and certainly ghost stories can be compelling, especially when the protagonist is the ghost, but I think the lack of a clear sense of voice is hurting this query a little. Is the story funny at parts, or is it mostly sad and serious? It can be both, of course, but try to be sure that the tone of the query matches the tone of the manuscript.

While heaven keeps giving her menial tasks, her capabilities with the strangers increase. What can she do, exactly? Just speak to the living, and help them out because she can pass along information? Or does she have other powers? Equipped with both her own knowledge and the perspective of the afterlife, she bends the regulations to better the lives of her family and the strangers. But the rules of heaven still have consequences, and Nora’s actions could jeopardize the happiness of the living and her own place in forever. Because she could get kicked out? Or what? If you could clarify this, you'd have a much better sadistic choice to end on.

TRANSCEND, women’s fiction with elements of magic realism, Is there magical realism in addition to the fact that this is already a supernatural/ghost story? Because they're not exactly the same thing. is complete at 81,000 words and would appeal to readers of Susanna Kearsley and Alice Hoffman. I currently teach high school English.

Otherwise, this housekeeping is great.

So, to summarize, I think you're in pretty good shape here. The strength of this unique premise is going to be what carries you through to some requests, I think. 

Normally I would suggest opening with a better sense of character, but I think you can skip that here because of how interesting the premise is. You could certainly try to work a better sense of character in during the middle, and in addition to that I think you should focus on voice and tone. If the story is funny and light, keep the cheap hotel room and sprinkle more like that throughout the later parts. If it's darker and more serious in tone, perhaps consider cutting that detail from the beginning.

That's it!

What do you all think?

Sorry Tasha!

I woke up feeling really sick this morning, so I'm going to have to put your query critique up on Monday.

I'm really sorry!

Tasha Seegmiller's Current Query

Do you all know Tasha? I've known her a long time (in internet years) but I haven't been to her blog much lately (I haven't been to anyone's blog much lately). But you all should check it out and follow! We've got her query on today.

Here's the letter:

Dear Agent,

Nora Clark arrives in a cheap hotel room of the afterlife with no recollection of how she got there. To check in on her husband of thirty years and their sons, she has to complete the life to life transition. Her progression stalls when, of everyone who died that day, Nora is unable to complete the first major step.

She is told the problem is simply that she hasn’t accepted her death, but the pain of separation from her husband and sons has made that reality clear enough. Then, Nora discovers she can interact with strangers still living, and is certain they need her help. When her assistance allows glimpses of her family, her resolve strengthens.

While heaven keeps giving her menial tasks, her capabilities with the strangers increase. Equipped with both her own knowledge and the perspective of the afterlife, she bends the regulations to better the lives of her family and the strangers. But the rules of heaven still have consequences, and Nora’s actions could jeopardize the happiness of the living and her own place in forever.

TRANSCEND, women’s fiction with magic realism, is complete at 81,000 words and would appeal to readers of Susanna Kearsley and Alice Hoffman. I currently teach high school English.

That's it!

Please thank Tasha for sharing, and save your feedback for tomorrow.

Elise Fallson's Current Query Critiqued

Morning. This time we have Elise's query again, but with my feedback, in blue.

The letter:

Dear Agent,

At first glance, these look like big blocks of text. Big blocks of text can strain the eyes (and the will to read on). Plugging it into word, the meat of this query (the story summary, before you get to the title) is 302 words. That's a bit long.

When a mysterious caller offers twenty-three-year-old Edessa Scottwood information about her mother’s death, Edessa doesn’t think twice about secretly meeting the contact. This isn't bad, but you're opening with the inciting incident, which is a good one, but is also overshadowing charcter a little bit. Having lost my mother at a young age, I can certainly sympathize with Edessa's situation, but I want to sympathize with who she is, first. She’s desperate for answers and would meet them on the moon if she had to. I like this. Good voice and good characterization. There’s only one catch, in exchange for information, the contact wants the Anchor protein her mother was working on. Mom was a bio-chemist or something? Trouble is, Edessa doesn’t know a damn thing about the protein and when she comes up empty-handed, the contact tries to kill her, with magic. It turns out, Edessa’s mother kept many secrets, like the fact Edessa was born a witch. Oh, and here’s another, vampires are real, and one of them just saved Edessa’s life.

Okay. Hmm. This is mostly cool. A lot of interesting elements, some unique (Anchor proteins), some not (vampires) but ... it takes a lot of words to get through this inciting incident, and I'm not sure that's helping it build to tension with tight enough pacing. Here are the points you want to cover:

• Edessa (introduce her first so we know who she is, not just what happens, and so that we care)
• Lost her mom
• Stranger calls with answers
• Wants protein info in exchange
• Tries to kill Edessa when she can't provide it (with magic)

I would maybe leave it at that, at least for your opening paragraph. Remember, the opening is really just meant to be a hook. I understand what you're going for with the kind of irreverent voice in the way you introduce the surprises, and I'm not saying it doesn't work, I just think it reads too long for an opening hook.

I'm not going to go into whether or not there is still a market for vampire books. The job of these posts is to make queries as good as they can be, not to judge the market for the story (and there will always be a market for every kind of story, even if vampires might be a tougher sell right now).

Following the attack, (I would maybe introduce the vampire here) Edessa is taken to her estranged aunt’s house where she meets an extraordinary family she never knew she had, discovers (and you could maybe introduce her being a witch here) powers she never thought possible, and develops feelings for a vampire that makes her heart do triple flips against her better judgment. But everything changes when Edessa discovers her mother’s research is being replicated by vampires of the House of the Immortal Blood. If they succeed, they’ll have the power to visually mark human carriers of the vampire gene and bring chaos to the world. One person can stop the House, the Witch of War. No one knows who she is, but many already want her dead.

This middle bit ... is actually pretty damn good. You've got a lot of specific details, and even though witches and vampires have been done, you make it clear that your story has it's own take on the details, which is certainly good. The only real problem I see here is that again it's taking a lot of words to get the point across, which takes a bit of the zing out of it. 

Also, one potential logistical problem I see is that if the House is already replicating her mother's research, what did the contact want in the beginning? I'm sure it all makes sense in the story, but be careful about conflicting information in the query.

Determined, Edessa will do whatever it takes, even if that means risking her life, dealing with treacherous immortals, or traveling halfway across the world to Paris with a vampire haunted by his own dark secrets. But will Edessa’s newly emerging powers be strong enough to stop the House or will they Her powers? succeed and climb to the top of the food chain instead? Her success will ride on her ability to trust her instincts, and her willingness to believe in herself. You don't need this last line, it's understood. What you could stand to include would be a sadistic choice. You kind of have it, with it being her powers or the House, but maybe make it clear that she could theoretically choose to run and hide (or maybe join them or something). That way, the decision is in her hands, and the tension is that much clearer.

THE FALLING WITCH is a 90,000 word New Adult You'll want at least one more word here. Fantasy? Urban Fantasy? Science-fantasy? Something, you know? novel with series potential.

Thank you for your time and consideration. Otherwise, the rest of this ending is perfect. It's your first book, so this is all you need to say.

Okay, to summarize - I think you've actually already got everything here you need. All the building blocks are here (except maybe more of Edessa's character before her story begins). You just need to pare things down so that the details pack more punch. If you could trim this query so that every important detail is still included, but get them all across in 200-250 words, I think this would pack some real punch, and would really do it's job.

You also do need to include more about Edessa. What does she do for a living? What is her life like just before the inciting incident? What kind of person is she before her adventure begins? The query is already good without those details about her character, and you don't need all of them, but introducing her right off the bat, so we care about who she is, before we start to hear about what happens to her, will make us care that much more about all of it.

I hope this helps!

That's it.

What do you all think? Disagree with me on anything?

Elise Fallson's Current Query

Today we have the lovely and adorable Elise Fallson, with her very first query. Please be sure to visit her blog, and become a follower. Back?

Here's her query:

Dear Agent,

When a mysterious caller offers twenty-three-year-old Edessa Scottwood information about her mother’s death, Edessa doesn’t think twice about secretly meeting the contact. She’s desperate for answers and would meet them on the moon if she had to. There’s only one catch, in exchange for information, the contact wants the Anchor protein her mother was working on. Trouble is, Edessa doesn’t know a damn thing about the protein and when she comes up empty-handed, the contact tries to kill her, with magic. It turns out, Edessa’s mother kept many secrets, like the fact Edessa was born a witch. Oh, and here’s another, vampires are real, and one of them just saved Edessa’s life.

Following the attack, Edessa is taken to her estranged aunt’s house where she meets an extraordinary family she never knew she had, discovers powers she never thought possible, and develops feelings for a vampire that makes her heart do triple flips against her better judgment. But everything changes when Edessa discovers her mother’s research is being replicated by vampires of the House of the Immortal Blood. If they succeed, they’ll have the power to visually mark human carriers of the vampire gene and bring chaos to the world. One person can stop the House, the Witch of War. No one knows who she is, but many already want her dead.

Determined, Edessa will do whatever it takes, even if that means risking her life, dealing with treacherous immortals, or traveling halfway across the world to Paris with a vampire haunted by his own dark secrets. But will Edessa’s newly emerging powers be strong enough to stop the House or will they succeed and climb to the top of the food chain instead? Her success will ride on her ability to trust her instincts, and her willingness to believe in herself.

THE FALLING WITCH is a 90,000 word New Adult novel with series potential.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

That's it.

Please thank Elise for having the courage to share this with us, but save your feedback for tomorrow.

This is W.A.R. - Who Would You Cast: Willa

This is the cover for Lisa and Laura Roecker's new novel This is W.A.R. It's a tie-in to the world of The Liar Society, and The Lies that Bind.

Lisa and Laura were some of my very first friends in the blogosphere. They practically wrote the second (and way better) version of my query for Warrior-Monks. The one that got me requests and won a contest at WriteOnCon. I could go on for a while about everything I love about LiLa, but suffice to say although I have not read The Lies that Bind, I have read Liar Society, and the beginning of This is W.A.R. and these sisters have a penchant for writing compelling YA Contemporary Mysteries like no other author(s) I know.

So, I'm proud to be a part of their blog tour, and to do my little part to introduce you all to their new book.

Take it away, Sistahs.

When we access our handy-dandy character spreadsheet, we have Dianna Agron cast as Willa. She has that all American beauty we each think of when considering Willa. But Willa is more than just a beautiful face. She can see beyond the surface of each of her friends and knows exactly what they need and when they need it. Her obituary is devastating--the loss of one of the most beautiful and popular students in the community. But only her friends know just how much more everyone has lost.

Matt again: I'm sure you all know Diana from Glee, or maybe I Am Number Four. If not, what's wrong with you! She's a gorgeous, talented actress, and perfect for the role of Willa if you ask me: a pivotal character in is is W.A.R.

Lisa and Laura Roecker are sisters-turned-writing partners with a passion for good books, pop culture, and Bravo programming. Not necessarily in that order. A prepubescent obsession with Lois Duncan and their mother's insistence that they read Men Are Just Desserts inspired This is WAR. The sisters live in Cleveland, Ohio, in separate residences. Their husbands wouldn't agree to a duplex. Cyberstalking is always encouraged at lisa-laura.blogspot.com and @landlroecker on Twitter.

In Which I Re-enter the Fray

I begin querying my second manuscript today: Running from Ruby Ridge. Most of you have read the query. It's changed a bit since then, but fundamentally it's pretty much the same.

I've been at this (attempt at) publishing thing for nearly four years now. When I thought about that last summer, it kind of depressed me, but jumping into the query waters once again, in what is honestly only my second real try, kind of puts things in perspective. I have friends who wrote eleven books before they got an agent. That's actually not all that many, compared to some.

I had a lot of success with my very first manuscript. No book deal, no representation from a literary agent, even, but I did get several full requests, and when you think about it, a publishing professional spending a good deal of their very valuable time to give honest and hard thought consideration to your work, your very first work, is a pretty big deal.

Of course I also spent three years writing and revising that manuscript, but this one only took me one year, so hopefully my attempts at submission will go that much better too.

I'm taking it seriously this time (not that I didn't before) with a saved project at QueryTracker.net, and paying extra attention to Publisher's Marketplace. Though I've been familiar with them for some time, I've never officially used these resources before (an Excel spreadsheet carried me through my last round) so I'll be sure to keep you all up to date on how they work out for me.

That's it, I guess. Wish me luck!