The Agent Search

Dear Writerly Friends,

Wow. So much is going on.

Let's start with today. I am one of 20 agent-seeking writers participating in An Agent's Inbox. Author Krista Van Dolzer at the blog Mother. Write. (Repeat.) runs this occasional query contest. (Read the explanatory post here.) John Cusick of Greenhouse Literary is the guest agent this time. Krista writes:

"Essentially, The Agent will be answering the question, 'How much of the entry did you read, and if you didn't read it all, why did you stop?' I think this process will be instructive for all of us, but if you enter, you need to be prepared to hear exactly what The Agent thinks of your query and first page."

Stop by Krista's blog and leave a comment on the queries +250 words. Mine is #11. 

Last week was Susanna Leonard Hill's Halloweensie writing contest (you can still vote on the finalists here!) This week, An Agent's Inbox. Have you noticed a trend?

More and more writing bloggers are running contest for writers -- an extra opportunity to connect with an editor or agent. I think this is great. We are, after all, Writerly Friends.

My friend Veronica Bartles wrote an insightful post about the value and risks of these online pitch contests. Miss Veronica sold a book to Swoon Romance this summer and then signed with an agent, who will be shopping around her second book. Her advice is GOLDEN.

Veronica also posts a monthly list of online writing and pitch contests at Sub-it Club.

While we're talking contests, Poetry Friday blogger Tabatha Yeatts won the signed copy of Elisabeth Dahl's MG novel GENIE WISHES!

What else is happening? 


This past weekend, I went to SCBWI Eastern PA's Fall Fest and Critique Fest with my friend Naomi. This conference is much smaller than those offered in Maryland and the DC area -- only about 60 attendees. The featured speaker was Bryan Collier. (60 adults trying not to cry happy tears of inspiration.)

My favorite part, though, the thing that had me driving 2.5 hours to this conference, was the critique fest. Every attendee had three critiques (first 10 pages): one with an agent, one with an author, one with an editor. The rest of the day was spent in a small group, peer critiquing.

I have been on the other side of the critique table, folks. When you are a critiquing author, and the person across from you was convinced she was going to sell a book to an editor today, it can get awkward.

I loved the structure of this day. Wouldn't it be great if more SCBWI regions ran their critiques this way? There was valuable feedback from each person I spoke with.

Including peer feedback -- genius! A chance to discuss work in a group setting and maybe even make contacts for future critique partners.

Choosing anyone's manuscript or poem out of thousands of submissions is no easy task. As an editor, I read easily 1,000 pieces of writing for each issue of Little Patuxent Review. Right now, I'm narrowing the poetry selection from my top 75 down to about 30. From there, the guest editor and I will make more cuts for our Winter 2014 issue.

What do I look for before I mark a poem accepted?
1. The piece strikes a chord with me on some level.
2. It is well written. In the case of a poem, I'm looking for work that is not overly prosaic, that uses poetic elements to tell a story or explore an idea or image.
3. It is something our reading audience will enjoy. Or, it will stretch the readers' thinking in some way.
4. It fits the overall composition of the issue.

In many ways, I think editors and agents of children's literature are looking for similar things. Even #4 -- agents are building lists. They want to represent a variety of clients. How does the person querying fit into that mix of voices and styles that agent already handles?

Happy querying, everyone! Remember to stop by Mother. Write. (Repeat.) and check out those letters to John Cusick.

Amok in Men's Clothes: Literary Cross Dressing

so much depends upon a red mini van filled with women who publish children’s books A few weeks ago, my straight-off-the-lot Toyota Sienna had some unusual passengers. I’d volunteered to chauffeur a carload of children’s lit agents, editors and authors to the airport/train station near my house. They were in Maryland for our regional SCBWI (http://www.scbwi.org/) conference. In the back, where my kids usually sit: Linda Pratt of Sheldon Fogelman Agency, Martha Mihalick of Greenwillow, and Aimee Friedman – Scholastic editor and YA author. Riding shotgun, none other than Newbery Honor winner Cynthia Lord. Wow. I listened to their shoptalk. Chimed in about hot titles and favorite reads in children’s books. But the most fascinating topic that came up is what I am calling literary cross-dressing. The conversation began with Kevin Henkes. The picture book author is also an award-winning children’s novelist (not to mention a hottie, according to my passengers). I loved his Newbery Honor winner Olive’s Ocean. The book is told in third person, but the limited omniscient narrator sticks to the thoughts and experiences of adolescent Martha Boyle. The voice is so true to girlhood that Aimee Friedman said her reaction to the book was, “How did Kevin Henkes get inside my head?” I wish I had written down the lengthy list of male authors who the experts in my car said write great female protagonists. However, when I asked about women who write well in boys’ voices, it was quiet enough to hear my van’s brand-new engine humming. “J.K. Rowling,” someone offered. Lots of agreement. Then…not much else. “Why is that?” I asked, realizing that the novel and two picture books I’ve been shopping around all feature boys. The conversation stuck with me. Why do so few women write in boys’ voices? Is it that hard to do?

Maybe you’re like me – growing up with sibs of the opposite sex. I did not realize until I was an adult and an author how fascinated I’d been with my brothers, how deeply I remember their adventures and quirks and mishaps. Probably because they were so strangely different from me. (You'd never catch me with a pair of y-fronts on my head, pummeling my brother in a mock pro-wrestling match.) Some cross-dressed reading to check out, in addition to Olive’s Ocean: Phillip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy is third person omniscient, but pre-adolescent Lyra is the central character in the story; Nancy Springer’s realistic YA novel, Toughing It; Wendelin Van Draanen’s middle grade novel, Flipped, alternates between the female and male first person narrators; William Carlos William’s poem, “The Widow’s Lament in Springtime,” is one of my favorites -- the speaker of the poem is a woman; classics like Anna Karenina and Madame Bovary. Love, Stargirl, by Jerry Spinelli. To my mind, Stargirl was a better read because the male narrator guided the reader as he tried to understand Stargirl. If you think of more good reads, send a comment. Or maybe you know of a book where literary cross-dressing does not work – a male author just couldn’t pull off that female voice (or vice versa).

Your weekly writing exercise TBP soon.