Hi all! As the title says, my brain is goo—it’s been a big week of meetings and social obligations and reading, and I wanted to give thoughts on what banning TikTok would mean for publishing (since I have beef with that Mary Sue article that came out about it last week.) But instead I’m going to answer this week’s question and go see Illinoise on Broadway tonight!
WHAT I’M READING
Pals, I fell DEEP down the monster romance rabbit hole this week. Poor Lady Joker didn’t even get picked up, neglected instead for Lillian Lark’s Monster Romance Bath House series. I’m reading wildly out of order, but so far have devoured three of them: Deceived By The Gargoyles, Entranced By The Basilisks, and Hoarded By The Dragon. They are Tremendous fun, especially if you’re a fan of Weird Appendages.
QUESTION OF THE WEEK
Just curious: Why don’t you rep children’s and YA anymore?
Good question! I don’t rep children’s and YA anymore because, in the time I was away, I didn’t really read any, whereas I kept up with my adult genre reading. I think a familiarity with what’s out there is a must for any agent, and I simply don’t have that familiarity anymore. And from what I’ve seen since my return, the market has also changed a great deal—the kind of thing I liked when I was agenting before isn’t the stuff that works these days. I actually get the feeling that much of the industry is trying to figure out what is working these days—there hasn’t really been a big breakout in a while, and if there is, I haven’t been following it—which is a sign that I am not up to speed!
Increasingly I’m seeing queries in my inbox for YA projects tagged as simply “fantasy” or “science fiction,” with sixteen year old protagonists. I’m afraid that kind of thing just isn’t all that interesting for me these days. There are fabulous agents out there doing great work in children’s and YA, so I encourage authors to look in that direction.
THIS WEEK IN HOCKEY
I’m delighted to report that the Dallas Stars have moved on to the next stage of the Stanley Cup finals! I’m tremendously happy for them and especially their cow-eyed captain, Jamie Benn. Elsewhere, the Coyotes are *checks notes* moving to Salt Lake City? And the Rangers continue to be *checks notes* fine, with their series against the Hurricanes tied 3-3.
HOUSEKEEPING
Do you have any questions about the publishing industry? Requests for advice? Thoughts on your recent reads? You can leave them as comments, replies to this email, or fill out this Google form to ask anonymously!
I am open to queries via QueryManager only, which can be found here. Here is my submissions page on the LDLA website, and here is a more detailed MSWL.
My first novel, Marrying In, is available for purchase on Kindle, Nook, and Kobo, and is coming soon to iBooks. If you’ve read it, consider leaving a review—that helps me and the book in the long run!
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