Because
I’m ready to query I’ve been trolling the web, brushing up my list of
agents.
I’ve
found a lot of great advice, and because I don’t want to make you search for it
(I’m nice like that. You’re welcome :) I’ve assembled it here. None of it is
paraphrased or made up. It all comes from agents sites or WriteOnCon forums.
Sorry this post is long. I recommend looking through for topics that interest you :)
-Angie
On Writing Problems:
Reliance on dialogue tags is a common prose issue I find. Reliance
on them to reveal emotion where characterization should be doing the trick.
On Opening Scenes:
Can't stand anyone who opens with waking from a dream or any
discussion of the weather. Or, actually, waking up period.
I heard another agent say that he had to be hooked at sentence one
and every sentence after that needed to hold onto him.
I love when the opening of a story catches me by surprise with an
unexpected voice or moment or scene. I know that's not helpful since it isn't
specific, but in those instances I *definitely* keep reading. And I always
stop if it's obviously offensive.
I think signs of an inexperienced writer are too common openings
-- looking in a mirror to describe your main character, waking up, etc. Or
plots that feel like they've been done a billion times.
Sure, any masterful writer can grab any of
these “openings” and do them justice but for us mere mortals, they tend to be
groan worthy:
- Characters inexplicably getting
sucked into a portal for no apparent reason
- A
person gathering herbs in the forest (Honestly, it can’t happen as frequent as I seem to see
it in opening chapters).
- A
battle scene. (Goodness, let me
get attached to some characters before you start whacking them).
- A prologue.
- A
distant third person narrative to start (ie. The boy, the old man, the healer)
- Clumsy
incorporating of back story in your dialogue.
- Launching
your narrative via a dream sequence.
- Heroine waking up alone with a
man in her room.
- Tired
SF or Fantasy staples: i.e.: quest for a magical artifact, typical characters
(dwarf, elf, the warrioress who doesn’t know she has magical powers), a modern
woman who is really the savior on an alternate world.
- Man sitting on steed in pouring rain.
- Woman standing on high wall looking out into
the distance at something
- Starting
your cover letter for your sample pages with: this is a 250,000 word
manuscript… (Guaranteed to send me
running while screaming).
On Clichés
Not every cheerleader needs to be a b%*#!. But also, you don't
have to spend a whole novel showing us how UNlike stereotypes your characters
are.
devil's advocate: NOT ALL CLICHES SHOULD BE AVOIDED! THEY CAN
PROVIDE A RELATABLE SHORTHAND FOR HUMAN EXPERIENCE. CLICHES ARE FAMILIAR AND OH
SO COMFORTING FOR A REASON! I guess this is my last word. If you can spoon feed me a cliché and then
turn it on its head and subvert all my expectations without me feeling cheated,
you're gold.
On Queries:
I love when a query is professional and tells me enough about the
story to want to keep reading. I hate when an author talks more about
themselves than the story (or sometimes ONLY about themselves...this seriously
happens more than you would think)
I love it when they get my name right. :)
I really like something that's got the voice of the character. It
gives me a better idea of whether I will enjoy reading the manuscript. And anyone who can
give a query letter voice is awesome--it's really hard--so that is a big plus
for me because it's a sign the manuscript might be really awesome
I'm different from a lot of agents in that I tend to like gimmicky
stuff. I've taken on (and sold) several clients who wrote their query letters
in the voice of their heroines, for example. I also tend to like it if you can
start your query letter with a "what if" question, although those can
be hard to pull off.
And I despise queries that start with rhetorical questions!
On Characters:
If the characters really hook me, I can forgive plot holes because
I can help fix those, but if I don't feel engaged at any point, I'll stop
reading. Unfortunately, I just have too much to read.
Characters who are active about trying to better their situation,
even if they're scared, rather than allowing things to happen to them, are my
favorite kinds of characters.
On social media:
I'd say one of the biggest mistakes I
see PEOPLE making with today's online social media craze is forgetting that
your online persona is just that, a PERSONA. You don't have to reveal all your deepest
darkest thoughts to everyone on the internet. I also think PEOPLE get too angry on the internet sometimes. I've
seen lots of twitter fights and amazon review fights and blogger fights, and
sure people read and talk about them, but sometimes it's hard to respect the
people involved. Think before you react.
Use the query letter to pitch your
project. Be using social media (in the background) to pitch yourself.
First of all, I state publicly that
before a writer submits a query to me, that writer should have a website live. I
think an active and professional website is like a business card. When I request sample
pages from a writer, if I get to page 10 and really like the writing, I stop. I
go immediately to google and I cyber stalk that writer. I am impressed if I see
something there that looks professional. Is it a deal breaker? no. But, I will
repeat - I am impressed when I see something there.
As soon as I know I like the
manuscript, I google the author. A strong online presence is a plus, but the
deciding factor is always the person's writing.
I don't do too much digging for the
author online unless I know I already love the full manuscript. Before that, a
bad or ill-used online presence can turn me off an author, but a good one
doesn't mean much. Once I know I love a manuscript, though, I do want to see
how they comport themselves online, and how comfortable they are doing so.
(next)
I like when writers have the (short)
pitch and a (short) sample on their websites.
On Middle Grade
I often get asked by writers
what the biggest difference is between Middle Grade and Young Adult. There are
a number of answers to this that I would agree with, but to me personally, the
biggest different is the “heart.” I’m not talking about romance or highly
emotional scenes (all genres can have that). I’m talking about that feeling
that you can have only when you’re too young to have experienced adulthood yet.
When you think, no–you know–that you can make a difference. You can change the
world (and when I say world, it can be the world at-large, or the world in a
more insular way…whatever “the world” is to the character).
On offering representation
I know I
want to offer representation when I (a) tell my husband about the manuscript,
and (b) start thinking about editors I'd want to send it to.
I know I definitely want to publish it
when I start thinking about the selling points I'm going to put in our tip
sheet even before I finished!
For me, it's a feeling I have that I've
learned to recognize over years of doing this. When I start thinking about who
will want to buy this and which of my friends must read this book, then I can't
ignore it.
It's always different with knowing when
I want to offer representation, but I do look at all of a writer's stuff and
get second reads. I also look at the author's online presence--website, blog
posts, tweets, interviews, etc. to get a fuller picture of who they are and
whether we would be a good fit.
On Self Publishing
Here's what I'll say: I'm surprised at
the number of blogs and posts I read about self-pubbing that don't mention the
tremendous amount of work done by editors, copy editors, designers, etc. it
takes a village to make one book.
If you self-pubbed, JUST to eventually
get traditionally pubbed, you risk shooting yourself in the foot
The corrupt society antagonist. This antag shows up in
almost every dystopian novel. The reason it’s so chilling is because—EVERYTHING
is against the protag: the government, the way people think, the entire
culture, usually their families, etc.
Have
you heard of inkPageant yet? It's an amazing new site where you can access great
writing advice from other bloggers. Sign up and you can add your own amazing
posts for others to read :) This is a great way to find new followers and get great writing tips.
Tonight I'm staring at my computer screen through the narrow slits of my swollen eyes. I just finished a movie where I had no choice but to completely surrender myself and cry my eyes out. My hands were tied! It was heart-wrenching, difficult, lovely, romantic, real, and poignant. 
He is kissing
me like he always does, but there is no spark—no life on my lips.
I'm no Art History buff by any means, but I do remember one thing from my 10th grade teacher, Tony Taylor. Relief Sculpture. 
