A query letter, as most people who have ever written one will attest, can be… a challenge. To ensure you’re putting your best foot forward, come to this year’s Query Roulette to get feedback specific to your letter and your manuscript. With the opportunity to talk to as many as ten agents at one event, there’s no doubt it can be a game changer.
To help you prepare and choose which agents are the best fit for you, here’s Q&A from some of this year’s participants:
Tess Callero (Curtis Brown, Ltd.)
Tess represents YA, Adult Fiction (Commercial and Upmarket Women’s Fiction, Mysteries/Thrillers, Romance), and Adult Nonfiction (Pop Culture, Business, Cookbooks, Humor, Biography, Self-Help, Food). For more information, you can follow her on Twitter @tesscallero.
You shared in your interests that you like YA with stories of friendship. What friendship narrative, from any medium, do you admire?
I totally fell for Lady Bird and Julie’s friendship in Lady Bird. I went to 18 years of Catholic school and I think Saoirse Ronan and Beanie Feldstein perfectly captured what it’s like growing up in that bubble; they’re self-aware enough to know there is more beyond the life their parents set for them, and they cling to one another to avoid falling into the mediocre destiny of their more popular peers. Their friendship felt so authentic – and the scene where they eat the communion wafers still cracks me up when I think about it.
What kind of pop culture nonfiction do you wish you saw more frequently?
Anything with a new perspective on media/how we consume media is really interesting to me. Showcasing something, even if it’s been discussed at length, through a lens we’ve never seen before in a very smart way – that’ll always catch my attention. For example, I just read Bachelor Nation and I came away from it with so much more than I thought I would – it wasn’t just a dishy tell all, but an examination of how a show that perpetuates gender stereotypes can be adored by thousands of feminists. It’s a topic that’s been discussed at length, but Amy Kaufman’s delivery of it was super engaging and really made readers think about the intersection of culture, media, and gender stereotypes.
What do you dislike seeing in commercial fiction queries?
Outdated comp titles! They should be published in the last 5 years. It shows the agent that you’re well-read and aware of the market in which you are writing.
Christina Morgan (Serendipity Literary Agency)
Christina is a journalist turned agent who is accepting submissions for Literary Fiction, Crime Fiction, and Narrative Nonfiction in the categories of Pop Culture, Sports, Current Events, and Memoir.
Is there a subgenre of crime fiction that you wish you saw more?
More badass women detectives and please good god no more premises involving violence against women.
What is a common pitfall that you see authors fall into when writing memoir?
You must assess if this is truly something of interest to the outside world and if you have the platform to sell a personal story.
What do you wish more literary fiction queries included?
I would like to know where the person studied and who with, comp titles that are current to show the person reads. I base my decision on literary fiction solely on my subjective reaction to the writing. Main rule is: don’t get cute. Just tell me who you are and the premise of your book.
Check back on Tuesday to hear from more participating agents!
To register for Query Roulette, click here.
To join WNBA-NYC and to receive our member-only pricing for the event, click here.
By Rina Mody
Rina’s a marketing assistant at a publishing company in NY. She’s an avid traveler and loves to go to new places – both real and fictional.
