![]() ![]() And typically I take on no more than five new clients a year from the query inbox (others come from recommendations). Of those queries, I request a full manuscript on average 500 times a year (or roughly ten times a week). Let me run some numbers … … Okay I’m back. Good question! I did this math years back, but I’m sure it’s out of date. (The most beautiful prose in the world isn’t going to help you if your story is flat or too familiar.)ĥ) Approximately how many query letters do you receive per year? Of those, how many will you respond to with a request for a full manuscript? And of those, how many are likely to receive an offer of representation? The first two you can usually discover from the query and sample, but I always start with the query first, as the story concept needs to grab me, and then be supported by excellent writing. If you can embrace this concept while hanging on to the joy of creating, you have the right attitude to start a successful writing career.Ĥ) How do you weigh the importance of each submission component (query letter, synopsis, writing sample) when determining whether you will ask to read a full manuscript?Īt the end of the day I’m looking for three things: 1) An exciting concept, 2) great execution, and 3) a writer with a great attitude and work ethic. Meaning: is there a large market for the book, does your book engage with topics that will lead to classroom and online discussion (assuming you're writing for young people), does your story have the power to seize a pop-culture moment, inspire a fan base? If you can remember this unromantic fact, it will serve you so well as a working writer: a book deal is not a reward for hard work or accomplished artistry, it is a business deal between yourself and a company who believes it can turn a profit by packaging and selling your ideas. ![]() But that also means you have to find someone who thinks your story has value-not artistic value necessarily, but commercial value first and foremost. Being paid for your art is a beautiful thing. And that’s okay! Writing for money is a beautiful thing. Seriously, I’ll say it again: once you submit your project to an agent, or pursue publication, you’re now writing, at least in part, for money. And when you submit, you’re doing it for the money. When you revise, you do it to craft a gift for your reader-something that’s all about their enjoyment, rather than your own. However, if the voice is fantastic, and the author really knows how to build a moment line by line, but the third act twist really isn’t working- that’s the sort of problem we can fix together.ģ) What advice can you give to writers who are submitting their work?įirstly, remember that when you sit down to write a first draft, you’re doing it for your own enjoyment and fulfilment. If I don’t connect to the line-level writing of a project, if the writer doesn’t craft sentences clearly and transparently (or with imagination and personality), there’s very little I can do as an editorial agent to fix that issue. Story and plot are fixable, but voice often isn’t. ![]() I can usually tell from the first few lines if a writer has been polishing their craft long enough to be ready for representation. So for instance, a pitch about bullying won’t grab my attention, but a pitch about bullying where the bullies are witches and our heroes have to tap into their own ancestral magic to stop them and save the school dance? Okay, now we’re talking.Ģ) What's a typical warning sign that a manuscript isn't ready for representation? His submission guidelines are available on Publishers Marketplace.įirstly a great hook, something that tells me the writer has pushed beyond the tropes we all know and love into something really fresh and exciting. He tweets at and discusses the craft and business of writing on YouTube: Agent Brain / Writer Brain. He is also the author of the forthcoming middle-grade series Dimension Why: How to Save the Universe Without Really Trying (HarperCollins, September 2020). His focus is middle grade, young adult, and adult genre fiction. Twitter: genres: Middle grade, young adult, YA crossover, adult fantasy, sci-fi, horror, and speculative fiction.īio: John Cusick is a VP and literary agent with Folio Literary Management, representing a diverse list of award winners and New York Times bestsellers. ![]()
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