Mid-Month Agent Tweets

After skipping the month of August, mid-month agent tweets are back! Here are some great/fun tips and thoughts that amazing agents have shared so far this month. Be sure to follow these fabulous folks on Twitter if you’re not already doing so (their Twitter names are underlined).

cjdrayton Catherine Drayton (InkWell Management)
Anyone writing a YA psychological suspense novel? I keep hoping that a stunning manuscript is going to land in my inbox!

sarahlapolla Sarah LaPolla (Curtis Brown, Ltd.)
#writingtip If it's obvious who is speaking, you don't need dialogue tags. Narrative is much cleaner when you remove unnecessary "said."

SaraMegibow Sara Megibow (Nelson Literary)
Phone call this morning, "I DID send a query via email but HAD to call and tell you about it in person too."

SaraMegibow Sara Megibow
Here's the thing about phone call queries - authors don't get to call potential readers and say "But you'll LOVE it!"

literaticat Jennifer Laughran (Andrea Brown Literary)
Love a good MG or YA mystery? Looks like there is a cool new blog afoot... http://sleuthsspiesandalibis.blogspot.com/

SarahGreenhouse Sarah Davies (Greenhouse Literary)
A new day, a new world - and @juliachurchill and I are on the prowl, turning over those rocks in search of sparkling manuscripts beneath.

KOrtizzle Kathleen Ortiz (Nancy Coffey Literary)
"My book will appeal of fans of 'The Twilight'." #dontevenknowwheretobegin

RT by kate_mckean Kate McKean (Howard Morhaim Literary)
A cover letter ("Below are my synopsis and pages.") is not an acceptable substitute for an actual query letter. #pubtip

*Random comment by Jess~ Ms. McKean reopens to queries on 9/15/11!

RachelleGardner Rachelle Gardner (WordServe Literary)
it’s the author’s job to come to the agent with a publishable book: http://bit.ly/oVYZfS

AgentKristin Kristin Miller (D4EO Literary)
Back to work after vacation and reading queries. LOTS of them don't have pasted sample pages. PLEASE paste sample pages. 5-10 works.

AgentKristin Kristin Miller
After all, your query might suck, but your pages might be amazing. I'd hate to have missed out b/c of a crap query.

RT by MarleneStringer (The Stringer Literary Agency)
Even when writing in 1st person, tell us your main character's name as early as possible. I hate having no idea who is talking #writetip #fb

sarahlapolla Sarah LaPolla
Queries I never want to read: "Girl feels invisible. Meets hottest guy ever. Finds self-worth through his love. OMG he has a secret."

sarahlapolla Sarah LaPolla
THINK OUTSIDE THE TWILIGHT, WRITERS.

sarahlapolla Sarah LaPolla
BTW, a male protagonist who suddenly finds self-worth because a hot, confident love interest is totally into him is equally vomit-worthy.
*Random comment by Jess~ Sarah LaPolla's tweets rock :)

SaraMegibow Sara Megibow
#MashUpMonday - I would love to see a submission of epic science fiction. Crazy huh? Patrick Rothfuss-in-space kinda thing.

See you on Friday!