Search found 29 matches

by askmonkey
May 22nd, 2012, 1:05 pm
Forum: Queries
Topic: Query critique -- Necklace of Tears
Replies: 13
Views: 6631

Re: Query critique -- Necklace of Tears

Here is the query letter I ended up with. My critique group does a query letter day now and then where we each write query letters for each other. This letter is a pastiche of lines I liked from other people's attempts: Necklace of Tears (53,000 words) is a YA historical fiction set in 11th century ...
by askmonkey
May 21st, 2012, 8:39 pm
Forum: Queries
Topic: Query critique -- Necklace of Tears
Replies: 13
Views: 6631

Re: Query critique -- Necklace of Tears

Thanks everyone for your feedback! I ended up landing an agent with my revised query, so yay! We're in the process of submitting right now. Fingers crossed!
by askmonkey
June 7th, 2010, 7:10 pm
Forum: Ask Nathan
Topic: Old Ask Nathan Thread
Replies: 793
Views: 405355

Re: Ask Nathan

So I wrote my first book many years ago (a MG high fantasy with an Indian twist) and had basically given up trying to sell it. I queried about thirty agents and found one who liked it. My agent then had trouble selling the book to publishers and eventually we ended up parting ways (for unrelated rea...
by askmonkey
February 22nd, 2010, 11:09 pm
Forum: Self-Publishing
Topic: Unpublished coauthors of fiction
Replies: 6
Views: 3364

Re: Unpublished coauthors of fiction

I co-write with my twin sister and we were previously agented for our first novel. The way our agent handled it was to write a contract for each of us that said that she could market our manuscript for us. Subsequently, I wrote another novel on my own and she was set to help me with that one as well...
by askmonkey
February 22nd, 2010, 11:04 pm
Forum: Finding An Agent
Topic: A couple of questions re: YA & queries
Replies: 4
Views: 2508

Re: A couple of questions re: YA & queries

1) include the age. "teenage" can mean 13 year old or it can mean 19 year old. BIG difference. or at the very least say "middle school" vs "high school" 2) I think it's a bit premature to worry about the name at this point. "grayson" isn't a big deal, I don't ...
by askmonkey
February 22nd, 2010, 10:56 pm
Forum: Procrastination
Topic: What Brings You to the Keyboard?
Replies: 12
Views: 5004

Re: What Brings You to the Keyboard?

I agree with simpatico. Sometimes and idea pops into my head and I just have to write it down and see where it goes. (That new idea feeling is such an exciting one, isn't it?) The people I first want to share it with isn't the whole wide world, but the people I care about. But that being said, I do ...
by askmonkey
January 7th, 2010, 9:23 pm
Forum: Procrastination
Topic: A forum game: three word story
Replies: 83
Views: 28129

Re: A forum game: three word story

LOL!!! oops. great typo.
by askmonkey
January 7th, 2010, 6:39 pm
Forum: Procrastination
Topic: Facebook vs. Twitter
Replies: 23
Views: 9743

Re: Facebook vs. Twitter

for me it's those darn personal-info-stealing facebook games.
by askmonkey
January 7th, 2010, 6:37 pm
Forum: Procrastination
Topic: A forum game: three word story
Replies: 83
Views: 28129

Re: A forum game: three word story

Here's what's been written so far with mine in blue: Once upon a horse Sonja feared the darkness across the river might be too deep. Sighing, she turned and found a block of cheese made of Venusian so she picked up a sword to pierce into the looming thicket. "No!" said the block of cheese!...
by askmonkey
January 7th, 2010, 6:30 pm
Forum: Self-Publishing
Topic: "Bookify" - A Good Idea?
Replies: 1
Views: 2729

Re: "Bookify" - A Good Idea?

I think it's a great idea too. When I got my kindle 2 last year, the first thing I thought was...why is there no social networking aspect? A way to let other know what you're reading on your device, what you've enjoyed, what you didn't like. A "playlist" kind of thing is a similar idea, bu...
by askmonkey
January 6th, 2010, 12:17 pm
Forum: Queries
Topic: Query critique -- Necklace of Tears
Replies: 13
Views: 6631

Re: Query critique -- Necklace of Tears

Thanks everyone for the comments!
by askmonkey
January 5th, 2010, 1:54 pm
Forum: Queries
Topic: Query critique RYAN WRITES A BOOK
Replies: 5
Views: 3127

Re: Query critique RYAN WRITES A BOOK

At some point every boy has to face the question: has he outgrown monster stories? Must he put away his velociraptors, his transformers, his bug-eyed aliens with spidery legs for something even more scary? School dances, body hair, girls? 3 questions is a bit much, especially since you prefaced it ...
by askmonkey
January 4th, 2010, 9:56 pm
Forum: Writing
Topic: YA mystery VS A mystery
Replies: 8
Views: 4439

Re: YA mystery VS A mystery

I know this isn't a book but, have you seen Veronica Mars? It was cancelled some years back, but you can rent it on netflix and probably at your local video store. Basically it was a mystery show centered around a high school girl who was mature for her age and was handling some pretty heavy issues ...
by askmonkey
January 4th, 2010, 4:35 pm
Forum: Queries
Topic: Query critique -- Necklace of Tears
Replies: 13
Views: 6631

Re: Query critique -- Necklace of Tears

Thanks everyone for the feedback! I'll definitely use them for my revisions. It looks like everyone agrees about their being too many named characters. :) some specific responses: @ Krista G. and saskia -- I included the works in progress because I'd read somewhere (probably from one specific agent ...
by askmonkey
January 4th, 2010, 3:52 pm
Forum: Queries
Topic: What to do with multiple query versions
Replies: 1
Views: 1545

What to do with multiple query versions

Just wondering--when people post revisions for their query letters, is it more helpful to read the previous versions and comment on the revisions or to just read the most recent version cold and comment on that only?