Happy Monday, writers! As the summer winds down and the kids head back to school â and publishing professionals start returning to their desks â itâs the perfect time to jump back into querying and get your manuscript in front of fresh eyes.
Here are the agents who opened to queries in the past week (August 19-25), along with information about what theyâre looking for, some of their published titles, and their query link.
Best of luck, and happy querying!
Note that this newsletter is purely informational and is not an endorsement of any particular agent or agency.
Susan Hawk of Upstart Crow Literary
Susan represents work for children and teens only: picture books, chapter books, middle grade, and young adult, along with some non-fiction for young readers. She doesnât represent adult projects. Books that tell the stories of people, places, and cultures that have been overlooked and ignored for too long are at the top of her list.Â
Sheâs drawn to projects that are character-driven, tightly plotted, and have a singular, specific voice. Here are some more details about the types of books sheâs looking for:Â
Layered, flawed, completely human characters.
Writing thatâs confident, vivid, addictive; work thatâs both ambitious and wise.
Humor is important, even in a narrative thatâs dark or sad or edgy.
Sense of place mattersâprecise, expressive settings delight her.
Both literary and commercial work. Send her your high-concept and hooky; your award-winners; the books that will become backlist gold.
She wants to be surprisedâthereâs nothing like the feeling that youâre reading something entirely new.
She looks for projects that know kids are smart and perceptive and feeling deeply; that make the reader feel seen. If youâre creating work that could be described as generous, nuanced, and at ease with complexity, sheâd love to read it.Â
Some published titles: A Taxonomy of Love by Rachael Allen, Birdie and Me by J.M.M. Nuanez, Ever Since by Alena Bruzas
Link to query đ