All Things Middle Grade

Roly

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Are kids with powers books played out? They're a hard sell in YA apparently, but what about MG?
 

Supergirlofnc

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Are kids with powers books played out? They're a hard sell in YA apparently, but what about MG?

I don't know but I've seen some MG books in the bookstore that have kids with powers. My guess is it depends on the story? I wish I could be more help!
 

MirandaintheMidwest

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New to AW--Saying hello

Hello,

I've read through a few pages on this thread, and this community feels welcoming and encouraging. Very cool. I'm excited to become a part of it.

I'm a high school English teacher and have been writing seriously for about six years. I've completed a YA fantasy novel (97,000 words) and a handful of short stories and poems--none of which got published, but they were good learning experiences.

My latest work is an MG fantasy novel (48,000 words). I sent out a first batch of twenty queries last month and got a full request (and subsequent rejection), a referral to another agent, and three very quick "no's." Maybe I'm reading too much into the query process, but I'm taking the lack of response as an indication that the book isn't quite there yet. Instead of sending out another batch this month, I've decided I'm going to keep learning: talk to other writers, read more books on writing, and revise my manuscript (yet again) with fresh 2015 eyes.

It's terrific to see all the writers for MG, and I wish everyone good energy going into the holiday season, the winter solstice, and the new year.
 

Supergirlofnc

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Hi Miranda,

It's nice to meet you! Good luck on your MG fantasy and good luck with revising. I just got some feedback and I'm about to enter revisionland too. Here's to a good December :)
 

Stylo

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Hello Miranda, and welcome!
If there's one thing I've learned about the submission process it's that it's glacial. It can take months to hear back from some agents, so don't necessarily take silence as a pass.

That said, it is a good idea to let a project rest sometimes.

When you hit 50 posts you can get a few pages critiqued on Share Your Work, (which is an eye-opening experience!) and also post your query letter for constructive feedback.

I found these resources helped tremendously, as no matter how awesome your MS is, if your query/sample pages aren't up to scratch you'll hit a brick wall.

You've already had a request though, so yours can't be bad ;)
 

heza

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MirandaintheMidwest said:
Maybe I'm reading too much into the query process, but I'm taking the lack of response as an indication that the book isn't quite there yet.

Congratulations on the referral! I hope it pans out. And good luck with any revising you do.

Are you not getting responses on full or partial requests? Or are you not getting responses for on the initial query (and how many sample pages are being sent)? Usually when someone stalls out at the query stage without getting many requests, we tend to think it's trouble with the query letter not connecting well, rather than flaws in the manuscript (necessarily—I mean, someone could have a problem with the sample pages, I suppose).

Have you had the query vetted? Like Stylo said, after 50 posts, you can ask for help in Query Letter Hell, and in the meantime, you can read other queries going through critique and see if anything speaks to you. When I decided my writing was probably not up to snuff and I needed to do some learning, I spent a lot of time hanging out in SYW, reading other threads and seeing what people had to say about mistakes. Just the observing helped me find a lot of the problems in my own writing.

Welcome!


(And, Laurie, good luck on your revisions, too!)
 

MirandaintheMidwest

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Hello back to Supergirl, Stylo, Heza, and Jed, :)

I didn't have my query vetted here on AW, but I did have a couple of people read it. After December, I think I can call most of the queries CNR's. I know I should start with revising my query, but in all honesty, I probably queried the manuscript too soon. :(
 
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endearing

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Hello! :)

I read and write a lot of YA, but I'm starting to wonder if upper middle grade is my real sweet spot. A disproportionately large number of the upper middle grade books I've read end up becoming some of my favorite books of all time. I haven't written any middle grade novels yet (besides a few unfinished drafts when I was in middle school), but I keep hoping that as I improve my craft I will one day be able to write one. :)
 

Stylo

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Hi there endearing! I'm with you on the upper-middle grade thing -- I'm writing my first one at the moment and it's so much fun to write!
 

iwillwhisperno

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New to Forum!

Happy to have found this place! I am an agented MG writer, first book is currently being shopped, and am in the deep waters of editing my second MG. I am looking for a supportive community to build my writing craft with. Any tips? Any fingers pointing me in a certain direction? Preferably not the middle finger as that is usually pointed up. Many thanks and am so excited to have found you!
 

heza

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Congrats on finding an agent! Good luck with subbing and with your edits.

I guess, generally, we say "read the stickies" for general advice. I don't frequent it, but there's a thread in the Rejection and Dejection sub-forum where people who are on sub can commiserate.

Other than that, welcome, and if you think of anything specific you want to ask, someone's sure to know something. I think we've got at least a few MG authors here who are currently on submission.
 

D.Varsha

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Help me understand rejection letters

Hi,

I'm writer of contemporary romance who is now dipping her pen in the MG market, because my eight year old is badgering me to write something she can read.

I have written a 43,000 upper MG fantasy. Currently doing my third edit and querying at the same time. A few agents rejected yet wrote the following, "While this has some nice points…", " wasn’t connecting wholeheartedly with your writing, despite its many charms," "and I hope you will continue querying other agents with this,".

Does anyone understand these cryptic agent feedbacks?

All this feedback is leaving me confused. I have no clue where I'm going wrong. Does anyone here know of critique groups who can review maybe the first 10 pages or more of my MS and the Query letter? I need a perspective other than mine.

Thank you for all your help and suggestions. Thank you.

Regards,
Varsha
 

heza

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Hi D. Welcome!

Well, let's start with the critique part so you have links to look at.

You've got enough posts to create your own post in the Children's SYW subform of Share Your Work (password=vista) where other MG writers (us) will take a look and give you feedback. Within Share Your Work also lies Query Letter Hell SYW, where you can get feedback from some very knowledgeable people about your current query letter. If you're looking for a Beta Read of a greater portion of your work, you can also post a request in Beta Readers, Mentors, and Writing Buddies.

What most people here will advise is that before you start your own post in SYW, you look at some of the other posts there and offer feedback. This serves several purposes: 1) By not only critiquing other people's work but also watching it get critiqued by others, you learn to identify what might be basic issues in your own work. If you can fix these issues on your own before you post in SYW, you'll get more meaningful crit on deeper issues rather than surfaces ones you could have already fixed. 2) If you show a willingness to critique other people's work, thus giving to the community before you receive, you're likely to get more and more experienced critters on your thread (we like to help people who help other people). 3) Watching and participating in critique in an objective way, first, lets you see the process of it so that when it's your turn to get critiqued, it won't sting as much and you'll have a feel for the etiquette in receiving crit and thanking critters.

You might also get some comments here about waiting to query further until you've completed your third edit and feel your work is the best it possibly can be. Many people feel it's wasted effort to send out work you know needs more editing because you'll potentially burn the bridge with that particular agent for that particular work if it's not quite ready to query.


As to what the rejection comments mean... it's difficult to tell from such short snippets. They might be anything from kindly worded form rejections, to agents who genuinely liked your work but didn't love it quite enough to take it on, to agents who loved it but don't quite have the connections to sell your particular type of story but know surely someone else in the industry will. Form rejections are general and vague. Personalized rejections are a little more specific and sometimes mention details from the manuscript. If it seems specific enough to have been personalized, then I'd take them at face value—i.e., you probably just haven't found the right agent for it yet.
 
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D.Varsha

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Thank you so much Heza. U da best!

You have given me immensely helpful information. It seems the SYW requires a password other than the one we use to login in the forum. Do you know anything about it? Thank you once again! :)))
 

heza

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Thank you so much Heza. U da best!

You have given me immensely helpful information. It seems the SYW requires a password other than the one we use to login in the forum. Do you know anything about it? Thank you once again! :)))

I edited my post above afterward, but if you haven't seen it, the password for SYW is vista.
 

Jaegur

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Hi there MG people! I'm mainly a YA writer, but while driving yesterday an idea for a MG hit me full on in the face, a real tooth-buster.

Now, as I sit and think on it, I wonder if it will appeal to the younger audience, or any audience at all. I've never posted my ideas or plots anywhere around AW, so figured I'd ask you folks if there's a place, or if I can ask here, or if I should just shut up and write it.


*waves*
 

heza

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Hi Jaegur!

I'm sure you can talk about your ideas here, but there's also the sandbox for general brainstorming.
 

Jaegur

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Thanks! I went ahead and made a scatter-brained thread over there.
 

stepheniesue

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I thought I'd introduce myself here. I am working on my first book, a MG sci-fi/adventure. I am sure I will be on this forum a lot :)
 

CheG

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Hey-o kidlit gang!!

Anyone else love books about contests? Have any recommendations?

My brain seems to default to "let's make it a competition!" and I'm not sure if it's because I watch too much reality TV (and I don't even watch that much...) or because I watch lots of anime and like half of those are competition based...

How valid is this as a plot device and at what point does it become repetitive?
 

Morrell

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CheG, my favorite MGs about competitions/contests are The Gollywhopper Games by Jody Feldman and The Candymakers by Wendy Mass. Have never tried to write one, but ... hmmm, I wonder....

I think it's perfectly valid as long as you make the reader care about the character(s) and outcome! Competiton is a basic human impulse.
 
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