I was going to and then literally forgot it was November all weekend so I am also already three days behind 🤣

Also happy birthday to your kiddo!

For small presses, you most definitely can nudge! I would say evaluate how serious you are about their offer, if every agent passed would you take it? If an agent stepped in and offered, would you be okay turning the press down? I've had plenty of authors nudge when getting small press offers!

I think it's totally okay to query two at once! I've encountered lots of authors who do. I would try and make sure you're querying agents who would rep both MSs if they're different genres. And it is definitely okay to say I got an offer on x but you have y, would you be interested in seeing x?

For the villain Q, that is more of a preference thing for the agent/editor. So it is really up to you how you'd like to portray the villains your story!

I'm definitely seeing more science fantasy in my inbox, so I think it's only a matter of time before we start seeing it on editor lists! As for character driven or plot driven, that is really dependent on the story itself and your writing style!

But I'm not stopping looking for those stories and signing those authors and I've talked to a lot of agents who feel the same way as I.

You are not the first person to ask me this recently. And while every agent has different editor relationships, the editors that I have spoken with are still very much wanting those stories (and all diverse works). Is that true across the board? Probably not, I'm sure there are editors who are wary.

And that is time on this one! If you still want to drop questions, I'm happy to answer but I'll probably be delayed on responding now that my little is home! ☺️

Then yes I definitely jump full tilt into an offer email and proceed to scream about what I loved about the book and set up a call! 😅

I will say I've never run into anything yet on socials that's made me go nope. I'm not trying to worry people about this, I do look, but not every agent does!

I definitely do check out socials if people have them. I mostly like to see what's the vibe like and to make sure that there's no racism or transphobia especially. I know who I am and who my authors are and it's important to me to make sure that we're all going to be in a safe and accepting space.

Slowing down, I've been seeing fewer romantasy (it's definitely still selling!). I'm over here waiting for MG to pick back up in force and I'm hoping it happens soon!

It is important to know that deals posted there don't reflect when that book was 'sold' as it can take (a lot) of them to announce.

Ooo good question! Publishers Marketplace is a very much needed resource for agents as they share publishing deals daily so we can watch trends. I only do fiction so that's what I watch and I've been seeing quite a few deals in horror, literary fiction and thrillers recently.

The other thing is the voice in the pages! Characters that jump off the page, that I can feel like I'm there with them in the scene especially, those immediately stand out to me.

Good question! The biggest thing for me is clear stakes, I get a lot of queries where I'm not sure what the potential end game is. I don't want spoilers but I want to know what is potentially coming if our MC fails/doesn't get it done etc. Too often stakes are left vague or broad, make it personal!

My TBR pile is huge 😅 but I try to take breaks from subs to reset my brain. I just finished Brewed with Love by Shelly Page (loved it!). Up next is They Bloom at Night by Trang Thanh Tran, You Weren't Meant to Be Human by Andrew Joseph White and The Truth According to Ember by Danica Nava!

YA mystery! I've gotten a few queries that I've enjoyed that are mysteries mixed with another genre and I've really ended up enjoying them! So I'll be adding that to my MSWL for next year!

What their plans are! It's one of the first things I ask on an offer call. What are your goals? What do you want to write next? I love knowing what their desires are for their author career. I'm in it for an author's whole career and if I know where they want to go, we can make a plan to get there!