Query Letter Critique

As a literary agent, I’ve reviewed tens of thousands of query letters. Over the years, I developed a keen eye for the queries that signal that an author and book have great potential. Query writing is its own art form—not every great children’s book author is a a great query letter writer. I’m here to help make your query letter shine with a line-by-line review and big picture edits and advice. Where appropriate, I can also provide industry knowledge, tips and suggestions that might be helpful to you.

Publishing Industry Consultation

So you want to be a children’s book writer—but have no idea where to start? Maybe you just want to ask an industry insider your specific-to-you questions or figure out how to best position yourself. Sign up for a 30-minute phone call with a children’s book publishing expert. Ask all your questions and get tailored guidance on where you go from here. This service comes with the option to share one work, synopsis, or query letter in advance so I can have some extra context for our conversation.

Picture Book Manuscript Critique

As a literary agent, I helped bring many dozens of picture books to the marketplace, working closely with authors to develop their manuscripts to make them market-ready and create the most potential for them to be snapped up by a publisher. Whether fiction or nonfiction, I can help improve your picture book manuscript and pull out the sparkly elements to greatly increase its chances of attracting the attention of an agent or editor. Or, perhaps you want to self-publish your book and make sure it’s ready for market and the best version it can be—I can help with that too. Manuscript critiques include a line-by-line edit and a detailed critique letter.

Picture Book Dummy Critique

Many of my former clients were author-illustrators and I provided extensive feedback on artwork accompanying their manuscripts and helped figure out what was the best visual package to attract publishers. A picture book dummy critique includes a line-by-line edit and a detailed critique letter, along with extensive notes on illustrations relating to how they are working with the text.

Middle Grade or Young Adult Nonfiction Proposal Critique

As an author and as a former leading children’s nonfiction literary agent, I developed a strong sense of what kind of nonfiction books made great additions to the marketplace and how to present these books to publishing houses in proposal form. There has never been a better time to be a kids’ nonfiction writer and the market is thirsty for more. Whether you are writing for the educational or trade market, I can help you craft an excellent nonfiction proposal. You’ve done your research on proposals and have a full draft and sample writing? Great. I can provide a line-by-line edit of both your proposal and sample pages . Don’t even know where to start? That’s okay—I can guide you through the elements of a great proposal and work with you to get a great final draft.

Work for Hire Nonfiction Writing

I’m an experienced writer of nonfiction for kids. If you are looking for a picture book, middle grade or young adult author specializing in books in the areas of humanities and liberal arts including history, law, civics, pop culture and sports, I may be a good fit for your project. I’m represented by Lilly Ghahremani of Full Circle Literary.

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For pricing, please inquire.