#KTWriteOn with Agent Bridget Smith: Query Letters When You Have No Idea Where To Start

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Bridget Smith, query, query letter, tips, writing prompt

As you celebrate Independence Day, why not free yourself from the agony of the query letter with the third installment of the Kite Tales Writing Prompt: #KTWriteOn? Each writing challenge is crafted by a kid-lit publishing professional to help spark ideas and creative energy. This prompt was created by Bridget Smith, an agent at Dunham Literary, Inc., where she represents middle grade, YA, and adult novels, including contemporary fiction, historical fiction, and science fiction & fantasy. She is also the co-host of the podcast Shipping & Handling, and you can follow her on Twitter @bredalot.

By Bridget Smith

As an agent, I very often hear complaints from writers about how hard it is to write a good query. And I sympathize! I have written many pitches myself, after all. But unfortunately, it’s a necessary skill – and it doesn’t stop once you get an agent, either.

Luckily, with all the pitches I’ve written, I’ve figured out a formula that can give me a workable draft quickly. This isn’t necessarily the form your final pitch needs to take: I’m always delighted to see a pitch that breaks out in interesting ways, whether it’s hauntingly minimal or a clever inversion. And, of course, there is LOTS of room here for adding flavor: voice! Jokes your characters would make! Emotion! Tension!

But if you have absolutely no idea where to start, here’s a handy map:

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Agent Deborah Warren on Character-Driven Stories and Making the Most of Your Writers Day Pitch Session

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Antoinette Portis, Deborah Warren, East/West Literary Agency, James Dean, Kimberly Dean, Kwame Alexander, Pete the Cat, pitching, query, Writers Day

Deborah Warren is the founder of East/West Literary Agency, which represents new and established authors and illustrators of picture books, middle grade, and young adult novels. Clients include Kwame Alexander, author of the Newbury Award-winning The Crossover, James Dean and Kimberly Dean of the Pete the Cat series, and Antoinette Portis, author and illustrator of books including Now, and Best Frints in the Whole Universe.

Deborah is a faculty member for Writers Day on March 3 in Los Angeles.  She talks to us about her agency, what makes a strong manuscript, and the Writers Day pitch sessions.

Erlina Vasconcellos: How did you get into the publishing business and what keeps you here? 

Deborah Warren: I started East/West Literary in 2000, but my career in publishing really began in 1980 at Harcourt Brace Jovanovich (now Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), in San Diego. When I left, I was VP/Director of Sales, and I credit those years for being the best training ground ever. You see, we’re committed to the business of selling. And understanding the in-depth process of acquisitions, sales, and marketing helps the E/W team attain the stated goals for each of the agency’s clients: to close the best possible deal with the best possible editor at the best possible publishing house. What keeps me in the industry? The like-minded souls in children’s publishing, the fabulously talented authors, illustrators, and editors whose main goal is to create books that are both windows and mirrors for today’s young readers. We need these books more than ever!

EV: You have said that you look for character-driven stories. Anyone who has tried to craft one knows that’s not easy to pull off. When authors/illustrators fail to deliver on character in a manuscript, what’s usually missing?

Bridget Smith: Agent’s Perspective

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agent, Bridget Smith, Dunham Literary, query, tools, writing tips, YA, young adult

Bridget Smith is more than an agent at Dunham Literary, Inc. She also studied anthropology and archaeology, worked as a radio DJ, fenced on the varsity team at Brown University, and helped design an experiment that she later performed in microgravity at NASA. So, she’s kind of awesome and you want her to represent your books.

Read on for Bridget’s insights into the kid lit community, how to include diversity in your books, and what happens after you get a full manuscript request.

Michelle Zeitlin and Jane Cowen Hamilton: Agent Perspective

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agent, agents, how-to, Jane Cowen Hamilton, Michelle Zeitlin, query, query letters, social media, writing tips

I sat down with agents Michelle Zeitlin and Jane Cowen Hamilton of More Zap Productions and Management to talk about their new literary division, discuss why an author must know their brand, and how children’s literature fits into their multi-media, and currently acquiring, agency. I was curious how an agency that represents dancers, directors, and other specialty talent got into the literary world and what their unique platform had to offer. Turns out, a lot.