NEWLY RELEASED MG AND YA BOOK GIVEAWAY

Happy Monday Everyone! Today I'm doing a newly released MG and YA book giveaway. It's an opportunity to spotlight some new books I can't otherwise feature, give you another chance to win recent debut author books I've shared, and shout out again about followers' newly released books.

I'm doing this because there is no giveaway hop this month. I'm starting this feature on a trial basis and will continue it if I get a good response.

So here are your choices. I've got a combination of MG and YA books and recent books by followers that I hope you're looking forward to reading.  If you want an earlier book in any of these series, you can pick that instead as long as it doesn't cost more than the book here. You can find descriptions of these books on Goodreads.

 

If you haven't found a book you want, you can win a $10 Amazon Gift Card.

To enter, all you need to do is be a follower of this blog and leave a comment telling me what book you want or that you want the gift card through August 24th. If your e-mail is not on your Google Profile, you must leave it in the comments to enter the contest.

If you mention this contest on Twitter, Facebook, or your blog, mention this in the comments and I'll give you an extra entry. I will also give you an extra entry if you follow me on Twitter and let me know this. You must be 13 years old or older to enter. This giveaway is International as long as the Book Depository ships there for free.

Here's what's coming up:

Monday, August 26th I have an agent spotlight interview and query critique giveaway with Melissa Richeson

Wednesday, September 4th I have an interview with debut author Mara Rutherford and a giveaway of her YA fantasy CROWN OF CORAL AND PEARL and my IWSG post

Monday, September 9th I have an interview with debut author Sara Faring and a giveaway of her YA psychological thriller THE TENTH GIRL

Monday, September 16th I have an agent spotlight interview and query critique giveaway with Marlo Berliner

Monday, September 23rd I have a guest post by Martin Cavannagh from Reedsy

Hope to see you on Monday, August 26th!

GABRIELLE BYRNE INTERVIEW AND RISE OF THE DRAGON MOON GIVEAWAY AND IWSG POST

Happy Wednesday Everyone! Hope you're having a great summer. I just got back from a fun weekend with my mom visiting my aunt, uncle, and cousins. And I am going to Dallas later this month with my daughter to visit my late husband's family. It's been my best summer since my husband died.

Today I’m thrilled to have debut author Gabrielle Byrne share about her debut MG fantasy RISE OF THE DRAGON MOON. Her book is a Junior Library Guild selection It sounds like it has beautiful world building and a main character with mysterious past, which is my kind of book. Can’t wait to read this.

Follower News

Angela Brown has a new adult book release, PEEL. Here's a blurb: 
Divinia “Divvy” Simone loves her daughter and making time for her passion for writing. Time for a love life? Not so much, especially not after being a divorced, single mother for several years.
That is, until Vance Mallard.
With Vance’s help, Divvy must put together her best friend’s wedding in under thirty days. The first week is the most crucial of all. Planning locations, music, and food are all par for the course. Peeling back the scarred layers protecting her heart? No way.
Vance has a plan of his own. And…
In one week, everything could change.
And a few links: 

Kindle - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07V4BLR9H

Other ebook versions - https://books2read.com/u/mlrn7W

Paperback - https://www.amazon.com/Peel-Romance-Novella-Angela-Brown/dp/1078487634/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Website -  https://bookjaunts.com/ 

Before I get to Gabrielle’s interview, I also have my IWSG post. 

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

Posting: The first Wednesday is officially Insecure Writer's Support Group Day.

The co-hosts this month are: The co-hosts this month are Renee Scattergood,Sadira Stone, Jacqui Murray, Tamara Narayan, and LG Keltner!

Optional Question: Has your writing ever taken you by surprise?

There's two ways that my writing has taken me by surprise since I restarted writing for myself again. First, I've gotten better in writing since I took a break and focused on my contract writing job.

Second, I'm surprised where my story goes sometimes. I have a general outline but some important plot points and other parts of the story have changed in dramatic ways as I listen to my critique partners' suggestions and I try to create characters and a story line that is a little different.

How has your writing surprised you?

Now onto Gabrielle's interview. Here’s a blurb of RISE OF THE DRAGON MOON from Goodreads: 

The ice never forgives.

The ice never forgets.

Princess Toli may be heir to the throne, but she longs to be a fierce hunter and warrior. Alone in a frozen world, her queendom is at the mercy of the dragons that killed her father, and Toli is certain it’s only a matter of time before they come back to destroy what’s left of her family.

When the dragons rise and seize her mother, Toli will do anything to save her— even trust a young dragon who may be the only key to the Queen's release.

With her sister and best friend at her side, Toli makes the treacherous journey across the vast ice barrens to Dragon Mountain, where long-held secrets await. Bear-cats are on their trail, and dragons stalk them, but the greatest danger might be a mystery buried in Toli’s past.

Hi Gabrielle! Thanks so much for joining us.

1. Tell us about yourself and how you became a writer.

Hi Everyone, and thanks so much for having me, Natalie! I’ve always loved to write--and in fact, wrote three books before I even decided to “be a writer”. It was really my first writing conference, and workshops on how to pitch to agents, that lit a fire under me to get published. My brain just hadn’t made the leap, from writing books to publishing them. Really, although of course they’re related, those are almost two separate journeys in my mind.

2. Where did you get the idea for RISE OF THE DRAGON MOON? 

It developed organically from two initial things. I knew I wanted Toli to be my main character. She started as a secondary character in a different book, and just took up residence in my brain. The other thing was the cold. I wanted to build Toli’s life around the idea of stories being told around a fire. I wanted to explore ideas about trust between siblings and between friends in the context of doubting those stories.

3. Awesome that Toli started as a secondary character in another story.The world you created is cold and icy but beautiful. What was your world building process like? What advice do you have on this for other fantasy writers?

For me, the story develops in tandem with the world building. I have a strong background in science, so I use that a lot too. I start with one or two things I want, and build around those things by asking questions about how needs are fulfilled. For example, in a cold world, how does each animal (or person) stay warm? What do they eat? What does their prey eat? What happens when they die? For the humans, what are their beliefs around each of those categories? Each question builds a richer place (and more questions). I never use all of it. I’d say only a third to half makes it into the book. I’m also a big believer in the setting being a character. Really, that’s about sharing emotional connections to the world, and making it feel real enough for the reader to expect things. For example, if your house smells like pancakes every Sunday morning, then one Sunday you wake up and it smells like burned rubber, you don’t need anyone to explain something’s wrong. The reader knows it, because they know the world. They have expectations that can be fulfilled, or countered.

4. I can see how science influences your world building. Toli, your main character, sounds like a strong leader, but also has her flaws. Share a bit about her and how her character developed as you told her story.

Toli was tough from the start--strong, but myopic. She can’t see that needing people doesn’t make her weak, and that making mistakes doesn’t make her a failure. What started as a kind-of social awkwardness and discomfort with feelings, evolved into the idea that her own flawed view of herself, and misunderstanding of her role in the world would impact all her decisions. Those decisions have consequences that move the story forward.

5. Share a challenge you had in revising your story with your agent or publisher. What did you learn from the process?

Tracking the days and the time were a big challenge. Instead of a sun, there are two moons that each rise and set differently on Ire. Over the course of a couple big edits, a lot of Toli’s journey shifted around, and the rising and setting of each moon, and the passage of time got all jumbled up. It took a while to untangle it. Now I keep notes that specifically track of the time of day, and passage of time in a story, at the start and end of each chapter. 

6. Your agent is Catherine Drayton. Tell us how she became your agent and what your road to publication was like.

I queried Catherine with a book I had worked on as a Pitch Wars mentee. She loved it, and offered rep! Rise of the Dragon Moon was our third book together. From the time I went to that first writing conference that got me amped to publish, to the time I sold my debut to Macmillan, was about seven years. Depending on how you count (which always seems to be a question with authors), I think ROTDM was about the seventh or eighth book that I’d written.

7. That's great how Catherine worked with you on more than one book. How have you been building your social media platform and planning for your release? What are your plans to promote your book?

I work full time and have kids, so my time is really limited. Everything I’ve heard is that it’s better to

be fully in one or two places that you enjoy, than to be in lots of places in a less engaged way. I really enjoy twitter - so it’s my platform of choice. Some people know me there because of Pitch Wars, which is lovely. I do have a facebook account for family and friends (including author friends), and I have an instagram account that I’m terrible at keeping up with, but really Twitter is my happy place. I’ve been able to do some great panel events, including at the Emerald City ComiCon and the SFWA annual conference. Those were a blast, and it’s always fun and enlightening to engage with other authors. I also hope to work with libraries and schools to the extent that I’m able, and I’m especially excited to maybe do some workshops around worldbuilding through a natural history lens, since that’s my background. I’ll be piloting that at the GeekGirl Con in Seattle in November.

8. You have also been a #PitchWars mentor. Tell us about PitchWars and how this can help an aspiring author get to the next step in terms of obtaining an agent and publishing contract.

PitchWars is amazing for a lot of reasons. Yes, it can help people reach agents, and eventually get published, and for some it’s done just that. But one this it can definitely do is improve craft. It’s a great place to me other serious aspiring writers, and exchange material and experiences. For me--and for lots of other people, the benefits of Pitch Wars are much more about building a community of committed writers that you can rely on to help develop your craft, and eventually, your career. While there have certainly been big successes through Pitch Wars, writers are more likely to find their agents through the query process (as I did), but participating does give authors the opportunity to improve, and build a network of writers at the same time--a priceless and ongoing resource.

9. What are you working on now?

Right now I’m working on a new middle grade fantasy for Macmillan/Imprint--The Edge of Strange Hollow, about a girl named Poppy Sunshine who wants to hunt cursed objects in a fairy tale forest called the Grimwood.

Thanks so much for your advice, Gabrielle. You can find Gabrielle at:

Website: www.gkbyrnebooks.com

Twitter: @gkbyrne 

Instagram: gkbyrnebooks

Gabrielle has generously offered an ARC of RISE OF THE DRAGON MOON for a giveaway. To enter, all you need to do is be a follower (just click the follow button if you’re not a follower) and leave a comment through August 24th. If your e-mail is not on your Google Profile, you must leave it in the comments to enter either contest.

If you mention this contest on Twitter, Facebook, or your blog, mention this in the comments and I'll give you an extra entry. You must be 13 years old or older to enter. The ARC giveaway is U.S. and Canada.

Here's what's coming up next:

Monday, August 12th I'm doing a monthly newly released MG and YA giveaway if there is no giveaway hop in August

Monday, August 26th I have an agent spotlight interview and query critique giveaway with Melissa Richeson

Hope to see you on Monday, August 12th!

MARGARET OWEN INTERVIEW AND THE MERCIFUL CROW GIVEAWAY

Happy Monday Everyone! Today I’m excited to have debut author Margaret Owen here to share about her YA fantasy THE MERCIFUL CROW. It sounds like it has great world building and a fast-paced plot. I’m really looking forward to reading it.

FOLLOWER NEWS

First, I have news from a follower. Ronel Janse VonVuuren has a new MG fantasy, MAGIC AT

MIDNIGHT. Here's a blurb: Amy has to leave behind her beloved pegasi and enter a world far removed from her own. Can this lowly farm girl prevent war from being declared among the kingdoms? And here's a purchase link:

https://www.amazon.com/Magic-Midnight-Ronel-Janse-Vuuren-ebook/dp/B07RRQF9R4

Now onto Margaret's interview. Here’s a blurb from Goodreads: 

A future chieftain

Fie abides by one rule: look after your own. Her Crow caste of undertakers and mercy-killers takes more abuse than coin, but when they’re called to collect royal dead, she’s hoping they’ll find the payout of a lifetime.

A fugitive prince

When Crown Prince Jasimir turns out to have faked his death, Fie’s ready to cut her losses—and perhaps his throat. But he offers a wager that she can’t refuse: protect him from a ruthless queen, and he’ll protect the Crows when he reigns.

A too-cunning bodyguard

Hawk warrior Tavin has always put Jas’s life before his, magically assuming the prince’s appearance and shadowing his every step. But what happens when Tavin begins to want something to call his own? 

Hi Margaret! Thanks so much for joining us.

1. Tell us about yourself and how you became a writer.

Hello, and thank you for having me! I suppose it really was inevitable: my family and school were all very supportive of reading and writing, although no one ever tried to persuade me that it would be a lucrative career. I found myself writing a lot as a teen, and then as I graduated, went to college, worked different jobs, moved towns, and so on, the only constants were: my book collection, and how I kept falling back into writing!

2. Where did you get the idea for THE MERCIFUL CROW?

There were a number of elements that I’d had floating around my skull for a while: I wanted to write something atmospheric and a little unknowable, and I’d always found plague doctors interesting. Then I came across an article outlining the lives of medieval European executioners, and I was struck by how they were exiled from the communities they were supposed to serve. Once that was thrown into the mix, it really just picked up bits and pieces of other ideas until it became its own story.

3. Reviewers have said that your world building is fantastic and that part of it is your attention to all the details of your world, such as the politics and religion. Share what your world building process was like.

That’s very kind of them! I’m absolutely a huge nerd when it comes to world building—if anything, I can get carried away. For me, politics and religion are the bedrock of a world, because religion decides what your society believes, and politics shows how they (hypothetically) enforce those values. For example, the foundation of the culture in TMC is the widespread belief that good people are born into ‘good’ castes, that there’s this divine meritocracy being enforced. The next step for me is to ask: how does that impact someone’s everyday life? How does it impact resource allocation? Rituals? Property and land ownership? Tax policy? Folklore?

And then you have to consider how that will play out on the page: what characters want, how those beliefs shape their experiences, what they think is right and wrong. For example, initially Fie is offered money or land in exchange for her help. It’s payment that seems reasonable to a prince and his bodyguard, who have never had their right to those things challenged. But to their surprise, Fie rejects those on the spot. She knows from personal experience that they would only be driven off the land or robbed of the money; her caste has a long history of being denied wealth and stability, and a longer history of that being ignored by the authorities. This circles back to the fundamental belief in a divine meritocracy: the country’s cruelty toward her caste is justified by the belief that they’ve been born to a low caste as divine punishment. That’s why I always start with ‘what does your society believe.’

4. That's great advice on what to focus on in your world building. It also sounds like THE MERCIFUL CROW is a real page turner. What are some of the ways that you kept the plot moving so that readers keep wanting to turn the page?

This is going to sound absurd, but I was actually having a bit of trouble figuring out how I wanted to pace it…. And then I went to go see Mad Max: Fury Road. This was right around when I was drafting the fourth chapter, I think. I came out of that movie thinking about how they kept you absolutely nailed to your seat for what was essentially a 2-hour chase scene. The key was that no matter how far they went, no matter how fast, or who they shook off their tail, there was always someone or something else closing in, and they all knew it.  

5. I think seeing how movies keep you totally engaged in a good way to figure out a riveting plot. What was a challenge that you had in writing this story? How did you overcome it?

Honestly, the biggest challenge was staying focused. I drafted my first-ever manuscript at a time when I didn’t have internet access in my apartment, and it went a lot faster (though not necessarily better.) I had wi-fi for most of my time drafting TMC. More or less coincidentally, I also had my internet blocked for most of my time drafting TMC!

6. Your agent is Victoria Martini. Share how she became your agent and what your road to publication was like?

Unexpectedly quick. I’d already slogged through the query trenches with my first manuscript strapped to my back, with nothing to show for it, for about 2 years before I shelved that story. I fully expected to take a year to find an agent, then spend another year on submission, which is a perfectly normal time frame.

Then I entered TMC into a pitch contest and wound up with a startling amount of interest from participating agents. That’s when I knew something was up. I sent out queries to any agents who I wanted to be sure had a chance to look at the manuscript… and then the next day I got an offer, which meant I had to nudge all those queries, which FYI looks SUPER SKETCHY when you do it ONE DAY after sending a query. There was a bit of a flurry as I got to talk to a bunch of wonderful agents, but at the end of the day, Victoria really blew me away on every level. It’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

I’m a pretty clean drafter, so we were able to go on sub fairly soon. I signed with Victoria in April, and then by June, things were heating up with editor interest, and we went to auction at the end of the month. By the time we got back from the July 4 weekend, the auction had wrapped up, and I was able to officially (and very smugly) give my work notice that it was time to start looking for my replacement. The whole thing was wild. I can't wait to see what my next deal is like.

7. Sounds like a publication story we'd all like to have. What is something that surprised you in the publishing process?

The amount of things people think authors have control over that we DEFINITELY do not. Coworkers would ask me if I’d be doing my own cover, and I would try not to laugh rudely in their face. Same goes for events, special editions, tours, you name it—I’m lucky to have a great team making a lot of cool things happen, but I’m hardly clapping my hands and shouting, “Garçon! Bring me the sprayed edges, post-haste!”

8. What have you done to promote THE MERCIFUL CROW prior to release? How are you planning to market your book when it releases and after?

That’s a tricky question, haha. The tough answer here is that as a debut author and unknown quantity,

I can only directly and personally convince a couple hundred people to buy my book, maximum. The big game-changing marketing happens at the publisher level, where they’re pitching my book to different outlets like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Indie bookstores. As a control freak, that’s something I had to come to terms with.

But that doesn’t mean I can’t help in other ways—for example, this blog post! And other things like features, guest posts, interviews, reaching out to libraries and indie booksellers, and so on. We also know the most effective form of marketing is word-of-mouth, which can be something of lightning in a bottle: the trick is how to catch it. For me, that’s where the real value of a preorder campaign is, and why I appreciate all the bloggers and book fans posting pictures of the swag they get—it’s an organic way to promote the book, because odds are it’s the first time at least one of their followers will have heard of it. (Yes, I’m including a link to my preorder campaign below.)

9. Thanks for sharing your practical ways to help market a debut book. They are something we can all do. What advice do you have for authors who are signing their first publishing contract about preparing for their debut?

I’m going to repeat what I heard the most, because it’s absolutely held up for me: work on something else. Work on your next project. Not your sequel, because if you get a sequel, odds are you’ll make changes during edits that would impact your sequel. Start the next project you intend to sell. I don’t think a lot of authors go into this intending to only ever publish one book; the sooner you can have something else ready to go, the better shape you’re in.

There also tend to be gaps of days, weeks, sometimes months when you don’t have anything to work on for your debut. That’s exactly when you should be working on your next book. Or starting a creepy doll collection! You’re an adult, I can’t tell you what to do. I bet the book’s gonna be more profitable in the long run, though.

10. What are you working on now?

Thanks for sharing all your advice, Margaret. You can find Margaret at:

Twitter and Insta: @what_eats_owls

Websites: themercifulcrowseries.com and margaret-owen.com

Preorder campaign, open until 8/6: https://forms.gle/ofzNFhT2q8MjB51y8

Margaret and her publisher Henry Holt & Co. have generously offered an ARC of THE MERCIFUL CROW for a giveaway. To enter, all you need to do is be a follower (just click the follow button if you’re not a follower) and leave a comment through August 10th. If your e-mail is not on your Google Profile, you must leave it in the comments to enter either contest.

If you mention this contest on Twitter, Facebook, or your blog, mention this in the comments and I'll give you an extra entry. You must be 13 years old or older to enter. The ARC giveaway is U.S. and Canada.

Here's what's coming up next:

Wednesday, August 7th I have an interview with debut author Gabrielle Kirouac Byrn and a giveaway of her MG fantasy RISE OF THE DRAGON MOON

Monday, August 12th I'm doing a monthly newly released MG and YA giveaway if there is no giveaway hop in August

Monday, August 26th I have an agent spotlight interview and query critique giveaway with Melissa Richeson

Hope to see you on Wednesday, August 7th!

CHRISTMAS IN JULY GIVEAWAY HOP

Happy Sunday Everyone! Are you having a good summer? This is one of my best since my husband died five years ago. I'm at an annual theater group retreat much of this week with my boyfriend, have lots of birthdays, including mine tomorrow, and a few long-weekend trips to see family. Plus I am getting more bits of time to work on my manuscript. And I'm reading a ton. I just finished SORCERY OF THRONES by Margaret Rogerson. It was so good!

Today I'm excited to participate in the Christmas in July Giveway Hop hosted by by BookHounds. I am so grateful to Mary at BookHounds for continuing to host these giveaways because I know they take time for her organize.

So here are your choices. I've got a combination of MG and YA books and recent books by followers that I hope you're looking forward to reading. Remember, if you want an earlier book in any of these series, you can pick that instead as long as it doesn't cost more than the book here. You can find descriptions of these books on Goodreads.

If you haven't found a book you want, you can win a $10 Amazon Gift Card.

To enter, all you need to do is be a follower of this blog and leave a comment telling me what book you want or that you want the gift card through July 30th. If your e-mail is not on your Google Profile, you must leave it in the comments to enter the contest.

If you mention this contest on Twitter, Facebook, or your blog, mention this in the comments and I'll give you an extra entry. I will also give you an extra entry if you follow me on Twitter and let me know this. You must be 13 years old or older to enter. This giveaway is International as long as the Book Depository ships there for free.

Here's what's coming up (FYI I'm starting my summer slow down to spend time planning next year's schedule):

Monday, July 29 I have an interview with debut author Margaret Owen and giveaway of her YA fantasy THE MERCIFUL CROW

Wednesday, August 7th I have an interview with debut author Gabrielle Kirouac Byrn and a giveaway of her MG fantasy RISE OF THE DRAGON MOON

Friday, August 9th I'm doing a monthly newly released MG and YA giveaway if there is no giveaway hop in August

Monday, August 26th I have an agent spotlight interview and query critique giveaway with Melissa Richeson

Hope to see you on Monday, July 29th!

And here are all the other blogs participating in this blog hop:

AGENT SPOTLIGHT INTERVIEW WITH CONNOR ECK AND QUERY CRITIQUE GIVEAWAY

Today I’m thrilled to have agent Connor Eck here. He is a literary agent at Lucinda Literary.

Hi Connor! Thanks so much for joining us.

About Connor:

1. Tell us how you became an agent, how long you’ve been one, and what you’ve been doing as an agent.

I started my career in journalism and film then found my niche in publishing at Lucinda Literary, where great mentorship and learning experiences propelled me into an agenting role in 2017. I’ve since had the opportunity to build an eclectic list. It’s been extremely rewarding editing and selling books across different genres and formats—from children’s to adult to poetry and more. I like to keep my palate guessing! 

About the Agency:

2. Share a bit about your agency and what it offers to its authors.

We’re really unique in what we offer authors. We coin ourselves as a hybrid in that we do a lot more than provide representation. We have a speakers bureau and add a wealth of marketing experience along with personalized author care. Not only are we very hands-on editorially, we like to be friendly and transparent with our clients, which can pleasantly surprise a lot of people. 

What He’s Looking For:

3. What age groups do you represent—picture books, MG, and/or YA? What genres do you represent and what are you looking for in submissions for these genres?

I represent all children’s genres. More picture books, MG, YA, and illustrators, please! I don’t go for high-concept fantasy stories that overpower character development. I mostly look for contemporary or magical realism. For picture books, the sillier the better, or heartfelt stories that tap into some universal nerve. For all books, I look for that commercial hook. I’ll also ask, “What moral value does this bring?” or “What new, fresh idea does this present?”. 

4.  Is there anything you would be especially excited to seeing in the genres you are interested in?

You don’t know until it’s in front of you!

What He Isn’t Looking For:

5. What types of submissions are you not interested in?

Anything that might not be ready for agency submission. Too often writers query manuscripts before they’ve been properly (and thoroughly!) revised many times over. Also, poor grammar from the outset is never fun to see. Good writing starts at grammar. 

Agent Philosophy:

6. What is your philosophy as an agent both in terms of the authors you want to work with and the books you want to represent?

Take on good people whose work moves me powerfully. Work incredibly hard, make people’s dreams come true, build lasting relationships. And don’t forget to enjoy the process. (That was long-winded for a mantra—I do apologize!). 

Editorial Agent:

7. Are you an editorial agent? If so, what is your process like when you’re working with your authors before submitting to editors?

Indeed. I’ll begin by providing broad-strokes feedback then narrow into line editing as we approach submission. 

Query Methods and Submission Guidelines: (Always verify before submitting)

8. How should authors query you and what do you want to see with the query letter?

Query me by email (connor@lucindaliterary.com). Include a brief query letter; 250 words is ideal, and copy and paste the first 25 pages below your signature. Thank you, kindly!

9.  Do you have any specific dislikes in query letters or the first pages submitted to you? 

Long-winded letters feel daunting. Charmin Ultra, less is more. Grammar mistakes in the first pages hurt my soul. It’s a very sensitive soul. 

Response Time:

10. What’s your response time to queries and requests for more pages of a manuscript?

It’s impossible to respond to every query! I’ll try my best to respond to requests for pages in timely fashion but sometimes, depending on the time of year and volume of projects I’m working on, it might take longer than I intend. 

Self-Published and Small Press Authors:

11.  Are you open to representing authors who have self-published or been published by smaller presses? What advice do you have for them if they want to try to find an agent to represent them?

Yes, though typically only in adult nonfiction. 

12. With all the changes in publishing—self-publishing, hybrid authors, more small publishers—do you see the role of agents changing at all? Why?

I think there’s more opportunity to find authors nowadays with so many writers self-publishing and using mediums like Medium (ha!), Wattpad, podcast forums, and the like. For scouting, these avenues are great. I don’t see them negatively affecting an agent’s role, because people still yearn to be published with major houses—that’s where the money, prestige, and enduring career live. Agents are the avenues that make this happen. 

Clients:

13. Who are some of the authors you represent?

Why thank you for asking. I guess it would make most sense to mention the ones whose books are forthcoming… Dylan “Hornswoggle” Postl, the greatest WWE midget wrestler of all time, has a memoir publishing in September, LIFE IS SHORT & SO AM I, about his improbable journey to stardom. Karla Clark’s picture book, YOU BE MOMMY, publishing with Feiwel & Friends in March, is an adorable role reversal story where a tuckered out mother is too tired to be mommy at bedtime so she asks her daughter to be mommy and tuck her in, kiss her chin, and so forth. It’s a tender rhyming story, if you can’t already tell! And then there’s Emily Dalton, a talented young writer living in Brooklyn. BE STRAIGHT WITH ME, written in verse, documents how she and her male gay best friend unexpectedly fell in love in college. You can find this on the shelves next spring. 

Interviews and Guest Posts:

14. Please share the links to any interviews, guest posts, and other links, such as to Manuscript Wish List, you think would be helpful to writers interested in querying you.

http://www.adventuresinyapublishing.com/2017/05/agent-spotlight-q-with-connor-eck-of.html#.XRqn4tNKii4

Links and Contact Info:

15. Please share how writers should contact you to submit a query and your links on the Web.

Email me (connor@lucindaliterary) and be sure to follow our submission guidelines: http://www.lucindaliterary.com/representation-guidelines/

Additional Advice:

16. Is there any other advice you’d like to share with aspiring authors that we haven’t covered?

Common convention tells writers to read and write a lot to become better writers. I believe you need to do more than that. If you don’t know what to look for or what mistakes you’re making, how can you improve? You need to deeply study the mechanics of writing—grammar, syntax, structure, character development, poetics, simplicity, pacing, I could go on… This can be done by devouring on-writing and on-editing books, getting your own work edited or your hands on professionally edited manuscripts, taking classes, engaging a writing coach, etc. 

Thanks for sharing all your advice, Connor.

Connor is generously offering a query critique to one lucky winner. To enter, all you need to do is be a follower (just click the follower button if you're not a follower) and leave a comment through July 27th. If your e-mail is not on your Google Profile, you must leave it in the comments to enter either contest. If you do not want to enter the contest, that's okay. Just let me know in the comments.

If you mention this contest on Twitter, Facebook, or your blog, or follow me on twitter, mention this in the comments and I'll give you an extra entry. This is an international giveaway.

Have any experience with this agent? See something that needs updating? Please leave a comment or e-mail me at natalieiaguirre7@gmail.com

Note: These agent profiles and interviews presently focus on agents who accept children's fiction. Please take the time to verify anything you might use here before querying an agent. The information found here is subject to change.