literallycait

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Query Queue Update & Re-open Date

Hi all! I'm back and working my way through the remaining queries from before I went on leave. I'm hoping to have all responses out by end of the week, but either way, I'll be reopening for submissions on MONDAY (6/10) and will stay open through at least the end of June. If you plan to submit a query, now would be a good time to read through my submission guidelines so you can be fully prepared!

Free 15-20 minute lunch meetings for query feedback or to ask industry questions are also open again for authors who are BIPOC or who identify as non-cisgendered; just drop me an Ask here (while logged in, not anonymous) or a DM on Bluesky or (if you must) on "X" to schedule one. (Please, please do not send pitches via Ask or DM!) I'm not able to be active daily on any of these sites, so please be patient if you send a message and don't hear back promptly--I'll check in as soon as I can!

Separately, I'm also available at Manuscript Academy, which you can schedule here.

I don't think my activity will increase all that much here, but I hope I'll be able to be at least a little more present moving forward. Thank you, all, for being so patient during my medical leave, and as I continue to adapt to my new limitations--it's an ongoing learning process. (Chronic health conditions suck, I do not recommend them!)

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Hi Caitlin, quick question.

I submitted to you earlier this week on 9/8. May I withdraw and resubmit? I just tweaked one thing.

You won't be able to resubmit at the moment as I've closed for queries for now, but if it's just a small tweak, you should be able to send me a message with the update via the Query Manager system. Check your email for the confirmation of receipt message you got when you submitted, and it should have a link and instructions on how to do it.

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Hi Caitlin! For manuscripts that are still in your queue from a few years ago, if we have not received an automatic pass, should we still close out the submission? (anon to keep my Tumblr siloed off from real life)

I've held onto five manuscripts I'm very interested in, so there's a chance yours is one of those! I'll be responding to all of those by the end of the month. Otherwise, all manuscripts should have gotten a response already, unless they were withdrawn by the author.

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Opening to Queries

I reopen to queries tomorrow! I'll be open for one week to start, then will reopen again when I've responded to all queries in that first batch. I've updated my submission guidelines page so be sure to read through in advance if you'd like to query. Looking forward to seeing everyone's work!

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Hello Caitlin! I just wanted to check in to see if you had a MSWL for when you open on Sept 1st?

Hi, great question! My MSWL is mostly the same as it has been, with the exception of no longer taking MG and NF queries. You can find my full MSWL page here (manuscriptwishlist.com/mswl-post/caitlin-mcdonald). I'll try to do a more targeted post of my current "dream ideas" next week, assuming my health allows for it.

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Submissions Schedule

Hi, all! I know I've been absent from social media for quite some time. The last few years have been a struggle, first with the pandemic and then the onset of a difficult medical condition that I'm still learning how to live with. My existing clients are of course always my priority, so unfortunately my query inbox and social presence had to fall by the wayside for a time. But I'm back on a roll, finally almost caught up and ready to reopen to queries on SEPTEMBER 1st!

If you had an unanswered query or manuscript out with me from several years ago, you may see something in your inbox in the next day or two. Given that at this point most authors in my inbox will have moved on to other agents and new projects or significant revisions, I feel it makes the most sense to start with a clean slate, so I'm closing out the vast majority of old submissions with an automatic pass and an invitation to resubmit with the same (or new!) material when I reopen on September 1st.

So if you've been waiting to query, please get your materials ready! Please note: in order to better stay on top of timely responses, I will initially only be open for ONE WEEK. I will then close until I've gotten through all of those initial submissions, and then reopen again. The submission form link will be: https://QueryManager.com/cmcdonald

There will also be a couple changes to the genres that I'm seeking once I reopen: I will no longer be accepting queries for middle grade or for any nonfiction. Apologies to anyone who was sitting on a project in those areas.

And final note, since the site formerly-known-as-Twitter is a collapsing cesspool, this (Tumblr) will now be my main base of operations until further notice. I won't be deleting my Twitter account (yet) and I will still post announcements when I open/close to submissions on there, but I will not be particularly active when it comes to replies or interactions. It's a better bet to send me an Ask or DM on here instead--though with the caveat that I may still not be super quick with responses due to my health issue, which limits my computer time.

Thank you for your continued interest and understanding. I'm looking forward to seeing your work!

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Congratulations to our DMLA authors who are finalists for the 2023 Hugo Awards!

BEST NOVEL

Nona the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir (Tordotcom)

BEST NOVELLA

“Even Though I Knew the End”, C.L. Polk (Tordotcom)

BEST SERIES

The Founders Trilogy, Robert Jackson Bennett (Del Rey; Jo Fletcher)

The Locked Tomb Series, Tamsyn Muir (Tordotcom)

LODESTAR AWARD FOR BEST YOUNG ADULT BOOK

Akata Woman, Nnedi Okorafor (Viking)

And special recoginition to Premee Mohamed in BEST SEMIPROZINE for Escape Pod!

via caitlin mcdonald – Donald Maass Literary Agency

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WHEN AN AI DIES, ITS CITY DIES WITH IT WHEN A CITY FALLS, IT LEAVES A CORPSE BEHIND WHEN THAT CORPSE RUNS OFF, ONLY DEVOTION CAN BRING IT BACK When the robotic god of Khuon Mo went mad, it destroyed everything it touched. It killed its priests, its city, and all its wondrous works. But in its final death throes, the god brought one thing back to life: its favorite child, Sunai. For the seventeen years since, Sunai has walked the land like a ghost, unable to die, unable to age, and unable to forget the horrors he’s seen. He’s run as far as he can from the wreckage of his faith, drowning himself in drink, drugs, and men. But when Sunai wakes up in the bed of the one man he never should have slept with, he finds himself on a path straight back into the world of gods and machines. The Archive Undying is the first volume of Emma Mieko Candon’s Downworld Sequence, a sci-fi series where AI deities and brutal police states clash, wielding giant robots steered by pilot-priests with corrupted bodies. Come get in the robot. via caitlin mcdonald – Donald Maass Literary Agency

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Congratulations to our DMLA authors who are finalists for the 2023 Locus Awards!

FANTASY NOVEL

The Grief of Stones, Katherine Addison (Tor; Solaris UK)

Nona the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir (Tordotcom)

YOUNG ADULT NOVEL

The Scratch Daughters, H.A. Clarke (Erewhon)

NOVELLA

“Bishop’s Opening“, R.S.A Garcia (Clarkesworld 1/22)

Even Though I Knew the End, C.L. Polk (Tordotcom)

NOVELETTE

“Two Hands, Wrapped in Gold“, S.B. Divya (Uncanny 5-6/22)

“Incident at Bear Creek Lodge”, Tananarive Due (Other Terrors)

COLLECTION

Breakable Things, Cassandra Khaw (Undertow)

NON-FICTION

An Earnest Blackness, Eugen Bacon (Anti-Oedipus)

ILLUSTRATED AND ART BOOK

The Keeper, Tananarive Due & Steven Barnes, art by Marco Finnegan (Megascope)

via caitlin mcdonald – Donald Maass Literary Agency

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Congratulations to our DMLA authors who have been nominated for a 2023 Aurora Award!

Aurora Award for Best Novel

The Embroidered Book, Kate Heartfield, HarperVoyager

The Void Ascendant, Premee Mohamed, Solaris Books

Aurora Award for Best Novelette/Novella

Even Though I Knew the End, C.L. Polk, Tordotcom

Aurora Award for Best Short Story

“Douen”, Suzan Palumbo, The Dark, Issue 82

via caitlin mcdonald – Donald Maass Literary Agency

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Congratulations to our DMLA authors who have been nominated for a 2022 Nebula Award!

Nebula Award for Novel

Nona the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir (Tordotcom)

Nebula Award for Novella

“Bishop’s Opening”, R.S.A. Garcia (Clarkesworld 1/22)

Even Though I Knew the End, C.L. Polk (Tordotcom)

Nebula Award for Novelette

“Two Hands, Wrapped in Gold”, S.B. Divya (Uncanny 5–6/22)

Nebula Award for Short Story

“Douen”, Suzan Palumbo (The Dark 3/22)

via caitlin mcdonald – Donald Maass Literary Agency

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Congratulations to all our authors included in the Locus 2022 Recommended Reading List!

NOVELS – SCIENCE FICTION

A Half-Built Garden, Ruthanna Emrys (Tordotcom)

NOVELS – FANTASY

The Grief of Stones, Katherine Addison (Tor; Solaris UK)

The Origin of Storms, Elizabeth Bear (Tor)

The Embroidered Book, Kate Heartfield (Harper Voyager UK)

Nona the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir (Tordotcom)

COLLECTIONS

Breakable Things, Cassandra Khaw (Undertow)

ILLUSTRATED AND ART BOOKS

The Keeper, Tananarive Due & Steven Barnes, art by Marco Finnegan (Megascope)

NOVELLAS

“Bishop’s Opening“, R.S.A Garcia (Clarkesworld 1/22)

Even Though I Knew the End, C.L. Polk (Tordotcom)

NOVELETTES

“Two Hands, Wrapped in Gold“, S.B. Divya (Uncanny 5-6/22)

“Incident at Bear Creek Lodge”, Tananarive Due (Other Terrors)

SHORT STORIES

“12 Things a Trini Should Know Before Travelling to a Back in Times FeteTM”, R.S.A. Garcia (Strange Horizons 10/10/22)

“Have Mercy, My Love While We Wait for the Thaw”, Iori Kusano (Apex 7/22)

“Apolépisi: A De-Scaling”, Suzan Palumbo (Lightspeed 10/22)

“Douen”, Suzan Palumbo (The Dark 3/22)

via caitlin mcdonald – Donald Maass Literary Agency

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Congratulations to our DMLA authors who have been included in the NPR’s Books We Love 2022 roundup!

Even Though I Knew the End by C.L. Polk

Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

  via caitlin mcdonald – Donald Maass Literary Agency

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A magical detective dives into the affairs of Chicago’s divine monsters to secure a future with the love of her life. This sapphic period piece will dazzle anyone looking for mystery, intrigue, romance, magic, or all of the above.

An exiled augur who sold her soul to save her brother’s life is offered one last job before serving an eternity in hell. When she turns it down, her client sweetens the pot by offering up the one payment she can’t resist—the chance to have a future where she grows old with the woman she loves.

To succeed, she is given three days to track down the White City Vampire, Chicago’s most notorious serial killer. If she fails, only hell and heartbreak await.

via caitlin mcdonald – Donald Maass Literary Agency

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Finnish rights to Nebula and Hugo Award winner Martha Wells’ ALL SYSTEMS RED and ARTIFICIAL CONDITION, the first and second installments in the New York Times bestselling Murderbot Diaries series, to Hertta Kustannus Oy, by Michael Curry for Jennifer Jackson.

French rights to Nnedi Okorafor’s NOOR, to ActuSF, by Megan Husain at Anna Jarota Agency, on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier for Donald Maass.

German rights to Lara Elena Donnelly’s ARMISTICE and AMNESTY, to Cross Cult in a two-book deal, by Sarah Knofius at Thomas Schlueck Agency, on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier for Caitlin McDonald.

Italian rights to Annika Martin’s JUST NOT THAT INTO BILLIONAIRES and BUTT-DIALING THE BILLIONAIRE, to Triskell in a two-book deal, by Stefania Fietta at Donzelli Fietta, on behalf of Katie Shea Boutillier for Cameron McClure.

via caitlin mcdonald – Donald Maass Literary Agency

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Publishers Weekly: World Fantasy Award winner Polk (The Midnight Bargain) does what they do best with this genre-bending fantasy noir novella that brings lofty magic to a grimy 1940s city and showcases queer love along the way. Ten years earlier, warlock and private investigator Elena Brandt made a deal with the devil, bargaining away her soul to save the most precious thing in the world to her. Now she has only three days left before her deal is up and she goes to Hell. She should be spending that precious time with Edith Jarosky, the love of her life, or Teddy, her estranged brother. Instead, her best client reveals herself to be a demon and makes Elena an offer she can’t refuse: if Elena can track down a serial killer, she can have her soul back and live out her days in comfort with Edith. Simple enough—except the murders are gruesome human sacrifices used to invoke an ancient, evil, and terribly powerful magic. Though readers will wish they had more time to explore this shadowy world, Polk’s focus on character development makes every interaction matter as they craft a layered exploration of love and power with genuine emotional stakes and a soaring, perfectly bittersweet payoff. It’s another winner.”

via caitlin mcdonald – Donald Maass Literary Agency

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Library Journal: In Polk’s (Soulstar) alternate-history Jazz Age Chicago, where angels live among the godly and demons stalk the streets, Helen Brandt is a woman who sold her soul to save her brother. She has one last chance to get it back and spend the rest of her days with the woman she loves. She thinks her task is to figure out which demon is poaching on another’s Chicago turf. But demons lie—and so, as Helen discovers, do angels. This bittersweet urban fantasy romance wraps its tale of love and inevitable loss in a desperate search for a serial killer that begins as a murder mystery and then grows wings—and tentacles. Polk’s world, where angels answer the prayers of the faithful while demons prey on the fallen, turns standard concepts of good and evil on their heads as the heroine learns that her world is not what she thought it was.

VERDICT Readers who fell into recent Jazz Age urban fantasies such as Desideria Mesa’s Bindle Punk Bruja and fans of time-travel or fantasy romances with tragic endings, like Audrey Niffenegger’s The Time Traveler’s Wife, will love Polk’s latest.

via caitlin mcdonald – Donald Maass Literary Agency