petejknapp - Tumblr blog

[petejknapp]

Hi, Pete, Just wondering whether you read responses to your responses on your knappqueries email address, or if anything written after your polite step aside note goes into the dead letter file. Other than creative reach-arounds like this Tumblr gambit, is there some other way to contact you, short of pseudo stalking? Asking for ... um... a friend.

I generally read them but sometimes they get misfiled in the wrong place by the auto filter, so I would send a new email to the queries@parkfine.com email with a subject like “inquiry - Pete Knapp” if you need to get in touch with me. 

[petejknapp]

Thanks for this! I have two books published and a few years ago lost my agent, who quit the industry. I got a new one (yay!) but my previous books are giving me headaches. They’re represented by my former agency, except they haven’t done anything to sell additional rights. Worse, they’ve repeatedly failed to send me royalty statements. There’s a lot written about getting rights back from a publisher, but is it possible to get them back from an agency? I’m especially worried about the royalties.

I’m sorry you’re dealing with this; assuming you’ve already talked to your previous agency with no luck in moving the needle, I would discuss with your current agent, but it sounds like you might want to write a letter of direction to your publisher for those titles asking them to send you your payment directly, and asking for copies of your royalty statements sent directly to you. You can also email your editor to ask for copies of those statements, and in many cases they can help get copies to you. Discuss more with your agent though to see what your options are. 

[petejknapp]

Hi Pete, if someone requests more material from me from a twitter pitch event, will it generally take longer for them to reply?

Not as far as I know.

[petejknapp]

Hi there! If you have a client who writes MG/YA but later wants to branch into adult or picture books, would you consider repping those for that specific client? Or would they need to find a separate agent? Thanks!

I would most likely represent them, perhaps in coordination with a colleague depending on the specific book/situation. 

[petejknapp]

Are you interested in MG with illustrations (professional illustrator who is the author)? Thanks!

yes!

[petejknapp]

If an agent passes on your sub, and you do a major revision/overhaul, is it okay to resubmit to them? I’ve heard various things and I’m curious about your opinion. Thanks!

I can only speak for myself here: my policy is I will see a resubmission of a query I passed on one time (but no more, please) if there have been big changes to the MS. I prefer for the author to say it’s a resubmission so when I get the sense that it’s something I’ve seen before, I know it’s because it’s a resubmission and not because two writers are writing very similar things or there’s a book I heard about that already covers the same ground...better to remind me that I saw an earlier version. Other agents may well feel differently. 

[petejknapp]

I'm writing my first MG novel (ghost story/mystery) suited for ages 8-12. I'm estimating that it's going to be around 25,000 words. Is that long enough? What's the ideal length? I've read that MG books can range between 20,000 to 50,000 words, which is such a big range!

Alas, that range you heard is true (and it ranges even more than that in some cases...). It just depends on the book. For example, BECAUSE OF WINN DIXIE (such a classic!) is around 22k words long; Lauren Oliver’s MG ghost story LIESL & PO is 52k words. The range depends on what the story demands and a little bit on how you are positioning it.

[petejknapp]

Thank you for doing this! If an author has a series published through a small press and is querying a non-published companion novel, set in the same universe with reoccurring characters as the series, would that be difficult sell for an agent?

I think it will depend on how the series has done, how the agent feels about the existing series, and how the companion novel fits into the series. Plus, how the agent feels about your writing in general. This is how Maggie Stiefvater found her agent -- see here.  

[petejknapp]

Hello Pete, Do you have any interest in middle grade graphic novels?

YES.

[petejknapp]

Hi! Was just wondering where you are in your queries? And if you go in order or jump ahead and get #DVpit out the way first?

I’m BEHIND. But my goal is to catch up to queries through 11/15/19 this week/weekend. 

[petejknapp]

Hi Pete, Thank you for continuing this opportunity to get questions answered from a top-level agent. Much appreciated. I wanted to ask, what do you look for in the first 10 pages of a novel? Thanks again.

Great writing! Truly, I look to be hooked, however that happens, but a few things I notice I’ve loved: the feeling that as a reader we’re trying to catch up with the story (i.e., something has happened before the book begins, so the character is already highly motivated right when we meet them, like when we meet Ana in BLOOD HEIR); a character struggling with an internal emotional problem and/or moral dilemma (such as Emily Bain Murphy’s THE DISAPPEARANCES where Aila has just lost her mother 3 weeks prior and the devastation of the loss is immediately apparent from the first lines).  

[petejknapp]

Hi Peter! Should I keep my history as a fan fiction writer separate from my work as professional author? (On my author website and social media.) Not for an ego thing, but more for legal reasons. Specifically, I'm wondering if I should create a different Tumblr account and leave my personal Tumblr under my fan fiction pseudonym. (My personal one has a fic with 918 notes that I don't really want to get rid of!) I'm not a published author yet, but I'm trying to get all my ducks in a row. Thanks!

I think this really depends on a number of variables...for instance, if your fan fiction is erotica and your books are middle grade fantasy, it may make sense to not link them and keep them under different names. But if you wrote a bunch of YA fantasy fan fiction and have strong connections in that community, linking your books to your fan fiction may give you a leg up by allowing you to tap into the fan fiction community to help sell your book when it comes out. Being for and of the fan community is a great position to be in when launching your own work. Once you have an agent (or if you currently have an agent), you should be able to talk through the pros and cons and your options a bit more. 

[petejknapp]

What are your thoughts on breaking the 4th wall in contemporary YA? Is it a straight rejection the second you see it happen?

Nope...I had a book on my list that did that and I loved it (though the particular part I’m thinking of was ultimately cut from the book during the revision process.)

[petejknapp]

Is saying in a query that your book is the first part in a planned series a hindrance or an asset? The advice a while back was that agents don't like to take on multiple books until they know the first will sell well, but I've heard people say more recently that publishers are hungry for series in the category/genre I'm writing in (MG Fantasy). "A standalone with series potential" isn't technically true in my case. It's either saying it's a duology or leaving that info out of the query. Thanks!

I think it’s totally fine to include it’s a series in the query. If that’s what it is, that’s what it is. And if an agent thinks it needs to stand alone, they can read it and then give you that feedback when talking about their editorial vision.

[petejknapp]

Do editors review proposals the same way an agent goes through queries or do they have a bias toward certain submitting agents? Does having a jr. agent at a smaller agency hurt your chances when going on submission?

I don’t think it hurts your chances as long as they have strong relationships and have been mentored and/or have the support of their agency to help make relationships where they may still be building them. Everyone starts somewhere, and especially in kids books I have found editors to be incredibly open to agents just starting out...because a good book is a good book, regardless of whether it’s a 20 year veteran sending it to you or a newly minuted agent. And when I think of a lot of big successes in the past, they often were sold by newer agents. 

[petejknapp]

Thoughts on a prologue in contemporary YA? The prologue is from the perspective of another character and is linked to the plot twist. Thanks.

If it works, it works...can’t comment on whether it does for your book without reading it alas. The big issue that gives prologues a bad rep is that they’re often used as a crutch to hide the lack of tension in the first chapter by flashing forward to a more tense scene, and then the first chapter feels flat somehow. Or they’re used to do a big information dump/world-building. But prologues themselves are of course not inherently bad, it just comes down to how they’re used. 

[petejknapp]

Hi Pete, I was just wondering if a lack of response on the late october #DVpit request means a pass? Thanks!

No, it means I’m now running behind. I’m in the process of catching up!