In today's Books with Hooks, Bianca, Carly, and CeCe critique a children's picture book and a literary fiction query. They discuss avoiding vagueness, no matter the genre; using illustrator notes in a picture book pitch; the need for tension, even in a children's book; framing your novel in your query so agents aren't confused when they get to the pages; the need for external plot points, even in a more internal work of literary fiction; the natural gravitation of readers to one POV in a dual POV work; the subjectivity of the industry; the purpose of interiority; and erring on the side of show ..read more

In today's Books with Hooks, Carly and CeCe are joined by guest agent, Jo Ramsay, to critique two queries. They discuss the issue of withholding too much plot in a query; highlighting the stakes in your query; the importance of first lines in a novel; the need for psychological depth and acuity in your characters; the issue of comping to titles that are hugely successful; the risk of having too many POVs in a novel; avoiding too much backstory in your query; and the problems with a reader being too removed from a scene, even if it's done intentionally. After which, guest interviewer, Bronwen K ..read more

In today's Books with Hooks, Bianca, Carly and CeCe discuss choosing a unique title for your work; having a strong plot connection between your main characters in a multi POV novel; avoiding situations where the agent has to make too many assumptions in a query; choosing between italics and dialogue tags when having a character talk to themselves; balancing interiority so as not to leak tension; framing your story in a way that is accurate to your work; connecting external stakes to plot points; centering the reader in a memoir query; and CeCe's tension song! Bianca then interviews NYT bestsel ..read more

In today's Books with Hooks, Bianca, Carly, and CeCe discuss keeping your author bio paragraph concise; the need for causality in a plot paragraph; paying attention to the language you use in a query so you don't create confusion surrounding the book's premise; knowing who your protagonist is and highlighting their interiority and inner life over other characters'; the stakes in rom-coms; centering your protagonist's experience; making plot details realistic so your readers are on board with them; avoiding pages that seem crafted for the reader; and the 'blank canvas protagonist' issue.   ..read more

In this month’s bonus episode, Bianca interviews game designer, curator, and writer, Holly Gramazio to discuss her debut novel, The Husbands. The two discuss Holly's journey to publication; the novel’s inspiration and genre; how game design lends itself to novel writing; how she structured the novel; the importance of causality; Holly's approach to POV; and whether she feels pressure to write future novels in the same genre. After which Emilie Sommer of East City Bookshop provides the invaluable service of suggesting comp titles to our listeners. If you’re looking for our usual Q&A segment ..read more

In today's Books with Hooks, Carly, CeCe, and Bianca are joined by Ron, to discuss his query submission. They chat about Ron's curiosity-inducing first query paragraph; the line between giving away too much plot and sharing just enough in a query; how subjective agents’ opinions can be; the right emotional calibration within your characters; the issue with having too many names in opening pages; ways authors share the socio-emotional frameworks of their characters; balancing interiority with explanation and exposition; the difference between emotionality, interiority, and 'telling'; and the id ..read more

In today's Books with Hooks, Bianca, Carly, and CeCe  discuss the need for external pressure in your major dramatic question; the three sets of questions that create tension at the beginning of a story; surprising your reader in your first five pages; the accuracy of third party manuscript wishlists; the need for world-building in a fantasy query; being too vague in your query; the concept of the 'new adult' genre; thinking about readers' expectations for certain types of stories; making sure that characters who appear in opening scenes are essential; and the importance of emotionality an ..read more

In today's Books with Hooks segment, Bianca, Carly and CeCe discuss the importance of specifying between awards for published and unpublished manuscripts; the difficulty with trying to sell a book whose main character’s race and culture differs from the author’s lived experience; the need for a main character’s interiority to accurately reflect their age; including specifics in your plot paragraph; being explicit with your stakes; including information that shows the relationship dynamics between your protagonist and others; and the need to start your story in the right place. After which, Bia ..read more

In today's Bumper February Bonus Episode, Bianca kicks it off by interviewing interviews tech anthropologist and author, Nikki Payne. They discuss her latest novel, Sex, Lies, and Sensibility, a retelling of the classic, Sense and Sensibility; how Nikki approached writing her retelling, one which specifically centred diversity; decentering whiteness in the romance genre; Nikki's experience using sensitivity readers; how much 'shorthand' you can use when writing a retelling; reframing scandal in the modern world; and Nikki's clever way of introducing backstory. After which Bianca interviews aut ..read more

In today's Books with Hooks segment, Bianca, Carly, and CeCe are joined by emerging author, Sarah. They discuss ways to make a novel sound less quiet in a query; the necessity of a hook; when it's acceptable to comp to a hugely successful novel; how to convey a longer timeline; how to share pivotal plot points in a query without spoiling the novel; and what made Sarah's pages particularly special. After which, Bianca interviews Donna Hemans, author of The House of Plain Truth. They discuss the DC Writers' Room; Donna's journey to publication; putting some ideas on the shelf until you're ready ..read more