✨Is a Hands-On Editorial Agent Right For You? Anamely Salgado Reyes Shares Her Experience✨
Plus, it's bonus episode time with Kern Carter, we've got a video from writer and book "doula" Rea Frey, and a brand-new query in The Query Lab!
Happy Friday, writing friends!
How is it already August?! Time really does fly when you’re having fun, and we’re having huge amounts of the stuff over here at The Sh*t HQ! How else to describe this week’s extra-special podcast episode, which has CeCe taking over author interviewing duties for a conversation with her very own client, debut novelist Anamely Salgado Reyes. It’s both a love-fest and informative, especially for anyone who’s been paying particular attention to Carly’s recent series on finding the right agent fit—not all agents roll up their sleeves to the same extent CeCe does when it comes to editorial feedback, so definitely tune in if you’re wondering if that kind of approach will work best for you. 🤩
Adding to the fun, it’s bonus episode time again, this time with Bianca interviewing Kern Carter, author of And Then There Was Us. Kern’s insights on transitioning from self-published to traditionally published author will be especially useful to anyone staring at that particular fork in road to publication and wondering which direction to take. 🛣️🤔
We’ve also got a video from author and “book doula” Rea Frey that will resonate with anyone who wishes they could just sit in their writing cave/at their kitchen table/in the closet where they hide from their obligations and get on with the fun of actually writing and not have to deal with all the marketing and promotion that seems to go along with publishing these days. (Editor’s note: I always say I don’t judge books by their covers, but it seems the same doesn’t apply to the writers of those books, because I took one look at Rea Frey’s impossibly cool author photo and knew whatever she had to say would be worth my time—and yours too. I also now need a chain for my reading glasses.)
We’ve also got another great query letter to learn from in this week’s The Query Lab. Read on to find out how Susan Crispell, author of The Holloway Girls, got her “Yes!”
That’s all for now. Thanks for reading! ❤️
The Shit No One Tells You About Writing Team
P.S. Still not sure about upgrading to paid? Check out our Tuesday Teaser below to see what you’re missing!
This Week’s Podcast✨🎙️✨
This week on the podcast (listen to it here!) we’re throwing it back to an early backlist segment of 📕Books with Hooks🪝, after which, CeCe speaks with her very own client, Anamely Salgado Reyes, author of My Mother Cursed My Name. They discuss:
Anamely's query letter to CeCe and CeCe's response to it;
Anamely's experience with her first round of edits from CeCe;
The inspiration behind her work;
How she feels about family and friends reading a work that was loosely inspired by them; and
What has surprised Anamely about publishing.
“I was both excited and nervous [about getting CeCe’s editorial feedback letter]…I let at least three days pass. I said, okay, now I can click open on the document. And there were a lot of things that I had to change. And I knew that that was going to happen. This is my first piece of literary work, and nobody [else] had read the novel before…and even as I sent it, I knew maybe this isn't perfect. But I don't know how to get it to be perfect…for it to be to a point where it can be published, I know I'm going to need editors.”
— Anamely Salgado Reyes
More information about Anamely Salgado Reyes can be found on Instagram .
You can purchase My Mother Cursed My Name on our Bookshop.org affiliate page here. Buying books through this link supports a local indie bookstore, as well as The Shit No One Tells You About Writing 📚❤️
July’s Bonus Episode 😍
In this month’s bonus episode, Bianca interviews Kern Carter, author of And Then There Was Us. They discuss:
the different routes to publication and the differences between traditional and self-publishing;
how Kern worked to improve his craft while trying to land an agent;
the challenges of writing from a perspective that isn’t your own, and why you might choose to do so;
how he approached characterization;
the importance of nailing emotionality in YA novels;
the supernatural elements of And Then There Was Us;
trusting your editor and agent;
how Kern pitches new ideas to his agent; and
his upcoming projects.
You can find out more information about Kern on his website here. He's also on Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter).
You can purchase And Then There Was Us on our Bookshop.org affiliate page here.
“Book Doula” Rea Frey on the “huge” changes she’s seen during her 20 years in publishing
In this week’s video, novelist, non-fiction writer and writing coach Rea Frey gets real about the changing landscape of the publishing industry and what it takes to be a successful author in it. Her insights into navigating the creative and marketing aspects of publication will be of particular use to anyone who worries that authors these days seem to be expected to be almost as good at self-promotion as they are at making words sing on the page. Check it out!
More information about Rea can be found on her website here. She is also on Instagram.
You can pre-order In Every Life on our Bookshop.org affiliate page here. Buying books through this link supports a local indie bookstore, as well as The Shit No One Tells You About Writing 📚❤️
The Query Lab 📝🖊
Welcome to The Query Lab where each Friday for the next few months we’ll be
sharing a successful query letter that got an author their agent AND their book deal.
Today we’ve got a query from Susan Crispell, author of The Holloway Girls 😍:
Dear Ms. Bent,
A kiss from a Holloway girl is supposed to be good luck. But for sixteen-year-old Remy, the kissing season turns out to be a curse.
During the kissing season, the teenagers in Talus, North Carolina, a small town nestled in the mountains and known for its spectacular waterfalls, vie for a luck-filled kiss from a Holloway girl. Or so it had been for all the Holloway girls before. But at the start of Remy’s kissing season, the boy she kisses almost dies after jumping from the top of Firelight Falls. And rumors fly that she cursed him.
Desperate to find a way to fix him, Remy tries every curse-breaking idea she finds online to no avail. Her family’s Book of Luck that chronicles the kisses and resulting good luck of every Holloway girl just as useless. Now, she’s determined to her lips to herself until her magic fades. Too bad there’s a new boy in town who makes it hard to keep her thoughts off what it would be like to kiss him. But if she can’t figure out how to break the curse and redefine what kind of girl wants to be, she’ll be the worst Holloway girl in history.
THE KISSING SEASON, a magical young adult novel, is complete at 80,500 words and reveals the secrets the sisters have been keeping from themselves and each other. It will appeal to fans of Emily Henry’s A Million Junes and The Secret of a Heart Note by Stacey Lee.
I have worked on The Kissing Season with Nova Ren Suma at Djerassi Resident Artists Program and Laura Ruby at The Highlights Foundation. My publishing experience includes two magical women’s fiction novels, THE SECRET INGREDIENT OF WISHES (Thomas Dunne Books, 2016) and DREAMING IN CHOCOLATE (St. Martin’s Griffin, 2018). I am also a member of the Tall Poppy Writers, a book marketing collective of women writers. I earned a BFA in creative writing from the University of North Carolina - Wilmington.
I have included the first ten pages below. Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Susan Crispell
You can learn more about Susan here ❤️ The Holloway Girls is out now and you can buy it on our Bookshop.org affiliate page here.🥰
Click below for the downloadable version of Susan’s successful query!
Tuesday Teaser 😉
Next week’s newsletter exclusively for our paid members includes a Q&A with New York Times bestselling author Jenny Colgan. Jenny doesn’t mince words when it comes to sharing her opinion on some writing advice we've all heard (and likely wrestled with) before (but you’ll have to subscribe to find out what they are).
We’ve also got an essay from award-winning novelist and non-fiction author Ali Bryan on writing Multi-POV fiction, which is both an extremely popular narrative approach—and extremely challenging to pull off well. (Editor’s note: Ali’s novels come with a healthy dose of humour, so the essay’s title shouldn’t have been a surprise, but it is no exaggeration to say I nearly shot my Nespresso out of my nostrils when I read it. )
We’ve also got another great (and very relatable) video for you, this time from Will Dean, whose debut novel, Dark Pines, was named a Telegraph book of the year. He shares his thoughts on the “utterly terrifying” moment writers experience when it’s time to take the idea that’s “quite perfect” in their head and actually write the first line, as well as how he gets past it.
For anyone who was used to seeing Carly and Cece’s written query critiques on Thursdays and was wondering where they’d gotten to, you can now find them every Tuesday in the paid newsletter! Next week we’ve got two (very different) historical fiction queries: one set in late medieval England and France and the second during the California Gold Rush. Carly and CeCe share notes on more impact, emotion, and human psychology!
Not yet a member? For just $8USD a month or $80USD a year you get:
an exclusive newsletter on Tuesdays featuring bonus author Q&As and other exclusive content from industry experts
weekly access to Carly Watters and CeCe Lyra’s written notes on queries from the podcast’s Books With Hooks feature
monthly bonus podcast episodes, AND
regular Ask Me Anythings / Q&As with Carly, CeCe, and Bianca Marais.
If that doesn’t kickstart your writing journey, we don’t know what will!
It’s Time to Get Emotional with CeCe
What do all great stories have in common? They make us feel. Which is why the ability to weave emotion into a story is so important. Indeed, no matter the genre, being able to effectively convey a range of emotion will draw your readers in from the very start and compel them to read on.
The 3+ hour class covers various aspects of weaving emotions into your story, including:
Active vs. passive emotions;
How to effectively convey emotion (showing vs. telling);
Most common mistakes in writing emotion (and how to get it right);
Common challenges in writing emotions (and how to turn them into successes);
How to include emotion in your outline and synopsis;
Tips and tricks to effectively convey emotion;
The role of emotion in the query letter; and
The importance of emotional context the first 10 pages (or: How soon should I introduce emotion?).
PLUS we'll have a live, cozy Q&A session on Monday, August 12th at 8pm ET in which attendees will be able to turn on their camera (optional) and ask questions to CeCe.
If you cannot attend the live Q&A session, you are welcome to submit your questions during webinar on August 8th.
Writers of all categories and genres are invited to attend.
If you cannot attend live but wish to watch the webinar, please sign up as the recording will be emailed to you 24hr later. Recordings will be available to the viewer for one month.
Be Part of Carly’s Masterclass 😍📝
Carly’s class includes 10+ hours of writing and publishing video lessons you have lifetime access to, monthly Q&A sessions, and fresh content every quarter.
Did we mention there’s an app, too? You can keep learning on the go. Don’t miss a minute of Carly’s top career advice for aspiring, emerging and published writers. Get the writing career you’ve always dreamed of.
Bianca’s Great Beta Reader Match Up!
Are you looking for beta readers, some of whom might potentially become writing group members down the line?
Are you wanting to be matched up with those writing in a similar genre and/or time zone, so they can critique your work as you critique theirs at the same time?
Your manuscript doesn't have to be complete to sign up for this 3000-word review!
Registrations are open from now until July 31, with the match emails going out on August 1.
For more information and to register, click below!
That’s all for this week’s news! If you enjoyed it, why not share the love? 🥰
Tune in again next week for more invaluable wisdom from our wonderful hosts! Until then, happy writing! 😍
❤️ The Shit No One Tells You About Writing Team
Our work takes place on land now known as Toronto and Ottawa and we acknowledge that these are the traditional territories of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat Peoples as well as the unceded, unsurrendered territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation. Toronto is covered under Treaty 13 and the Williams Treaties. We respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across this land and acknowledge the historical oppression of lands, cultures, languages, and the original Peoples in what we now know as Canada. We invite you to learn more about the land you inhabit, the history of that land, and how to actively be part of a better future going forward together at Native Land or Whose Land.
Carly Watters and CeCe Lyra are literary agents at P.S. Literary Agency, but their work in this newsletter is not affiliated with the agency, and the views expressed by Carly and CeCe in this newsletter are solely that of themselves and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, policies, or position of P.S. Literary Agency.