My husband and I have to completed novels, one MG and YA. The catch is there are no human characters in either. The MG is told from a cat’s perspective and the YA is told from a dragon’s. My question is: does the fact that these are written not for a PB audience automatically mean we are not going to find someone interested in representing them?

Tamara, I always have trouble with the question of what books I would have loved to be involved with. I want to just say everything good and everything successful. But to be more specific…off the top of my head right now, I think Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower stands out as a book that I really tumbled for when I read it that would also have been a really great fit for my current list.

Heather, if I was approached by someone looking to hire a writer for a project (whether as ghost, co-writer, work-for-hire, etc.), I’d approach my own list first and toss it out to the other agents here. I don’t think I’d go out of my way to look for clients specifically for those kinds of projects.

Oh, Livia…while I have beaten everyone here at Words with Friends, I think the best player (it pains me so to admit this) is probably Lauren.

Eric and YA Writer have basically the same question: how much do I read before giving up… It depends. Of course, I read to the end before I sign anything on. It sounds clichéd, but I do know within a page whether or not I think I’m going to reject something, though I try not to make the call (except in rare cases) until about 25 pages in. Things HAVE won me back over after an initial sense that I will pass. Which is why I do try to keep going beyond when I feel I should stop.

Brian, it’s tricky when to re-query an agent. If the agent has seen your actual manuscript, I think you can tell them you’ve done a major rewrite and ask if you can resubmit. If you’ve completely reworked your query, then maybe give it one more shot. But just one. We do remember things (not always), but enough to know if we’re seeing the same project over and over. As for the affect of e-publishing on our query load, if there is one, it hasn’t been noticeable.

Catherine, I think we can get some other folks to open up to questions. Lord knows, some folks here will love the opportunity to not come up with a blog idea for a week!

Alli, if you have requests from meeting people at conferences or have existing relationships with editors, it certainly doesn’t hurt to mention. Explain the connection though to avoid seeming as though you’ve shopped your work to the world already.

Stephen, not that heavy a question at all. I don’t think an author’s gender or sexual identity (whatever it may be) would have a substantial impact on them getting published in the YA world.

And lastly, Redleg, I don’t know what a flywheel, starter block, or solenoid is, so my recommendation is…buy a bike?

What is the best way to go about replacing the flywheel in my starter block? My engine’s been failing to turn over and I think it’s either that or the solenoid.