Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Query Question: when is a novella not a novella?


I have a question regarding submitting my work to literary agents. I write juvenile horror novellas for ages 8-14 (I like to think between Goosebumps & Twilight Zone) and what I'm finding is that several agents don't represent novella writers. Is this pretty standard or am I unfortunately finding only those that don't? 



You're confused about what you're writing. You're not writing novellas. You're writing chapter books. Novellas are shorter than novels, but that only applies to adult trade books.

You're writing for kids. That means you look for agents who say they are looking for MG (middle grade) or YA (young adult)

You describe your work as scary chapter books akin to R.L. Stine.


And I'm guessing you don't belong to SCBWI because you didn't know this.  Join. Learn. It's a resource you'll come to value a great deal.



4 comments:

Kitty said...

I had never heard the term "chapter books" until I took a 9-y-o shopping for books. Everyone is my teacher...

angie Brooksby-Arcangioli said...

Discovering SCBWI is like a boulder falling on your desk.

Unknown said...

Our Cleveland SCBWI conference is Sept 19-20 and it is going to rock! Heck they all do. I went to one in Charlotte last year and it was amazing too. Make sure you get into an intensive. So much great stuff from wonderful people. Now is the time to look up a conference near you. And yes I drank the Kool-aid. No really conferences are such a great way to connect with a smaller group in your area!

Tam Francis said...

This is keen advice and applies to whatever genre you're writing.

I just joined the Austin Romance Writers. I wasn't sure if it was for me, still having genre schizophrenia, but those gals know their stuff and I think I'm going to fit in just fine. It will be a great learning and growth experience!

Listen to the Shark! Join a chapter of your book's genre group!

~Tam Francis ~
www.girlinthejitterbugdress.com