My Sister Kaitlyn Is a Moron and She Shall Never Use My Computer Again

Everyone has a great opportunity this month. Kaitlyn Sanchez from Context Literary Agency is February's AGENT OF THE Calendar month. Kaitlyn is closed to submissions, merely starting today anybody has the opportunity to pitch their story to her in the comments section. (If you don't see the annotate section, coil all the way downwardly below my sign off and underneath the customized buttons, then await for a line that shows the corporeality of comments. Click that and it volition open upwards with the comments. If you lot never have left a comment you will have to wait for me to corroborate it earlier information technology volition show upwards.)

If your pitch sounds interesting, Kaitlyn volition reply to your pitch and y'all will send her a short clarification, short bio, and five – 10 pages of text to me to laissez passer on.

In that location will still be four first page critiques at the stop of the calendar month, taken from the requested submissions. Please read all the details at the bottom of this page in the Submission Guidelines.

Fiction: Activity/Adventure, Children'southward, Commercial, Historical, Horror, Humour, LGBTQ, Heart Grade, Mystery, Movie Books, Short Story, Thriller, Young Developed

Non-Fiction: Biography, Illustrated

Kaitlyn says she is incredibly eclectic and pretty dichotomous. On one side, she really connects with emotional writing and, on the other, very funny stories. She loves Both! In her center creators who can do this are magicians. In all categories, she is always looking for variety all in forms, including only not limited to BIPOC, neurodiversity, and LGBTQ+.

For picture books, she enjoys representing writer-only and author-illustrators likewise. For style, she likes them all: character-driven, concept, and whatsoever artistic new formats ideas you might have! Kaitlyn connect with poignant, lyrical writing (rhyme and non-rhyme) but as much equally express joy out loud funny, and of course, the best are those magical books that mix humor and heart. She  also enjoys nonfiction STEAM books and super interesting picture book biographies especially ones about underrepresented people.

For affiliate books, middle-grade, and young adult stories, She leans toward historical fiction, mysteries, magical realism (high fantasy isn't more often than not her matter, simply she always enjoys a petty magic), humorous, and friendships stories. Also, she is super interested in scary stories that aren't gruesome. Note: Kaitlyn generally leans toward PG and PG-thirteen, though some intensity here and there is fine.

She loves working with artists, then I'm always on the watch for bully portfolios, author-illustrators, and graphic novelists.

Kaitlyn says she is an editorial agent and always works with her clients to brand certain they're putting out their best work. She is highly communicative and invested in every aspect of helping her clients have a strong and happy career.

Kaitlyn is currently closed to submissions.

Agency Website: https://www.contextlit.com/

Kaitlyn'southward Website: https://kaitlynleannsanchez.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KaitlynLeann17/

Linkedin: https://world wide web.linkedin.com/in/kaitlyn-sanchez-8b570952/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/KaitlynLeann17?

HERE IS PART 1 OF MY INTERVIEW WITH KAITLYN (DON'T MISS the Three Query Letter examples Kaitlyn Shared Below:

When did you decide you wanted to get an amanuensis?

When I call back nigh information technology, it feels similar I've always been an agent because information technology'southward like a found what I was meant to do, but in reality, it all began in the fall of 2019. I had just completed running my second blog competition. Connecting the winners with people in the publishing industry who could help them get their book into the world made me so happy. I already loved being in many critique groups for picture show book writing, and it merely hit me: "This is what agents do! They edit cute stories and help connect authors/illustrators to the people who can help bring the books into the globe." I was lucky that at the time that I was critique partners with James McGowan and Andrea Walker who were both interns at awesome literary agencies, and they really helped guide me.

How did you go the job with Context Literary Bureau?

This is one of my favorite stories! When I was looking for an bureau, I sent an email request Liza Dawson if she was looking for an agent. She let me know that I impressed her, but she wasn't looking and then asked if I had met Tamar Rydzinski because she thought we might be a adept fit. So, of grade, I sent an electronic mail to Tamar, and the remainder is history! Needless to say, Liza is amazing at connecting people! I will always exist so grateful that she idea of the wonderful connectedness.

Do yous work from home or does Context have a physical function?

Swell question! Tamar Rydzinski began Context Literary Bureau in 2022 with the idea that agents could piece of work from anywhere, and we do! I'm in California, Tamar and Jessica are in NY, and Crystal and Monica are in Texas.

Exercise you accept a limit on number of clients you will represent?

I don't have a limit on the number of clients I will represent; it's more about who inspires me.

Any story or themes you wish someone would submit?

• A absurd MG or YA mystery/suspense, like 1 of Us is Lying or A Good Girl'southward Guide to Murder
• Something fun, akin to Middle School, The Worst Years of My Life
• The next Burden of Truth (or other super cool Erin Brockovich-style story) for kidlit
• A absurd sports story; if someone can get the same funny and heartfelt vibe of the movie Petty Giants into a new MG, I'd be so in!
• Something beautiful with different points of view, like Refugee

Which do y'all lean more towards: Literary or Commercial?

I lean more literary. I definitely represent some fun, commercial books, too, but I tend to lean more than toward heartfelt, lyrical writing.

If someone submitted something that was not correct for you lot, merely was nicely written, would yous pass it to some other amanuensis if you thought they might like it?

Definitely!

What practice you like to run into in a submission?

I like to run into a personal connection with me; why did yous choose me? Then, a short pitch and any awesome bio information.

How of import is the query letter?

For picture books, I tend to read the pages offset, but for anything longer, the about important part of the query is the pitch.

Would you have a sample of a good query letter or a link to one you lot saw on the Internet that would assist writers?

Of course! Bank check out the following three wonderful queries! I checked with the authors, and they all approved of their queries existence shared. Notice for all of these queries, the authors started with a lovely personal connection, shared about their honors, and provided amazing pitches and stellar bios.

*******

Dearest Kaitlyn,

Congratulations on your new associate agent position. I've waited patiently for you lot to open for submissions, and am rejoicing that the twenty-four hour period has come up. We both approach this business organisation with the same kindness, commitment, and quest for excellence. I feel nosotros would be a terrific squad. Then, he gave a fantastic pitch, wonderful comps, and a great bio!

I would like to share a manuscript that has only received the accolade of runner-up for the SCBWI Ann Whitford Paul-Writer's Digest ;Honor for most promising new flick book manuscript.

When the zookeeper gets ill, the librarian offers to help. What does he do? Places the animals upward on a shelf, of grade! This sets into motion a hilarious chain of events where other workers put their ain misguided spins on each other's jobs. Now, they must observe the right helper to keep the town from tumbling into consummate anarchy!

If the Librarian Ran the Zoo is a quirky 480 word picture show book with themes of helping, making mistakes, community jobs, and trouble solving, told in a cumulative format like toIf You lot Give a Mouse a Cookie. Perfect for readers who enjoyedGreat, Now We've Got Barbarians by Jason Carter Eaton, andThis Book Will Not exist Fun by Cirocco Dunlap.

I most recently worked equally a youth specialist with the Henderson Public Libraries, just never once tried to take over a zoo. A former Broadway performer and instructor, I am published by Cricket Media, and have work included in several verse anthologies aslope such authors equally Jane Yolen. I won a Writing with the Stars mentorship, and am an agile member of SCBWI.

I am devoted in every style to making writing a career. I write both picture books and chapter books, and would be happy to share more manuscripts if you lot are interested. Thanks for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

David McMullin

*******

Beloved Kaitlyn,

Congratulations on your new career path! I am especially excited to run into a young man rhyme author joining the agent ranks! I would beloved it if y'all would please consider representing my picture book manuscript, Begin.

Your thinking is cloudy —gloomy and grayness. Simply expect! A BRAINSTORM is headed your manner. What begins as the tiniest drib of a thought —kerplink! —soonswells into a whirlwind of words, pictures, and ideas spilling down —Plunk! Plonk! Splat!For fans of WHAT IF?past Samantha Berger and WHAT Practice You lot Exercise WITH AN IDEA? by Kobi Yamada, BRAINSTORM takes us inside the listen of a immature writer caught in a downpour of creativity.

BRAINSTORM is a 271-word rhyming concept picture book targeted to children in grades Grand-3 who are beginning to learn how to shape and acuminate their thought-generation and storytelling skills. It includes back matter for parents, teachers and librarians who tin can use this book to assist encourage kids tohave fun playing with new ideas!

I am a journalist turned children'due south book author and poet and a fellow member of SCBWI, 12×12, Women Who Write and the Poet'due south Garage, an invitation-only critiquing community for children'due south poets. I was a 2022 #PBChat Mentorship Recipient (called by Lori Degman), a #PBParty finalist in 2022 (for my story about villainous vegetables), and First Identify winner of Susanna Hill'south 2022 Holiday Contest (with my rhyming story "The Greatest Latke Topping"). I was also a selected mentee at the Rutgers Academy Council on Children'south Literature conference in 2022 and 2019. My poems have appeared inHoneycake mag and in the volumeChicken Soup For the Soul: The Magic of Cats(out in July!)

Below please find the full text of BRAINSTORM. I accept additional manuscripts available upon request.

Thank you for your consideration and congrats over again!

All the best,

Rebecca Gardyn Levington

*******

Beloved Kaitlyn,

I'g so excited you commented on my Mixed-Upward Files Pitch. I watched your agent session with Manuscript University and was planning on querying you when you opened.

Sahara Rashad has a programme for everything—everything except what to do when she flies to Cairo and discovers her uncle's marrying a witch!

The twelve-year-one-time from Queens was certain her10 Reasons the Rashad Family unit Should Go to Disney Earth list had convinced her father to take them on the ultimate American vacation. Finally, she'd prove to the school jerk that "her people"do visit Disney. Instead, her dad announces they're flying to Egypt for her uncle's wedding—news that sends Sahara reeling. But from the moment she arrives in Cairo and meets her eclectic extended family, she feels a familiarity she can't explain. For logical-minded Sahara, it makes no sense to feel at dwelling house when she's thousands of milesaway from it—nor does it brand sense that the hamsa necklace she inherited from her mom is thrashing in the centre of the dark like it's possessed.

And that'south before she even meets the shady sharp-tongued and pretentious bride her cousin swears is El Ghoula—a unsafe witch. Sahara doesn't purchase she'due south the broomstick-flight kind, merely she definitely doesn't desire her uncle marrying someone so atrocious. She races to expose el ghoula earlier the wedding ceremony, and as she is about to discover, stop her from stealing an enchanted jinni lamp (Wait, what?) the women in her family unit have guarded for one thousand years. If she doesn't, her family's legacy and all of Cairo are doomed.

SAHARA AND THE AMULET OF THE 4 is a 68,000-word upper centre grade fantasy with series potential. It will appeal to readers drawn to ARU SHAH's folklore-inspired adventures and A THOUSAND QUESTIONS' exploration of the complex dynamics between 2d-generation Americans and their families/homelands. Though most of the novel is told from Sahara'southward POV, ancestor Morgana's tale is woven in, sneak-peeking magical family secrets not yet uncovered past Sahara.

I am a member of SCBWI and a 2022 Writer Mentor Match mentee. My manuscript was longlisted for the 2022 WriteMentor Children's Novel Award and received interest from editors at Penguin Random House and Harper Collins. I can provide more than information upon asking. SAHARA was inspired by the folktales I heard growing upwardly and my experience equally a second-generation Egyptian American.

Thank y'all for your consideration,

Nedda Lewers

Practise yous have whatever tips on how to find comps to use in a submission query letter?

I don't recall there'due south an easy trick to finding comps. Like virtually advice in this manufacture, the best way to find comps is to read, talk, and listen. Read in your genre and talk and listen on social media and to your critique partners, librarian, and local books shop. A good way to stay in the know virtually what's selling is to read awards lists and Publishers Weekly Children'south Bookshelf emails, which denote kidlit deals.

Any tips on how an author can get you to ask to encounter more than?

I wish there was something magical I could give here, but know your craft, know your voice, and ship me something unique to you!

PLEASE CHECK BACK Next Fri FOR Function THREE OF KAITLYN'S INTERVIEW

February PITCH Submission Guidelines

February Amanuensis OF THE MONTH, Kaitlyn Sanchez is closed to submissions, but wants to give everyone an opportunity to pitch your story to her. You will do this in the comment section. (If you leave a pitch and take never commented before you will non see your comment right away. I have to approved them before they show up and I am not sitting by my figurer all day long).

Hither are the guidelines:

1. Yous can pitch a picture show book, middle grade, young adult volume or graphic novel.
2. The work must be complete.
3. The pitch must be 60 words or less.
4. Yous can leave a pitch in the comment section on the Feb11th. The Feb 4^th post is now closed.
5. The deadline to leave a pitch in the comment section of February 11th post is February 15th 11:59 PM (EST). FEBRARUARY fourth is closed, so Simply Leave A PITCH using Feb. 11th post. Cut off is on the 15th.
6. If Kaitlyn responds to your pitch, brand certain you transport kathy.temean@hotmail.com an electronic mail titled "FOR KAITLYN SANCHEZ REQUESTED MATERIALS" include a short description, curt bio, and 5 – ten pages of text. I will forward this to Kaitlyn.
7. Borderline TO SUBMIT REQUESTED MATERIALS is February 16th. No ane is going to chase you down for this.
8. Kaitlyn will get back to the people she chose equally she normally does and volition chose 4 first pages from those submissions to critique for the last Fri of the month – February 25th.
9. Anyone who doesn't want to participate in the first page critique should point that when you submit to Kaitlyn.
10. Please recollect, but the pitches that Kaitlyn comments on should be sent in. Permit's be respectful of her time and the fact that she'south doing a special upshot merely for usa, even though she'southward airtight to queries.
11. If you choose to pitch, be certain andclick the "Notify Me Of Follow-Up Comments By Email" boxso you'll know if yous received a response from Kaitlyn.

Bank check BACK NEXT Friday TO READ PART Two OF MY INTERVIEW WITH KAITLYN.

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Source: https://kathytemean.wordpress.com/2022/02/11/pitch-opportunity-agent-of-the-month-kaitlyn-sanchez-interview-part-one/

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