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Chapter 1: What is the significance of the beta reader matchup extension?
The last beta reader matchup of the summer has been extended thanks to gremlins in the system. Instead of the matchup happening on the 2nd of June it will now be extended to the 9th of June with matchup emails going out that day. If you haven't registered yet and would like to take advantage of this extension you have until midnight eastern time on the 8th of June.
please go to theshitaboutwriting.com, look for the beta reader matchup tab, and you can find all the details and register there. What's up, everyone? This is Cece. So I recently grabbed lunch with an acquiring editor from HarperCollins who told me that the number of submissions she's been getting has nearly doubled.
And I wasn't surprised at all because every agent and editor I know has been talking about how the volume of submission keeps increasing. So personally, that is a wonderful thing, because it's more reading for me, but it also means I have more chances of matching with authors. I consider it a privilege to review queries on Books with Hooks, and of course, in my submissions inbox.
But at the same time, I talk to writers who tell me that they wish agents would read more than a few pages because... And I quote, my story gets better in chapter two. I have to be honest, this kills me. It's like me wanting chocolate chip cookies to have the nutritional value of kale. It's just not realistic.
Like it or not, no agent, no acquiring editor is going to stick around to see if a submission gets better. It's not because we're mean. It's because we get dozens and dozens every day. I know it's harsh, but ambitious writers embrace harsh realities. So here it goes. It's your job to make your opening pages irresistible, to make agents crave it, to make agents want to read more.
that's why i'm so excited about my upcoming course starting it right how to begin your story in the best place and in the best way i created this course after studying hundreds of books i've mapped out elements that are present in the beginning of all successful novels and memoirs and i've designed checklists actual checklists that you can use to ensure that your story's beginning is seducing your reader
We'll cover how to write a great first line, different types of beginnings and how you can choose the best one, the best place to start and the best way to start. Yes, these are totally different things.
When it makes sense to add a prologue and when it doesn't, how to frame your inciting incident in an appealing way, how to balance exposition and mystery, how to include context but not weigh it down with too much backstory. and what to do if your story has more than one POV or timeline. Most of all, I'm going to show you how to make readers want to turn to chapter two.
Join me for this multi-day course designed to help you break through the noise. You'll leave with a clear, actionable breakdown of exactly what goes into a terrific beginning. If you've already signed up, come prepared to take lots of notes. We're talking hundreds of slides with real-world examples and specific techniques, plus a super fun surprise that I can't wait to share.
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Chapter 2: How has the volume of submissions changed for agents?
I'm best-selling author Bianca Murray and I'm joined by Cece Lira of Wendy Sherman Associates and Carly Waters of PS Literary. Hi everyone, welcome back to another Books with Hooks, our 200th segment actually. So we have done 225 of these, Carly and Cece, how are you guys feeling about that?
Well, last time I told you guys, I'm like, are we even going to be needed anymore? Like AI is coming for all of us. And now we're like, okay, 225. Clearly you guys have stuck around to enjoy us for this many years and we appreciate it.
CC, how are you feeling stamina wise? Stamina wise, I have all the energy in the world. That's never been an issue. I'm just like, how are people still listening to us after 225? Thank you. Thank you to everyone. That's so lovely. And it's so lovely to hear from brand new listeners who found us and then have gone all the way back and listened to everything else.
So even our new listeners have gone all the way back, which is amazing. Okay, so let's dive in. Carly, can you please read us your query?
Here we go. Dear Carly, thank you so much for all you do. I love the show and have been an avid listener for years. Wynonna Earp meets The Last of Us in Blazing Bright, a 100,000 word dual POV Western horror inspired by the real life Buffalo Bills Wild West show, just with more ghosts and cannibals. This sapphic and feminist historical reimagining will appeal to fans of The Unbroken by C.L.
Clarke and Outlawed by Anna North. It's 1851, and there are two types of people, brights and flushes, the haves and have-nots. Only brights can gain power and immortality from consuming gold, and California's gold rush is booming.
Emmeline's blazing bright Wild West show is all bright women, and they've made their fame and fortune through violent performances on horseback where death is the star of the show, but not real death when everyone is immortal.
emeline is power hungry and will stop at nothing to achieve her ultimate goal to take the show overseas to london chasing the dream she's had since her mother told her she was worthless but the gold is weakening and running out and as women in her show start dying and not coming back to life she turns to an alternative form of power killing and eating fleshes which turns out to be even more potent than gold the only problem is that emeline's girlfriend rose doesn't agree with her methods
Rose joined the show long ago when it was about skills and sharpshooting, not death. She wants desperately to go back to that, but violence sells and Emmeline begins bringing fleshes into the show to fight each other to the death. Rose ultimately runs away with another woman, taking two of Emmeline's captured fleshes with them.
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Chapter 3: What feedback is given for the Western horror submission?
Do you mean for animals? You never needed them for animals or in general? I don't need trigger warnings at all. I know that sounds crazy. Wait, but you just said you needed it for the cannibalism in the last query letter. Why were we disagreed? When I talk about, I'm like rolling up my sleeves. I'm like, okay.
You did.
Bye. No, but you did, didn't you? I, because I'm trying to provide an educational show for everybody. Oh, you're saying other people would need it. I try to do my best to protect everybody else. Oh, that's very sweet. Okay, I get it. I try to protect our listeners. I try to protect you guys. I try to protect all the other future agents that are going to see these queries.
Got it, got it, got it.
Personally, me, Carly, as the literary agent, do not need. Got it, got it, got it. And I have never needed them. But again, that's just me personally. I understand we are in a different era where people feel very differently about that. So that's how I feel about that. No, I understand now what you're saying.
Okay, you can pull down your sleeves now. I wouldn't need it for, for the animal cruelty only because it is very, it's kind of, it's just obvious, you know, like if you're reading about horses in an arena and there are guns, like, like I would just expect it. It was very gladiator. I would just expect it. I don't like it. But I, but I never, I, here's the thing.
I never see a downside to including it because it's not hurting anyone. So I don't think like, I think when in doubt, if you include it, great. You're protecting the people who need it. I have said this before. I read this in Roxane Gay's, now I forget what was the essay, but she essentially says, and I'm paraphrasing.
The thing about trigger warnings is that they provide safety and that she thinks that it's actually a little wild that people would expect to feel safe in an unsafe world. And that's always been how I personally felt. But of course, you know, people... Wonderful. It's wonderful that people get to feel safe. It's a wonderful thing.
I mean, and again, I'm not saying that I feel this way. Another counter argument to trigger warnings is that some people feel like... you're kind of giving away the heart of the novel. Like, is it a spoiler? Like, are trigger warnings spoilers?
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