In today's Books with Hooks, we’re throwing it back to an early backlist segment. After which, Bianca interviews author, editor, head of Writing Ink Publishing, and creative writing teacher, Abigail Wild. They discuss Abigail's latest novel, More Than One Way To Breathe; the extent to which younger readers can handle difficult topics; Abigail's advice to YA writers who want to write issue-driven fiction for teens; writing characters with disabilities authentically and sensitively; Wild Ink...

In today's Books with Hooks, we’re throwing it back to an early backlist segment. After which, Carly interviews her very own client and best-selling author, Renee Carlino, to discuss her latest novel, This Used to Be Us. They chat about Renee's journey to becoming a published author; how she found her first agent; what it's been like changing her focus and content over the course of her career; the joy of writing without a deadline or a synopsis to follow; Renee's experience having one of her...

In today's Books with Hooks, Bianca, CeCe, and Carly are joined by Jennifer to discuss her thriller submission. They chat about trigger warnings and their necessity in a query; ensuring your stakes aren't too obvious while illustrating the bigger 'why' at hand; framing your query letter in a way that highlights your POV characters and not others; the need for causality when it comes to plot points; utilizing similar pitch copy to help write more difficult or unique aspects of your query; tips...

In today's bonus episode, Bianca interviews author, Kirsten Miller, to chat about her latest novel, Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books. They discuss writing across different genres and what drove Kirsten to change up her genre; writing with the intention of sharing a message with readers; the inspiration behind the novel; Kirsten's experience working with different editors; putting a book on the shelf for a while rather than quitting altogether; releasing a book during an election...

In today's Books with Hooks, Bianca, Carly, and CeCe critique a rom-com and a YA submission. They discuss the importance of clarity in your query and avoiding language that might cause confusion; the necessity of a clear major dramatic question in your query; ensuring your protagonists aren't anticipating everything that happens in your pages; the necessity of including a character's tone in dialogue; properly mapping out how your plot points connect; thinking in specifics and futurization;...

In today's Books with Hooks, Bianca, CeCe, and Carly critique two upmarket submissions, one of which is in the gothic genre. They discuss the reasoning behind placing your metadata at the top of a query; avoiding unnecessary detail in your query; avoiding slipping from pitch to synopsis; the need for interiority, particularly interiority that will surprise the reader; taking the opportunity to use plot points as curiosity seeds when you're able to; avoiding performative dialogue; being...

In today's Books with Hooks, Bianca, CeCe, and Carly are joined by guest literary agent, Mary C. Moore. They critique a resubmission and a sci-fi query, during which they discuss: the importance of making tropes as fresh and different as possible; how to ensure your pitch isn't too dense, especially in genres that involve world-building; highlighting why you're the right person to tell the story you've written; writing plot points that connect to your major dramatic question; the balancing...

In today's Books with Hooks, Bianca, Carly, and CeCe are joined by listener, Kelly Fuller, as they critique her book club fiction submission. They discuss picking comps that match the genre you're writing in; using your query to discuss the plot of the book rather than backstory about your characters; ensuring your stakes are high enough; pitching the right agent for your book based on its content; the need for plot that showcases causality in your query; writing a book that's as long as it...

In this month’s bonus episode, Bianca chats with Courtney Preiss to discuss her debut novel, Welcome Home, Caroline Kline. They speak about the inspiration behind Courtney's novel and her journey to publication; her experiences with rejection during the querying process; being aware of cultural moments that could propel your novel forward when you’re timing your querying; the process after Courtney acquired an agent; the importance of knowing what genre you're writing in and who your readers...

In today's Books with Hooks, Bianca, Carly, and CeCe critique a YA submission and a literary coming-of-age horror. They discuss avoiding using repetitive language in a query; considering SEO when choosing a book title; the concept of 'scene work'; the need for disruption to occur in opening pages; matching word choice to genre when writing your query; pitching a literary fiction; finding a balance between showing and telling, even in literary fiction; and avoiding overwriting. After which,...

In today's Books with Hooks, Bianca, Carly, and CeCe critique a literary fiction query and a high concept YA fantasy query. They discuss the necessity of being specific with plot details and your protagonists' motivations in your query; honing in on world-building when your novel takes place in a reality that's different from ours; the issue with not grounding readers strongly enough in scene; avoiding jumping around in time too much in the opening pages; the need to correctly specify your...

In today's Books with Hooks, Bianca, Carly, and CeCe are joined by Paige to discuss her query for her action-adventure romance novel. They discuss the importance of spelling out your protagonist's motivation in your query; the need for story-forward plot escalation; accurately positioning your novel’s genre; making an agent's job easier by picking the right comps; using external plot to make readers invested in your characters; following genre rules when it comes to plot points; the need for...

In today's Books with Hooks, Bianca, Carly, and CeCe are joined by two guests, author Rachel Kapelke-Dale and her agent, Sarah Phair. They discuss ensuring your comps align with each other and with your work; making sure your query is representative of your whole novel and not just one part; using your author bio to help show why you're the one to write this story; the concept of auto-fiction; the importance of highlighting the POV you're writing from; being specific with your plot points in...

In this month’s bonus episode, Bianca interviews poet, novelist, and Chair of the Amherst Writers (AWA), Sue Reynolds. They discuss the AWA workshop method and how it differs from other workshops; what occurs in an AWA workshop; the importance of giving writers a safe and encouraging space to share their work; the concept of strength-based feedback; the specific practices within the workshops; writing without a 'pricetag'; the AWA method's commitment to holding space for marginalized and...

In today’s Book with Hooks, Carly and CeCe critique two listener queries, a resubmission and a YA fantasy. They discuss the issue of starting with a protagonist that has a 'simple, stable' life; a great example of an inciting incident; ensuring your major dramatic question is strong enough; good storytelling as the promise of change; making your protagonist the 'sun' of your story; infusing emotion into the information you provide; ensuring that your plot feels like a set of dominos tipping...

In today's Books with Hooks, Bianca, Carly, and CeCe critique a children's picture book and a literary fiction query. They discuss avoiding vagueness, no matter the genre; using illustrator notes in a picture book pitch; the need for tension, even in a children's book; framing your novel in your query so agents aren't confused when they get to the pages; the need for external plot points, even in a more internal work of literary fiction; the natural gravitation of readers to one POV in a dual...

In today's Books with Hooks, Carly and CeCe are joined by guest agent, Jo Ramsay, to critique two queries. They discuss the issue of withholding too much plot in a query; highlighting the stakes in your query; the importance of first lines in a novel; the need for psychological depth and acuity in your characters; the issue of comping to titles that are hugely successful; the risk of having too many POVs in a novel; avoiding too much backstory in your query; and the problems with a reader...

In today's Books with Hooks, Bianca, Carly and CeCe discuss choosing a unique title for your work; having a strong plot connection between your main characters in a multi POV novel; avoiding situations where the agent has to make too many assumptions in a query; choosing between italics and dialogue tags when having a character talk to themselves; balancing interiority so as not to leak tension; framing your story in a way that is accurate to your work; connecting external stakes to plot...

In today's Books with Hooks, Bianca, Carly, and CeCe discuss keeping your author bio paragraph concise; the need for causality in a plot paragraph; paying attention to the language you use in a query so you don't create confusion surrounding the book's premise; knowing who your protagonist is and highlighting their interiority and inner life over other characters'; the stakes in rom-coms; centering your protagonist's experience; making plot details realistic so your readers are on board with...

In this month’s bonus episode, Bianca interviews game designer, curator, and writer, Holly Gramazio to discuss her debut novel, The Husbands. The two discuss Holly's journey to publication; the novel’s inspiration and genre; how game design lends itself to novel writing; how she structured the novel; the importance of causality; Holly's approach to POV; and whether she feels pressure to write future novels in the same genre. After which Emilie Sommer of East City Bookshop provides the...

In today's Books with Hooks, Carly, CeCe, and Bianca are joined by Ron, to discuss his query submission. They chat about Ron's curiosity-inducing first query paragraph; the line between giving away too much plot and sharing just enough in a query; how subjective agents’ opinions can be; the right emotional calibration within your characters; the issue with having too many names in opening pages; ways authors share the socio-emotional frameworks of their characters; balancing interiority with...

In today's Books with Hooks, Bianca, Carly, and CeCe  discuss the need for external pressure in your major dramatic question; the three sets of questions that create tension at the beginning of a story; surprising your reader in your first five pages; the accuracy of third party manuscript wishlists; the need for world-building in a fantasy query; being too vague in your query; the concept of the 'new adult' genre; thinking about readers' expectations for certain types of stories; making sure...

In today's Books with Hooks segment, Carly, CeCe, and Bianca are joined by two acquisitions editors at Atria Books, Elizabeth Hitti and Melanie Iglesias. Melanie is a senior editor at Atria Books and has worked on various bestselling titles, including It Starts with Us by Colleen Hoover. Elizabeth joined Atria in 2022 and has worked on various bestselling titles as well as The Crescent Moon Tea Room by Stacy Sivinski, a Simon and Schuster Top Shelf Pick for this fall. The four discuss the...

In today's Books with Hooks segment, Bianca, Carly and CeCe discuss the importance of specifying between awards for published and unpublished manuscripts; the difficulty with trying to sell a book whose main character’s race and culture differs from the author’s lived experience; the need for a main character’s interiority to accurately reflect their age; including specifics in your plot paragraph; being explicit with your stakes; including information that shows the relationship dynamics...

In today's Bumper February Bonus Episode, Bianca kicks it off by interviewing interviews tech anthropologist and author, Nikki Payne. They discuss her latest novel, Sex, Lies, and Sensibility, a retelling of the classic, Sense and Sensibility; how Nikki approached writing her retelling, one which specifically centred diversity; decentering whiteness in the romance genre; Nikki's experience using sensitivity readers; how much 'shorthand' you can use when writing a retelling; reframing scandal...