...WE'RE MOVING!  For new content, visit Literary Carrie 2.0 from now on at https://literarycarrie.wixsite.com/blog. I'm really excited about the new site and hope you will like it as much as I do!  Be sure to subscribe once you head over ..read more

Query critique time!  For everyone who enters (and those who don't) spread the word so that even if you don't submit a query, you encourage others to read and comment.  Thanks :) If you're not familiar with how to enter, take a look at my previous post to read the rules.  Good luck!  ..read more

Every year, I do annual strategy session calls with my authors to talk about goals and our plan for the year ahead.  Most of the time, when I chat with new clients, one of the things they always want to ask about is what to do when on submission, which is what I answer in this month's tip! First off, being on submission, while exciting, involves A LOT of waiting.  I cannot stress that enough.  Every agent has a different procedure, but I usually do monthly check-ins with editors until I get either an offer or everyone in the round passes.  That can take a month.&nbs ..read more

Now that we're well into 2019, I've noticed that I've had a lot of people asking me what I'm looking for in terms of new projects, authors, etc. so I thought I would give a bit of an #MSWL update in this post! This is a much more general what-I'm-looking-for post, so please also keep an eye out for my tweets with the #MSWL hashtag, since I often use that when I see a specific movie, book, or article that inspires my wish list.  Primarily, though, what I'm on the lookout for are projects that really blow me away.  Vague, I know, but this is the thought process behind it ..read more

The first query critique winner of 2019 is Ivy—congrats!  Also, I'm sorry about the paragraph spacing being weird...I'm not sure why it's happening and I can't fix it, so apologies for anyone who has a harder time reading because of it.  Here is her original query: Dear Literary Carrie, Aaron Keller promised his dying wife he’d remarry and give siblings to their baby with Down syndrome. But when he falls for Dr. Katrina Lopez, who isn’t ready for marriage, children, or a new life, he’s thrust into battle against time and fear. DARKNESS & DREAMS is a steamy contemporary romanc ..read more

Wishing you all a fun and safe New Year's Eve and a great start to 2019!  Also, if you're a New Year's Eve baby like me, happy shared birthday!!!  I can't believe another year has come and gone and now I'm 32.  I feel like my resolutions should be much more adult than they are ..read more

Query critique time!  For everyone who enters (and those who don't) spread the word so that even if you don't submit a query, you encourage others to read and comment.  Thanks :) If you're not familiar with how to enter, take a look at my previous post to read the rules.  Good luck!  ..read more

Because we are so close to the end of the year, I naturally have started thinking about things like New Year's Resolutions, which brings me to this month's tip: make a list of goals and to-do's. At the start of every year, I do annual strategy sessions with all my clients where we talk about what we want to achieve in the coming year and the steps we think we'll have to take to get there.  It's a time to crystallize goals and also to analyze the actions we need to take.  It might sound kind of militant, but I find that it's a super helpful thing to do. Besides the vague, u ..read more

Tomorrow is the pub day for Susan Blumberg Kason's anthology HONG KONG NOIR, which the BBC listed as one of the ten books to read this December!  Kirkus' great review for the collection aptly describes it as a presentation "of 14 stories—by Chinese tradition, an ominous number—illustrating their city’s dark side...[,]a city on the brink, haunted by its past but facing an uncertain future. Readers can feel lucky to have such a collection." Be sure to grab your copy of these darkly atmospheric stories!!  You still have time to pre-order your copy from Amazon! First ..read more

Hi, all!  This month's lucky #8 is Teagan—congrats!  Here is her original query: Dear Ms. Pestritto, Thanks to her father’s last-ditch attempt, seventeen-year-old Raenalia has been cursed her whole life. At first, Raen thought being cursed to stay in her own city was bad, but then her city was ambushed and occupied by a subterranean monster race, the Tauren, and now Raen knows that it could still get worse. The Tauren killed many of the inhabitants of her city and the rest have fled, including whatever was left of Raen’s family. Now Raen and the&nbs ..read more