Mónica B. Wagner's Blog, page 5

My 2014 Pitch Wars Mentor Bio and Wish List! :)

Pitch Wars is finally here and I’m so excited! I’ll be a mentor for the third time! Can you believe how time flies?? =)
So! I’ll be mentoring someone with a YA ms, and we’re going to polish it to take it with a tuxedo and a tie to the agents’ round in November. And hopefully, this writer will get MANY offers of representation! *wink* 
Now my bio and my wish list!
Bio:I’m a mother of three boys and owner of eleven hens. When I’m not collecting laundry or eggs, I write YA fiction. I’m represented by Lauren MacLeod of the Strothman Agency, and I’ve worked with many published YA authors, such as Francisco Stork, Gretchen McNeil, Debra Driza, Kasie West—among many others. Some of the entries I've picked in contests from slush have had nice deals and one even sold for a six-figure deal. I freelance, too, and I absolutely love helping writers hone their manuscripts. (Some days I even prefer to edit than to write!)
Let me tell you what I want to read this year, but first, I’ll let you know what I DO NOT want to read this year:
- YA dystopian. - A novel written in verse (unless it's done sparingly, like in WE WERE LIARS). - A quiet novel. Like, a teen losing someone they love and the ms is just about this teen coping with this death… or something quiet like that. - A novel that’s over 100,000 words. While there are a few debuts that are over 100k that get pubbed like Twilight, this contest will take place in just a couple of months, so I don’t think we’ll have time to edit thoroughly something that has so many words.
What I would LOVE to read:
-Contemporary YA.   I love this genre. In fact, the first MS I picked in Pitch Wars was a contemp. YA that did more than well in the agents’ round. I want an original contemp. YA with a hook—nothing that is too quiet (like I said above). Give me something fresh, and if it has romance, even better. I love girl POVs and guy POVs, love flawed characters that make you feel. (BTW, I’m writing a contemporary YA right now, and I’ve read tons of books in this genre. Also, I've been so lucky to beta some awesome contemp. YAs, like THE DISTANCE BETWEEN US by Kasie West /Harper Teen 2012 and VICKY by Francisco X. Stork /Scholastic 2015.) 
Seriously, if you have a contemporary YA, I'm your gal!
-Literary YA.Last year, someone asked me about literary YA. So I want to specify here—think of a MS that is beautifully written, that it doesn’t only matter what happens in the book, but it also matters THE WAY it’s written. The cadence and rhythm is beautiful and the characters are complex and flawed and loveable at the same time. An example of lovely prose would be Lauren DeStephano’s WITHER. Or Nova Ren Suma’s IMAGINARY GIRLS.If your MS has a commercial aspect, like an intriguing and hooking premise (again, that isn’t quiet), and it’s written beautifully, with a literary slant, then it’s very possible that I will pick your ms.
-Fantasy YA, and Urban Fantasy YAI love fantasy, but not high fantasy. (High fantasy is something set in a very different world, sometimes with a different language, etc—like Eragon, Lord of The Rings, etc). I’ll tell you a few examples of Fantasy YAs and UF YAs I’ve loved:DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE by Laini Taylor, THE SCORPIO RACES by Maggie Steifvater, SHADOW AND BONE by Leigh Bardugo, CRACKED by Eliza Crewe, etc, etc.
- Historical YALast year, I wrote a YA historical, and I read tons of historical YAs to get the language right and all. So I know my share of historical YA. The bad news is that I’ve also learned that is a tough genre to sell, so it has to be really awesome. And the writing must be smooth, and the plot shouldn’t be predictable, either. If you think your Historical YA is very original and your writing is there, then please send it my way!
- YA Sci-fiI have to be honest. Sci-fi isn’t my favorite genre. But I HAVE picked sci-fi in contests before. Like one of the mss I picked for The Writer’s Voice 2012 was a great YA sci-fi that later sold to Disney Hyperion. What I’m trying to say here—I read sci-fi. I’m just verypicky when it comes to it. But again, if I love it, I will definitely take it. What would make me pick it? First, the voice. If you have an amazing voice, I’ll even read your grocery list. Second, if the sci-fi part in your book is just a small element—say, the setting is contemporary and there’s only one scientific thing on the MS… then, that would be nice. Think the TV series Heroes. There’s a lot of superhero fantasy stuff, but there’s also a little sci-fi thread in there, too. And the series isn’t 100% sci-fi. And third, if your book has a nice romantic plot, or if it feels like an adventure (even if it’s set in outer space), then, I’ll probably like it.
- Magical Realism YASURE!!! As I mentioned above, I loved IMAGINARY GIRLS by Nova Ren Suma, and that is totally magical realism. Seriously. I love magical Realism. (Here’s a secret I’ll tell you: I’ve ALWAYS wanted to write a MR YA, but I still haven’t figured out the plot.)
-Thriller YAsI love the nature of this genre—that it makes you flip pages because you really want to know what the heck is going on! And then there’s always a twist that you hopefully didn’t see coming and you’re like, WOW! Yeah. I want that. Said this, I have a couple of things to say. If it’s a YA thriller, I want a romantic subplot (it doesn’t have to be a huge romantic thing, just that there’s a love interest). And I want that there are enough teens around—let me explain. Sometimes YA thrillers include institutions like the FBA, CIA, whatever, and those are filled with grownups. Teens want to read about teens. So if your YA thriller has romance and there are a few teens around (without so much focus on what the grownups do), then send it my way, please!
-Paranormal YAIt makes me sad that editors aren’t buying Paranormal YA as they used to. Because come on! It’s a great genre. This being said, I'll be looking for something exceptionally good in this genre.
-Horror YAYes!! Send it my way. *thinks better of it* *shudders* Um, no!! Okay… yes? But promise you’ll send it during the day. Otherwise I won’t be able to sleep!! *wink* But seriously? Sure! I love this genre, too. I’m even in the acknowledgements of a YA Horror published by Balzer & Bray, and I loved that book.
YA MemoirIt has to be something original and that reads like fiction. I may fall in love with a YA Memoir!
LGBT YAI just picked a LGBT MG for The Writer’s Voice this year that got 10 agent requests. Why did I pick it? Because it had a fresh twist in the same-old premise. If your LGBT YA has a VERY original twist, and it’s well written, and I love the voice, it’s very likely that I’ll pick it. One book I liked in this genre is SHINE by Lauren Myracle. I liked it because it had a crime, a mystery, and the writing was lovely. I’m stressing out that it has to be original with a twist, because after years of reading slush, I’ve came across many LGBT titles, but with very quiet premises.

If you can think of any other YA genre that I didn’t mention, then SURPRISE ME, and send it my way—unless of course, it’s something I specifically said I don’t want to read. ;) 
If I love your voice and writing, then I probably won’t care about the genre. Also, I'll be paying attention to whether you show instead of tell on the sample pages. Let me know if you have questions for me on the comments section of this post.

Why should you pick me? Well, I’m going to let my former (and very awesome) mentees, Missy Mitchell and Rachel Coleman, to answer that for me:
“Monica is the mentor YOU need. First, she knows her stuff, which is totally important. She has a great eye for "big picture" and line-edits. She also helped brainstorm ideas with me to help bring my MS to the next level. And availability?? I have to tell you, Monica was available at a moment's notice. She was super fast with her edits and responses, even if I would send a regular old email to just talk about a MS idea. << This is super important during #pitchwars. Most important, I received offers from agentS and am now talking with publishers. 'Tis true!! So you should choose her. She's the one!”--Missy Mitchell
"Working with Monica was sort of like earning a mini MFA in creative writing, she's that good! She worked on big picture things like cutting out an entire POV character; changing the "telly" parts of my MS to sound more like the internal monologue of my protagonist; as well as the minute details like word choice, grammar, and punctuation. When she finds something that doesn't work, she not only tells you why but also offers brilliant suggestions for fixing it. She has a knack for understanding the kind of story you are trying to tell, and then making your MS shine. She's also incredibly nurturing, finding ways to make every critique feel like a compliment. If you're looking for someone to cheer you on, and be super tough at the same time, you've found her. She's quick to respond (like supernaturally quick. I don't know how she does it!) and continues to keep in touch and mentor me long after the PitchWars contest is over. After working with her, I've had full requests from every agent I've queried. If you don't get chosen to be her mentee, you should totally hire her as a freelance editor!"
--Rachel Coleman
Also, you may want to check out my Editorial Services page, because I have some other testimonials there. And you can read the Love YA success stories, too. And I’ll say what I said last year: you should pick me because I’m going to make you work so hard, you’ll fall off the grid while revising your MS. Because I have lots of experience editing mss, and I can help you brainstorm. And because we’ll have fun in the process!
Summing up, PICK ME! ;)
<3 Mónica

P.S.: This is the blog hop!

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An important tip to keep in mind while BETA READING

A few years ago, one writer I knew sent me a few chapters to beta read. I happily did. And for a number of reasons, I thought one of the scenes wasn’t there yet. Before telling her what wasn't working for me, though, I told this writer I thought her MS would be stronger if she nixed that scene. And THEN I named all the problems I saw in the scene. 
Big mistake. 
She got a little upset. And she was like, really, Mónica? Really? You think I HAVE to nix that scene? But I don’t WANT to nix that scene! Oh, no! Oh, no! I think she may have had a panic attack.
I tried to backpedal. I said I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant the scene wasn’t working for me. And I spent like 5 emails trying to make it right and explain myself. Meanwhile, I realized why exactly I had screwed up:  I had given a suggestion first, and then I had told her the reasons I thought her scene wasn’t working. In the end, she didn’t nix the scene. She just fixed it.
So that day, I learned this:  You ALWAYS have to give your objective thoughts first. And then, give the suggestions. But be extra careful to make it clear that they are just that: SUGGESTIONS.
So instead of saying : “I think it’d be nice to nix that chapter, because I didn’t connect with your MC there.”
Say: “I didn’t connect with your MC in this chapter [name all the reasons why. Such as: I think your MC sounded whiny in these paragraphs, OR these sentences make your MC sound too rational so the voice isn’t working for me, etc].But I have a few suggestions that might help you fix that, like: 1) You could nix those sentences. 2) you can change them *this* and *that* way. 3) etc, etc. [You get the idea!] Or you can have your own brilliant ideas that are better than mine to fix those problems."
And (this has little to do with the post, but...) don't forget to be nice! Always start with a compliment... when you start with compliments, people are usually more receptive.  =) 
<3Mónica

We have our second The Writer's Voice 2014 #TeamMonica FTW SUCCESS STORY!

Guess WHAT??? My Team has had a SECOND The Writer's Voice success story this year! I'm so excited to announce that Ashley Turcotte has signed with Lisa Jane Weller of Broadland Literary! :)
This is her story in her own words:
I think most writers have a rock bottom moment. A point when they’re sure that even though they’ve worked so hard and grown so much, no amount of work will ever be enough. No amount of growth will ever make them great.
That moment for me was a little under three months ago. There were actually three days in the beginning of April when I was convinced I’d never write anything again. (Silly, right? As if I could actually stop.)
But I believe I needed those three days. Because when “writer” was removed from my identity, I felt empty. Lost. Useless. I’d ripped a great big hole in myself. And it forced me to admit just how much writing means to me. So I left those three days more determined than I’d ever been in my life. I would succeed, no matter how long it took, no matter how much heartbreak I had to suffer through. I’d never let myself give up again.
Ten days later, I saw the announcement for The Writer’s Voice. I was an alternate in the contest last year (yay Team Krista!) and knew how awesome it would be. And my MG fantasy, Tearless, hadn’t been in any contests yet. So to prove to myself that I truly wasn’t giving up, exactly one month from the day I determined I was no longer a writer, I entered.
Thank goodness I did! When Mónica picked me, I felt this crazy rush of joy and adrenaline and validation, all rolled into one. If Mónica could be that excited and enthusiastic about my words, then I had to be doing something right after all. And working with her to make my entry as perfect as we could make it was so much fun. (Seriously, Mónica, you’re the best. <3)
By the end of the contest, I had two requests. I ecstatically sent them off and prepared myself for the long wait. (I once had a full request out for 10 days shy of a whole year. I know all about waiting.) But that wasn’t the case this time. Only six days after I’d sent her a partial, one of the agents upgraded to a full. All of a week later, I got my favorite email I’ve gotten in my life. She loved Tearless. She wanted to set up a Skype chat so we could discuss representation. 
Less than three months after I’d decided to give up forever, I signed with Lisa Jane Weller of Broadland Literary (one of the ninja agents in the contest). I’m so excited to be working with her! We have so many fantastic plans for my books, and I pretty much adore her.
Time elapsed: 4 years, 8 months, and 6 days. Manuscripts: 4. Rejections: 218. Identity crises: 1.
But I got there. And I’ve never been happier in my life.  

Stacey Lee's AMAZING cover reveal!

Hey! Did you see Stacey Lee's cover reveal yesterday on YA Highway? I absolutely love it and I wanted to post about it today because she is my CP and BFF and I'm so very proud of her and her book, UNDER A PAINTED SKY (G.P. Putnam's Sons, March 2015). 
*jumps up and down*

 Here's the jacket copy: (You'll LOVE this book, I know you will!!!!)

Missouri, 1849: Samantha dreams of moving back to New York to be a professional musician—not an easy thing if you’re a girl, and harder still if you’re Chinese. But a tragic accident dashes any hopes of fulfilling her dream, and instead, leaves her fearing for her life.
With the help of a runaway slave named Annamae, Samantha flees town for the unknown frontier. But life on the Oregon Trail is unsafe for two girls, so they disguise themselves as Sammy and Andy, two boys headed for the California gold rush.

Sammy and Andy forge a powerful bond as they each search for a link to their past, and struggle to avoid any unwanted attention. But when they cross paths with a band of cowboys, the light-hearted troupe turn
out to be unexpected allies. With the law closing in on them and new setbacks coming each day, the girls quickly learn that there are not many places to hide on the open trail.

An unforgettable story of friendship and sacrifice—perfect for fans of Code Name Verity.

Oh, OHHH!! And here's the Goodreads link so you can add it! And Facebook!! And Tumblr!!AND TWITTER!!!
Can you tell how excited I am???


Stacey Lee is a fourth generation Chinese-American whose people came to California during the heydays of the cowboys.  She believes she still has a bit of cowboy dust in her soul.  A native of southern California, she graduated from UCLA then got her law degree at UC Davis King Hall.  After practicing law in the Silicon Valley for several years, she finally took up the pen because she wanted the perks of being able to nap during the day, and it was easier than moving to Spain.  She plays classical piano, raises children, and writes YA fiction.

We have our first The Writer's Voice 2014 #TeamMonica FTW SUCCESS STORY!

I'm THRILLED to announce that Lisa Koosis, a member of my team on The Writer's Voice 2014, has signed with agent Brianne Johnson from Writers House! =) I'm so proud of you, Lisa! (And stay tuned, because there will be more good news for #TeamMonicaFTW soon!)
Here's her story in her own words:
I guess maybe I should start off with a confession: I entered the Writer’s Voice contest because I needed a deadline. I’d spent the prior six or seven months struggling through revisions of Resurrecting Sunshine (here’s where I skip the long portion of the story which involves tons of rejection, a smattering of encouraging feedback, a deal with my significant other, a writing conference, a lovely editor requesting revisions and…well, you get the idea) and I was finding myself stuck in the pits we writers know so well--indecision, self-doubt, procrastination, hopelessness--and I wasn’t getting anywhere fast.
What I needed, I realized, was a deadline. Something concrete. Something to force me to make choices and commit to changes rather than being all wishy-washy.
Then one day on Twitter, I saw a post about The Writer’s Voice, a contest I’d been in once before (with a different manuscript). I’d been picked by Krista for her team that year (thank you, Krista!), and it had been a great experience. (For the record, I came away that time without a single agent request.)  This, I thought, would be just the deadline I needed to crank through the last of my revisions, and in addition would make a great trial run for the changes I’d made to Resurrecting Sunshine.
I was thrilled when Monica picked me for her team, and my pitch went through a number of much-needed revisions until Monica and I both declared it ready. Still, I knew better than to pin too much hope on the contest. After all, I’d been doing this writing thing for a LONG time and had gotten nowhere.  (But more on that later.)
Much to my surprise, on agent day, I ended up with nine requests. Nine! And all from amazing agents. I couldn’t believe it.
One of those agents was Brianne Johnson from Writers House. She had asked specifically for the first 50 pages, so that’s what I sent. About 24 hours later, she requested the full manuscript. A day and a half after that, I came back from walking my dog to find an email with the subject: time to talk this afternoon?
I think I stopped breathing. What did that mean? Was this The Call? The call I’d never imagined would happen to me?
Indeed it was.  After over seven years of submitting and almost 200 queries (190 to be exact, not including like a zillion contest entries), spanning four separate manuscripts, I’d pretty much given up hope of ever taking that next step. And now, not only had I gotten The Call, but it was from an amazing agent, who really got my book and whose enthusiasm just vibrated over the phone line. 
When I hung up after having this unbelievable thing happen, with nobody else home to tell and my significant other unreachable, I danced with the dog and gave her way too many treats.
Within the week I received a second offer of representation, so I had the opportunity (also a bit of a curse) to choose from two fantastic agents, who both loved my book. It simply wasn’t possible to make a bad decision.
Ultimately I did make a choice, and I am incredibly, ridiculously, over-the-moon happy to be able to say I am now represented by Brianne Johnson of Writers House.  So thank you, The Writer’s Voice, and thank you, Monica (and all the other coaches, and the agents who generously give their time to participate) for giving writers this venue to get their work out there and for helping me to find my dream agent.

The Writer's Voice 2014 Contest Entries! Go Team Mónica!

“The Writer’s Voice” is a multi-blog, multi-agent contest hosted by Brenda Drake, Elizabeth Briggs., Kimberly P. Chase, and me. We’re basing it on NBC’s singing reality show The Voice, so the four of us will serve as coaches and select projects for our teams based on their queries and first pages.
We also had guest coaches this year, and I would like to give a special thanks to Stacey Lee, author of UNDER A PAINTED SUN (Putnam 2015), for helping Team Mónica this year! Here’s Stacey’s Twitter account, and her website!

Also, many thanks to the participating agents:
Mollie Glick of Foundry Literary + MediaEmily Gref of Lowenstein AssociatesTaylor Haggerty of Waxman Leavell Literary Agency
Erin Harris of Folio Literary Brianne Johnson of Writers HouseGinger Knowlton of Curtis Brown, Ltd.Victoria Marini of Gelfman Schneider Literary Agents, Inc.Holly McGhee and Elena Giovinazzo of Pippin PropertiesSara Megibow of Nelson Literary AgencyRenee Nyen of kt literaryAmmi-Joan Paquette of Erin Murphy Literary AgencyCarrie Pestritto of Prospect AgencyBridget Smith of Dunham LiteraryMonika Verma of Levine Greenberg Literary AgencyCaryn Wiseman of Andrea Brown Literary Agency
Plus two secret ninja agents who will be requesting too!
The agents will vote for their favorites on May 22. Each vote will count as a partial or full request depending on how many votes the entry receives. If an entry receives 1 or 2 votes, those votes will count as partial requests. If an entry receives 3 or more votes, those votes will count as full requests.

Voting will stay open until 9:00 a.m. EDT on May 23, at which point we’ll determine which coach’s team received the most votes. That coach will win bragging rights for time immemorial, and everyone who received requests will be able to submit their materials to all the agents who voted for them. These votes represent serious interest in your project, so PLEASE DON’T ACCEPT AN OFFER OF REPRESENTATION BEFORE GIVING “THE WRITER’S VOICE” AGENTS AN OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE A COMPETING OFFER.
To read the other teams' entries, please use the following links:
Team BrendaTeam ElizabethTeam Kimberly
Without further ado, I present to you, MY AMAZING TEAM:
Team Mónica #1 STEVE &AUSTIN (MG)Team Mónica #2 POTHOLES ONTHE ROAD TO NIRVANA (YA)TeamMónica #3 RESET TO ZERO (YA)Team Mónica #4 TEARLESS (MG)Team Mónica #5 THE KILLING MOON (Adult)Team Mónica #6 THE INSIGNIFICANCE OF A LEAF (YA)Team Mónica #7 RESURRECTING SUNSHINE (YA)Team Mónica#8 MAMA’S GIRL (MG)
Lastly, cheerleading is allowed, but only until Wednesday! We want to leave the comments free for the agents to vote on Thursday. (Also, we will only allow, well, cheerleading and/or positive feedback. Please don’t critique the entries before the agents vote. On the flip side, please don’t try to convince the agents that they want to vote for one of your favorites or, you know, threaten to douse the agents in silly string if they don’t vote for your critique partner. This is a silly-string-free site.)

Happy reading!