How to Know When You Need a Prologue
In today's Books with Hooks, Carly and CeCe discuss the line between YA and adult historical fiction; category mashups; plausibility of plot points; mentioning side characters in query letters; consid...
23 Mar 20231h 5min
How to Ensure Your Characters Aren’t Just Puppets Being Manipulated Through a Plot
In today's Books with Hooks segment, Dongwon Song, an agent at Howard Morhaim Literary Agency who specializes in the sci-fi and fantasy genres, joins Bianca to look at four query letters. The two disc...
16 Mar 20231h 30min
Rebecca Makkai's Writing Insights
In today’s Books With Hooks, Carly and Cece co-critique two queries, discussing showing how the protagonist is propelled on their journey; dealing with major dramatic questions and stakes; dense query...
9 Mar 20231h 2min
Writing About Trauma
In today’s Books With Hooks, which is our 100th segment, Carly and CeCe each critique two queries, discussing comps; clear and compelling inciting incidents; plausibility; interiority and emotionality...
2 Mar 20231h 7min
Jam-packed February Bonus Episode
In today's jam-packed Bonus Episode, Bianca, Carly, and CeCe answer questions about whether dark novels and WWII novels have a place in the current market; when it's okay to pitch an unfinished book; ...
27 Feb 20231h 57min
Being Intentional With Setting
In today's Books with Hooks, Bianca speaks to guest agent, Emmy Nordstrom-Higdon, about five submissions including middle grade queries, a rom-com, and a graphic novel script. They discuss the best wa...
23 Feb 20231h 14min
Grady Hendrix’s Insights on Writing
In the latest Books with Hooks, Carly and CeCe each critique two queries and discuss pitching only one genre; having a solid reason that a story takes place in near-history; POV changes within a singl...
16 Feb 20231h 11min
Books That Get a Lot of Buzz
In today's Books with Hooks, Carly, CeCe, and Bianca are joined by listeners Marnie and Karisa. In the process, they discuss the importance of stakes in a query letter, even if it's literary; immersin...
9 Feb 20231h 17min
