Three Great Links for Kids Writers

Here are interesting things you may want to check out on this fine Tuesday:

1. The Official SCBWI Blog is all online from their recent conference this week. The link here will take to all the info agents gave during their agent panel at the
2010 Winter SCBWI Conference in NYC. Great stuff here. Special thanks for running the blog goes to Alice Pope, editor of Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market.

2. Kids agent Chris Richman explains what he is looking for. Chris, an agent with Upstart Crow Literary, goes into detail about exactly what he wants to receive in terms of kids submissions. This is a nice breath of fresh air.

3. Kids agent Mark McVeigh invites you to query once again. Mark is a publishing pro but new to the agent world. Evidently, he got buried in submissions and couldn't respond to them, so he is inviting writers to resubmit if they never heard back the first time. This message below was posted on the Verla Kay message boards. (Special thanks for this heads up goes to blog contributor Nancy Parish.)
"If you sent us a query before November 1, 2009, and haven’t heard anything back from us, please consider querying us again (queries[at]themcveighagency.com). Please only reach out to us if your manuscript falls into one of the following categories:
• Quirky, funny picture books with a unique twist; always kid-centric: what haven't you ever read before in a picture book? Well, write it!
• Chapter books with a great hook--school based, funny, always character or situation driven.
• Middle grade genre books, especially those with series potential – for example, set in a private school, sports-related (for either boys or girls or both!), for horse-lovers, and something so irresistible to capture that elusive male reader who prefers video games. Girl books, but no watered-down "rich girl with sexy lifestyle" please
• YA – funny or full of teen angst; envelope pushing or issue based; love stories, of course; always looking for something original and with a kid's or teen's voice. Again, ask yourself: what hasn't been done before. Make it--and this goes for everything you send Mark--start with an intoxicating chapter that FORCES the reader to keep going.
Please note that we are NOT looking at middle grade or YA fantasy at this time. Dazzle us with your query letter but keep it brief! Then paste the first 10 pages of your manuscript into the body of the e-mail (no attachments). Can’t wait to read your work!"

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