TBA Monthly Wishlist - October 2015

It's time again for the Monthly Wishlist!  Here's the ONE project that each TBA agent would love to see in their submission inbox. If you have something that fits with the below, please check out our submission guidelines and send it over. We can't wait to read!

A YA take on a biblical heroine, like a teen version of THE RED TENT - Louise Fury

I'm really looking for YA right now and am open to anything but dystopian and angels. Send me your swoony romance, your teen X-Files, your epic fantasy, your re-invented Buffy, your ghosts and anything you can comp to a movie starring Christian Slater - Gemma Cooper

I’d love to see a YA spin on a Maeve Binchy-type story - Molly Ker Hawn

MG or YA fiction with an illustrative element!  Think: TIMMY FAILURE, THE STRANGE CASE OF ORIGAMI YODA, the FRANK EINSTEIN books, WINGER, and THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART-TIME INDIAN - Susan Hawk

Epic-feeling YA contemporary that takes place over a short period of time with lots of humor and tenderness and heart. A weekend getaway, up-all-night sleepover, sit-in protest, overnight bus trip, tornado warning, lockdown or quarantine, sneak-out adventure, Ferris Bueller-esque day off — that can change your life. I love bittersweet - Beth Phelan

A middle grade or young adult ghost story or horror. Could be funny (think Ghostbusters) or gothic (think LOCKWOOD & CO.) - Brooks Sherman

YA Horror - cringing, dark, bloody twisted, and even lovely. Think American McGee's Alice Madness Returns - Heather Flaherty

An atmospheric mystery with a strong sense of place and series potential alá Tana French’s Dublin Murder Squad series - Victoria Lowes

Jenny Bent is closing to queries!

At 5:00 PM EST today, Jenny Bent will be closed to queries until further notice.

If you queried before this, you can expect a response in due course.

If Jenny has requested a manuscript from you (from a previous submission or during a conference) or if you were referred to her by a client or someone she knows, your query will be considered and you will receive a response.

If you are a member of SCBWI, please send your query with "SCBWI" in the subject line, and your query will be considered and you will receive a response.

All other queries will receive an auto-response notifying the sender that Jenny is closed to queries and the message will be deleted.

Jenny looks forward to receiving your submissions when she reopens. Please watch this space for an announcement.

Until then!

Deal Announcements — late summer/early autumn wrapup!

It's been a crazy-busy couple of months for me here at TBA, and I'm behind in announcing a few deals on the blog. I thought I'd do a little wrapup of what some of my clients have been up to...

First, Cecilia Vinesse's swoony, smart YA contemporary debut, SEVEN DAYS OF YOU, sold at auction to Little, Brown in a two-book deal:

Then debut author Casey Lyall's pitch-perfect middle-grade mystery, HOWARD WALLACE, P.I., sold to Sterling in another auction:

Autumn kicked off with Bloomsbury pre-empting Stephanie Burgis's middlegrade fantasy THE DRAGON WITH A CHOCOLATE HEART in another two-book deal:

And then today we have Rebecca Donnelly's debut with Capstone, a hilarious middlegrade contemporary novel called THE SWIZ:

I wasn't kidding when I said it's been busy! Congratulations to each of these fantastic writers, all of whom I feel privileged to represent. I don't mind working hard when it's for and with such fabulous people who work just as hard as I do! They're all on Twitter—go congratulate Cecilia, Casey, Stephanie, and Rebecca there, won't you?

TBA Monthly Wishlist - September 2015

It's time again for the Monthly Wishlist!  Here's the ONE project that each TBA agent would love to see in their submission inbox. If you have something that fits with the below, please check out our submission guidelines and send it over. We can't wait to read!

Really voice-y, poignant, contemporary YA with some sort of speculative touch — Beth Phelan

I'd love to see a MG or YA historical fantasy-adventure; some of my favorites are THE NIGHT GARDENER, THE RIVERMAN, BREADCRUMBS, and THE KNIFE OF NEVER LETTING GO — Susan Hawk

Hit me with your interesting, fun and of-the-moment pop culture and non-fiction projects! — Louise Fury

High-concept thriller or suspense novel please — Jenny Bent

Animals and anthropomorphic characters—I love stories with either animals as the main character, or with a close bond with a child. Examples: CHARLOTTE’S WEB, A DOG CALLED HOMELESS, THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN. Or what about historical fiction seen through the eyes of an animal—major events in history with a dog or cat or pig or...etc. narrator? — Gemma Cooper