John Berkowitz is querying 🪤

This is what Bluesky is for. Post your successes; make that feeling go viral!

I got my first full request today, too, on my #MG Elf Punk.

#amquerying

Just received my first full request on my #MG Elf Punk Fantasy, EDISON SKROOLUSE AND THE JUNKYARD BODYGUARD after 31 queries and 6 form rejections.

Now, there are 3 agents I queried who noted I should notify them if I receive a full request. Let’s see if I can make this thing go viral! #amquerying

Chapter One:
“I can smell magic, mate ... and I smell some right now!”

Chapter Two:
"It would seem our home is under a wee bit of an attack.”

Chapter Three:
The note was signed with a big, red “W.”

#amquerying #MG #KidLit #Writesky #MGBookChat

That's a fine wish, but here's the thing: by the time you've finished writing, workshopping, editing, and revising this magic novel, the industry will have moved on to the next thing. Or more likely, the agent will have connected with a book already written. Write your passion. Your time will come.

Problem #1: agents have no reason to sign you if they can’t read a book you’ve written.

Problem #2: by the time you write the book they’re looking for, they will have found a dozen that were already written and/or that trend will be over.

I hesitate to call her an “animal,” but 10yo Kitomi is a kitsune (her other 6 tails haven’t grown in, yet).
#FiFRevPit

Querying my #MG Elf Punk & starting the sequel! Interested in swapping w/a story about the fae returning to Earth & humans resenting them for fritzing out Earth’s electrical grid? A gang of fae orphans deal w/bigotry, preconceptions, and mercenary Ice Elves rounding up “bad” fae.
#FiFRevPit #match

Fall Into Fiction with RevPit: Tomorrow is CRITIQUE PARTNER MATCHING #FiFRevPit

🍂🍁 Critique Partner Matching is tomorrow!🍁🍂

For those seeking critique partners, post to the #FiFRevPit feed on Bluesky on Friday, the 14th, and then take some time to scroll through this weekend to find your match! 🧵

“I wasn’t old enough to remember the time before the faeries came back to Earth, back when lektricity still worked and people still used money and tell-phones and puters.”
#MG #amquerying

Well, there’s the human Anti-Fae League that hates all refugees from the Faerie Realm and demands they go back where they came from. Then there’s the army of mercenary issalfar (ice elves) tasked with capturing criminal fae and sending them back to the war-ravaged Realm. Take your pick.

What do y’all think about using this as my author photo when my MG novel (currently querying) gets published?
#FiFRevPit #writingcommunity

All his friends are fae-born.
But when anti-fae mobs rise, 10yo Edison Skrooluse has to rethink what’s dangerous;
The kids who glow and sprout wings?
Or the people demanding they disappear?
He’ll need tech, teamwork, and heart to find out.
#MG #F #STEM #FIFRevPit #MockPit

A shadowy warlord is raising an army to drive the fae off Earth.
The sheriff turns a blind eye.
And 10yo inventor Edison can’t fix hate with gadgets.
But with a golem built from junk, a glider, and a few brave friends, The Gadgeteer might change one town’s mind.
#MG #F #STEM #FIFRevPit #MockPit

10yo Edison is just a kid with no magic, a broken robot, and a workshop full of failed inventions. But when the Anti-Fae League targets his fae friends with hate and lies, Edison must fix the one thing he doesn’t believe in to save them: Himself.
#MG #STEM #F #FIFRevPit #MockPit

Congratulations on your new releases. You mention your MSWL — are you acquiring manuscripts? How does one submit if our ms matches your MSWL? I have a MG Elf Punk that features a kitsune.

12yo Catch doesn’t know magic. The Acolytes hunting him for his meteorite wand don’t care. At Alpine—a spy school for wizards—he must master spell-hacked spycraft to stop them from enslaving Guardian Spirits & seizing the Minerals of Power.

NEVERMOOR X AMARI X ANDOR
#QuestPit #MG #F #AmQuerying

Edison Skrooluse and the Junkyard Bodyguard book cover

10yo Edison is just a kid with no magic, a broken robot, and a workshop full of failed inventions. But when the Anti-Fae League targets his fae friends with hate and lies, Edison must fix the one thing he doesn’t believe in to save them: Himself.
#MG #STEM #F #SkyWrite #amquerying #KidLit #MSWL

Wrapped up revisions and polishing on my #MG ms, query, & synopsis with my amazing editor, @mariatureaud.bsky.social and sent out my first batch of queries Friday. Now, I’m back to working on the sequel, and #FiF is just the motivation I need to get back in the groove. #WIP #RevPit

"You called us 'palebloods!'"

Thank you! Just got your letter and I feel so validated. Going to start querying very soon. Thanks for the kind words and encouragement. It means everything.

a man in a white shirt is sitting in front of a microphone with a gold star above him ALT: a man in a white shirt is sitting in front of a microphone with a gold star above him

Just waiting for confirmation of how awesome my pages are.
(In my dreams....)

Do agents typically close for the holidays, meaning it is better to skip December, or should we query anyway?

I just entered #RevPit #10Queries. Enter now for a chance to win free feedback on your query and 1st 5 pages.

Totally worth it. Do. It.

I'll be pitching:

10yo Edison Skrooluse is just a kid with no magic, a broken robot, and a workshop full of failed inventions. But when the Anti-Fae League targets his fae friends with hate and lies, he’ll risk everything to prove one thing:
Different doesn’t mean dangerous.
#MG #STEM #F #RevPit

You want to read this book. You NEED to read this book. So full of supernatural and historic goodness.

Thank you, Kara. Emailing it now to your attention, per the instructions on your submissions page.

Sending now. Should I reference this skeet in my query letter?

Totally worth it. Got my ARC yesterday and I'm on chapter 10. It was difficult to put it down long enough to write this recommendation. You want to read this book. You NEED to read this book....
#Goodreads #booksky #BookReview #booklover #writingcommunity