TONIGHT: Twitter Live Chat With Agent Kelly Peterson

by Adventures in YA Publishing

Well hello and happy Thursday, everyone!

As you may be aware, the AYAP Red Light/Green Light writing contest will be opening on June 23rd. Kelly Peterson of Corvisiero Literary Agency will be judging for us, and is offering a full request with general notes as a grand prize. This is a fantastic opportunity to get agent insight on your completed manuscript, so I hope you’re all polishing your first chapters in preparation for the 23rd!

This evening at 9pm EST, we’ll be hosting a live chat with Kelly on Twitter via the contest hashtag, #GreenLightWIP. If you are not planning to enter Red Light/Green Light, but have a burning question you’d love agent insight on, please feel free to join the chat and ask away–participation in RL/GL is not required to be part of the chat. I’ll be moderating using my own Twitter account, @lauraeweymouth, and Kelly’s handle is @YAFantasyFan. We’re both looking forward to chatting with you all! Questions can be general or specific to your manuscript, and as I’m sure all your teachers told you throughout elementary school, there are no silly questions (besides, perhaps, asking what Kelly’s favorite genre is).

Though we’ve already introduced Kelly once, here’s her bio again as a reminder of some of her particular literary interests.

Kelly has spent her whole life with a book in her hands. Whether
it’s from reading, writing, or day dreaming, her mind has always been up
in the clouds wishing her fantasy stories would come true. Down on
earth, somewhere between reading during science class, writing while she
should be sleeping, and spending her social hours pretending she wasn’t
actually a closet nerd, she finally realized that her life would be a
lot happier if she just accepted her love of books.

A
recent graduate of West Chester University, she earned her B.S.Ed. in
English and went to pursue a career in teaching. Little did she know
that despite all of her hard work, the environment she ended up in would
be one she disliked. After taking a step back and reassessing her life,
she realized that maybe she should have focused on the world of
literary agents and publishing a long time ago.

When not working
as a book nerd, Kelly can be found dancing, hiking, riding horses,
perfecting her yoga technique, blogging, and writing her own manuscript.
If you’re lucky, you might even be able to catch her flying around the
world, saving lives. She is superwoman after all!

Though she
reads various genres of Middle Grade, Young Adult, and New Adult novels,
her true weakness is for YA Fantasy. More recently, Steampunk has
quickly crept up the charts in her heart as well.

With books,
there’s just something about strong female main characters holding their
own against the world, in an environment that Kelly could never, in her
wildest dreams, find herself living within. It tears at her heart and
pulls at her soul, especially when the main character finds that she
never needed another to complete her in the first place.

Favorite Genres
Likes:
MG: Fantasy, Paranormal, Sci-Fi.
YA:
Fantasy (all sub genres of fantasy accepted), Steampunk, Sci-Fi,
Paranormal, Historical (19th century and earlier with strong heroines),
Dystopian (hold the cyborgs, the scorch, and diseases, please), Sword
and Sorcery, a very selective few for Contemporary Romance, and any
combination of the above with strong, female main characters.
NA:
Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance (Cowboys, anyone? Sexy and somewhat geeky
entrepreneur? Celebrity? Yes?), Historical Romance, or any combination
of the above.
Adult: Fantasy, Romance.

Dislikes:
Non-Fiction, Emotional Turmoil, Mystery/Crime, Children’s Picture Books.

If you’re looking for details related to Red Light/Green Light and a full contest schedule, that information can be found here, along with a list of resources to help you perfect your opening pages. Can’t wait to chat with you all tonight at 9!

In the meantime, happy writing!

Adventures in YA Publishing

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Posted: Jun 9, 2016

Category: Imported from AYAP

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The first slide is an animation of a science/magic room in a castle. A cartoon character of a mad-scientist looking man in in the foreground says: “Hello! Dr. Frankenstein here to say, Well Done on kid lit zombie week! I’m an expert at reviving the dead, and let me assure you, with a little spark, you can bring dead projects to life. Especially if you dig up parts from other dead things. I’ll even let you have a sneak peek at my laboratory’s store room to consider potential parts for your dead project. If you see something with a yellow glow, that means you should click it. Have fun!”

He points to the right side of the screen and a new scene slides in of a castle science/magic storage room. There are various cartoon Frankenstein body parts scattered around. Some of them have a yellow glow. If you click on them, the images below appear (I’ve added alt text to them, so I hope it works).

The Heart of your story is the main character. The protagonist is the beating core that truly brings your story to life. If your MC doesn't make kids (and their grown-ups) care within the first few pages, your story will flatline. </p>
<p>Your main character needs to be:<br />
• Relatable enough for kids to see themselves<br />
• Unique enough to stand out in the slush pile<br />
• Active enough to drive the story<br />
• Memorable enough to survive multiple readings at bedtime</p>
<p>Where do you find this amazing donor heart? It might be the very thing you loved so much about the manuscript you want to revive. It might be the younger sister from your shelved YA novel. Or maybe it’s the hilarious kid you blogged about meeting at a school visit. Find a character beating with potential and place it in the center of your story.<br />

The Brain of your story is the theme or central message. The theme is the big idea that controls everything else. Picture books are more than stories - they're tiny life lessons disguised with humor and heart.</p>
<p>But your theme needs to be:<br />
• Subtle enough not to trigger the dreaded "didactic" rejection<br />
• Clear enough for a four-year-old to grasp<br />
• Universal enough to speak to both kids and adults<br />
• Fresh enough to prevent agents and editors from responding with "Not another sharing/bedtime/first-day story!"</p>
<p>Check your other dead manuscripts to see if there is a recurring theme, something that really seems to be speaking to you. Find the bit of poetry you scribbled on the back of a receipt to see what theme inspired it. Reread the pep talk you texted your critique partner at 1am. Pick the theme that will drive your story, giving it purpose, direction, and deeper meaning.<br />

The Legs of your story is the plot. Not to be confused with a grave plot.🤪 The plot is what keeps everything upright and moving, as well as providing support for all the other elements. You have very few words to use in a picture book, so you need to do a lot with each plot point.</p>
<p>In general, your plot should:<br />
• Hook readers fast<br />
• Build tension that a child can follow<br />
• Create page turns that feel natural<br />
• Wrap up in a way that satisfies</p>
<p>You can borrow a plot twist (a leg) from one manuscript and the opening (the other leg) from a different manuscript. Consider if the subplot of the middle grade novel you trunked would work better as a picture book. Or maybe your Facebook post about a disastrous camping trip could become a story for kids. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other until you have your storyline.

The Arms of your story are the side characters.

The Torso of your story is the setting. Setting helps a story breathe and connects all the elements of the story. It isn't just where your story lives, it's what makes your story ALIVE. It's the difference between "this happened in a park" and "this happened in that park, the one with the twisty slide that burns your legs and the creaky swing that sounds like a baby crying.”</p>
<p>Your setting should:<br />
• Make your character's world feel real<br />
• Contain your story in a way that makes sense to young readers<br />
• Connect different scenes and moments organically<br />
• Give your illustrator enough room to add visual subplots</p>
<p>Half-finished manuscripts are a great place to dig up settings, since you worked out the place details before the plot petered out. Or maybe you had to cut a second fantastic location from your chapter book. You can also revisit the detailed caption from your Instagram carousel documenting your tour of that delish candy shop. Disinter a robust setting that can house all of your story's vital organs.

After you press the Click When Done circle button, the lights flash with the sound of electricity buzzing. Then the screen goes black and lightning zaps across the screen with the sound of thunder.

The screen then lights up to show the storage room, and all the Frankenstein pieces have been assembled into the whole monster. An upbeat song plays in the background. Then a speech bubble pops up with the words, “I’m alive! I’M ALIVE!” Then the screen goes to black.

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