Lisa West asked 7 years ago
Hi Sarah,
I submitted my YA novel to you three years ago. Since then I’ve done a major overhaul, mainly after coming to understand that my main character’s voice was actually upper middle grade. As soon as I lowered her age, the novel felt right on a completely new level. In hindsight, I can see that it was naturally meant to be upper middle grade, because I’ve worked with fifth through seventh graders. I’m wondering if you consider novels that have been revised, after they weren’t a good fit for you before. Of course, I’m hoping you’ll say yes! Thanks for your time and for answering questions on your blog. It is quite helpful.
Yours,
Lisa West
Sarah Davies Staff answered 7 years ago
Hi, Lisa
I’m happy to see another query and pages if the story has been significantly changed. Please include that info in your query, just to refresh my memory when I open the submission.
To throw a question into things …. When you say upper middle grade, I wonder what you mean. Upper MG doesn’t really exist as a category (or piece of shelving in a book store). With core mainstream MG I’d be looking for characters age 11-13. For younger fiction/chapter books, a bit younger than this – say age 9.
I hope this helps, and I look forward to seeing the query. Please note that our sub guidelines have changed a tiny bit – it’s all on our website.
All the best
Sarah