SlushWire Weekly #1 – December 29, 2025

[QCrit] WE GO TOGETHER, YA romcom, 71k words (2nd attempt + first 300)

Comments: 10, Upvotes: 7

Thank you all for your feedback on my first pass! Super helpful 🙂 Let me know if round two improves things at all. I’m seeking representation for WE GO TOGETHER, a 71,000 word YA modern retelling of GREASE. In this updated and upside-down version of the beloved musical the only ones getting a mak…

[QCrit] SMOOTH – 83,000 word adult speculative thriller (7th version) + first 300

Comments: 7, Upvotes: 6

Thanks for the feedback on previous versions, it’s been very helpful. I’m hoping I haven’t missed something obvious in this version. Dear \[AGENT\], SMOOTH is an 83,000-word upmarket speculative thriller told from three interwoven perspectives. It combines the escalating momentum and unreliable m…

[QCrit] Zoe Deals with Death/Middle Grade Fiction/40k Words/First Attempt

Comments: 7, Upvotes: 3

Hello everyone! I’m a first-time poster here, sent here by my sister to hopefully get some help publishing my first novel! I’ve written a query letter and would love your critiques. I’m sorry if the title is wrong; I couldn’t really think of the right genre (and would love help with that!). I also i…

[QCrit] Adult Fantasy The King’s Oath (103k Words, Attempt 8)

Comments: 5, Upvotes: 2

[Attempt 4 Post](https://www.reddit.com/r/PubTips/comments/1p25ru7/qcrit_adult_fantasy_the_kings_oath_103k_words/) [Attempt 5 Post](https://www.reddit.com/r/PubTips/comments/1p9vnrq/qcrit_adult_fantasy_the_kings_oath_103k_words/) [Attempt 6 Post](https://www.reddit.com/r/PubTips/comments/1pif2l7/q…

[PubQ] Etiquette around agent referrals

Comments: 1, Upvotes: 0

Does anybody know the etiquette around approaching an agent your query has been forwarded to? I was – very kindly – forwarded by an agent to another agent who they thought my manuscript would be a better fit for, however since I sent the query to that original agent I got some feedback from some o…

[QCrit] Adult Cosy Fantasy – Soul Travellers Inn (82k/2nd attempt)

Comments: 5, Upvotes: 5

Okay, I read through the successful query thread, and rewrote the query several times until I landed on one that sounded better. Let me know what you think of this version. Thank you! [Version 1](https://www.reddit.com/r/PubTips/comments/1pq7x65/qcrit_adult_cosy_fantasy_soul_travellers_inn/) \*\*…

[QCrit] Adult Mystery – FIREFLIES (55k, 3rd Attempt)

Comments: 4, Upvotes: 5

Happy holidays! The feedback I’ve received has been extremely helpful! Just as a disclaimer, I am transgender, and the story is not tokenizing towards my community. Half of the story features flashbacks to characters pre-transition, so I am trying to emphasize that it is one story, not two separate …

[QCrit] Adult Fantasy – CROSSBLOOD SYMPHONY (113k/Attempt 3)

Comments: 6, Upvotes: 2

Thanks for the feedback on versions [1](https://www.reddit.com/r/PubTips/comments/1pjdw24/qcrit_adult_urban_fantasy_crossblood_symphony/) and [2](https://www.reddit.com/r/PubTips/comments/1pp2jps/qcrit_adult_urban_fantasy_crossblood_symphony/)! I worked on incorporating the feedback, evening out inf…

[QCrit] Adult Epic Fantasy – GLORY LONG LOST (120K, 4th Attempt) + First 300 words

Comments: 4, Upvotes: 3

My earlier post got removed because the sample exceeded 300 words. Sorry about that. A big thank you to those who responded to that post. I posted 3 times before I started querying and got some valuable feedback. After querying 24 agents, it’s only been form rejections and CNRs so far. 8 queries …

How should authors interpret very enthusiastic editorial praise at submission?

Comments: 18, Upvotes: 0

I’m trying to better understand a dynamic I’ve experienced in publishing. At the submission stage, I received extremely enthusiastic feedback about a manuscript. The language used went beyond polite encouragement and strongly emphasized its literary quality, originality, and importance. As an autho…

[QCrit] Adult Dark Historical Fantasy THE SOVIET SPECIAL OPERATIONS VAMPIRE UNIT (80k, Attempt #2) +FIRST 300

Comments: 15, Upvotes: 5

Hi! Since my last post, I’ve done several major overhauls to my plot and characters, so this query is a little different from my last one. Thank you so much in advance for any and all feedback! I really appreciate it. Dear Agent, As the battle for Stalingrad rages, a secret unit of Soviet vamp…

[QCrit] YA Fantasy – AETHERSTORM (98k/First attempt)

Comments: 13, Upvotes: 2

I’d been struggling to write a query letter for a few weeks. I’d been beating my head against a wall, trying to get my head around the art-form. As an experiment, I decided to write a query letter for one of my other books. I think it turned out better than my previous attempts. Dear \[Agent\], I …

[QCrit] ADULT fantasy – ADVANCED MAGITECTURE (90K/First attempt)

Comments: 9, Upvotes: 2

Hello PubTips community! I am a fresh member and bringing to you my first attempt at a query. My book is still in a writing process but I see how critiques here often help not only with queries but highlighting the problems in the manuscripts as well so if it’s not against the rules please have a lo…

[PubQ] What does it mean for a contemporary romance to be hooky?

Comments: 12, Upvotes: 26

Hello! So I’m pretty new to this whole thing and currently working on writing a CR. I’ve seen people saying this is a competitive space right now and being hooky/high concept(?) is extra important. I think I understand what makes a novel of any other genre “hooky,” but I struggle with what it means …

[QCrit] MACULATE, Adult Speculative Romance, 82k, First Attempt

Comments: 4, Upvotes: 25

Hello! It’s been a while since I last submitted something to PubTips myself, but I’ve found this community incredibly helpful for past projects I’ve queried. Hoping you can excuse the throwaway account. I haven’t gotten my comps in order yet, I’m mostly just hoping to see if the query body is doing…

[QCrit] Adult Science Fiction, The Deadliest Grocery Run, 99k First Attempt

Comments: 14, Upvotes: 2

College student Annie Pearson faults herself for her family’s death. Burdened by false guilt and hazy-minded, Annie befriends a dangerous enemy: Liza, an alien studying and harvesting human brains. When Liza’s research reaches a turning point, she abducts Annie to her spaceship. There, multiple …

[QCrit] ADULT Fantasy – THE GHOSTS OF GREYROCK (145k/First attempt)

Comments: 7, Upvotes: 1

Hello all! After six months of querying with no success, I’ve decided to take a step back and look at reworking my query letter. My previous letter was formally structured into Intro, Synopsis, and Author Bio blocks following the formula laid out in *The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Publishe…

[QCrit] YA Urban Fantasy – ORKID AND THE SUN KERIS (87K/Attempt 1)

Comments: 4, Upvotes: 2

Hi everyone! Happy holidays! I’d appreciate some feedback on my query letter. This book I’m querying is the first book in a duology. Book 1 is complete, while Book 2 is in the drafting phase. I understand that when I query, I only query the first book. I saw examples using the term “standalone book…

[PubQ] Etiquette for requerying?

Comments: 3, Upvotes: 4

For agencies that allow resubmissions of revised queries after a period of time or don’t outright prohibit it, what is the correct way to resubmit on Querymanager? Do you submit under the same project or create a new one? Do resubmissions get flagged? Do you need to state it’s a resubmission in the …

[Qcrit] All’s Not Lost, YA Horror/romance, 89k, First attempt

Comments: 4, Upvotes: 4

Hi all! Happy holidays 🙂 New account here. I’m a longtime lurker and so grateful for all the resources I’ve found here. I’d love some feedback on my query letter. This is my first novel- I have a background in TV/film writing and used the Novelry courses to help me transition to this new medium. Af…

[QCrit] The Fugitive Five, Adult Action-Fantasy, 90k, 2nd Attempt

Comments: 4, Upvotes: 3

Thanks for all the feedback last week on my [1st attempt](https://www.reddit.com/r/PubTips/comments/1pnd7e0/qcrit_the_fugitive_five_adult_actionfantasy_90k/)! A lot of the advice I received hammered in the importance of paring down the number of comp titles, providing housekeeping right at the top, …

[Qcrit] Witchkiller: A Novel of the West, Adult Fantasy-Western, 90k, First Attempt

Comments: 4, Upvotes: 2

Ever since his uncle was shot in the back by a warlock, Billy Trout dreamed of Carabenthos. A city of adventure and magick, and the unconquerable enemy of the Baron’s all-conquering armies. Stealing the cursed ax Witchkiller from a tomb, and ignoring the warnings of a ghoul called Maggie the Toad, B…

[QCrit] Adult Horror – ProxyShift (80K, 1st)

Comments: 14 | Upvotes: 16

Hi all Posted in here a few months ago for my first novel, Divided Kingdom. Unfortunately it’s looking near dead in the query trenches despite numerous query letter revisions. So I’m prepping to go back in with my 2nd novel, ProxyShift. All the suggestions and help I got in here last time was supe…

[QCrit] Adult Speculative – POLLY POCALYPSE (103k/Second Attempt)

Comments: 6 | Upvotes: 6

Hello again! Nine months and another draft later, I’m back. My first attempt is [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/PubTips/comments/1jqtia8/qcrit_ya_dystopian_thriller_polly_pocalypse/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button). The advice I…

[QCrit] NA Historical Romantasy – Flames of the Heart (77k/ Attempt #1)

Comments: 9 | Upvotes: 3

Hey all, I am looking for QCrit for my historical romantasy novel. I am also searching for some final Beta Readers and sensitivity readers while I work on my query package if anyone is interested. I have the first 300 words below the query. \– Dear Agent, I am excited to query you for my n…

[QCrit] Adult Self-help CLOSURE 81,000 words, First Attempt

Comments: 8 | Upvotes: 3

Hello all! I am looking for reviewers for my query. I believe myself to be very open to feedback, as I want the best opportunity to have my work published. Please share any thoughts you have on my submission. Thank you! IB Dear \[Agent\], After the end of a relationship, many women spend way …