Query Critiques with Devon Halliday

NOTE: At the time of this recording, Devon Halliday was an agent at Transatlantic Agency, but she is now pursuing other opportunities. Stay tuned for additional podcast episodes discussing trends related to agent and editor transitions within the publishing industry. 

 

Devon Halliday, a former literary agent, discusses how she became an agent, working in publishing outside of New York City, the difference between a scout and an agent, how she manages her queries, and what she looks for in new clients. Next, she critiques query letters from three Ohio writers working on historical fiction, memoir, and YA manuscripts, respectively. Halliday offers advice surrounding the structure and content of these query letters, as well as her thoughts on comparative titles, manuscript word count, book proposals, the role of research in memoir, platforms for nonfiction writers, rhetorical questions in query letters, and more.

 

Halliday recommends Twice in a Lifetime by Melissa Baron, which publishes December 6, 2022.

 

For a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page at https://ohiocenterforthebook.org/podcast. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org and put “podcast” in the subject line.