Chuck Sambuchino says Steve Kasdin who joined Curtis Brown in 2012 is looking to build his list of writers. Steve has over twenty years’ experience in books and publishing, beginning his career as the Mystery buyer at Barnes & Noble. He has been a Marketing executive at St. Martin’s Press, Scholastic and Harcourt, an agent at the Sandra Dijkstra Agency and worked on Content Acquisition in the Kindle group at Amazon.com. In addition to representing clients at Curtis Brown, he is also the agency’s Director of Digital Strategy, advising clients on all aspects of electronic publishing.
He is seeking: “The most important thing I’ve learned in over twenty years in publishing is also the simplest: plot sells. And the definition of what makes a great plot is also very simple: interesting, well-drawn characters thrown into unpredictable situations. I’m looking for: commercial fiction, including Mysteries/Thrillers, Romantic Suspense (emphasis on the suspense), and Historical Fiction); Narrative Nonfiction, including Biography, History and Current Affairs; and Young Adult Fiction, particularly if it has adult crossover appeal. I am NOT interested in SF/Fantasy, Memoirs, Vampires and writers trying to capitalize on trends.”
How to submit: skasdin [at] cbltd.com. Responds in 4-6 weeks. Please send a query letter about what makes your book unique, a 1-3 page plot synopsis, a brief bio (including a description of your publishing history, if you have one), and the first 40-50 pages of your manuscript as a Word attachment to the email. “Let me know in your query letter if I am reading your work exclusively, in which case, I shall give it priority. If the book has been self-published or previously published, please let me know all the details – publisher, date, etc.”
Click Here to read Chuck Sambuchino’s article: (Why you should only query 6-8 agents at a time.)
Talk tomorrow,
Kathy
Filed under:
authors and illustrators,
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Publishing Industry Tagged:
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Steve Kasdin 
HarperCollins has acquired the U.S. and Canadian rights to bestselling author Amy Tan‘s (pictured, via) forthcoming novel, The Valley of Amazement.
In the U.S., Ecco publisher Daniel Halpern negotiated with Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency president Sandra Dijkstra. In Canada, Harper Canada publisher Iris Tupholme ironed out a contract with Westwood Creative Artists literary agent John Pearce.
Tan described her book in the release: “A painting called the ‘Valley of Amazement’ is passed along through three generations of women of the same family. Despite vast differences in their upbringing, culture and circumstances, each of the women is drawn to discover the meaning of the painting and the unknown histories of their mothers.”
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Ready to know more about our contest this week? Here is the basic information:
What you need:
- The best possible opening sentence for your completed MG or YA novel.
- A compelling opening sequence of five sentences that each make the reader itch to keep reading.
When you need it:
- First sentence by Thursday 6/10 at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time, first 50 submissions, or Thursday 6/10 a.m. at noon E.T., another 50 submissions.
- If you pass, you'll be invited to submit the second sentence, and so on.
The prizes:
- Natalie Fischer of the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency will judge and offer a 25-page manuscript critique to the 1st place winner, a 10-page manuscript critique to the 2nd place winner, and books from SDLA authors to places 1-3.
- A 5-page critique by P. J. Hoover, author of The Forgotten Worlds Trilogy for the 3rd place winner.
- Three-page critiques for finalists by debut authors who have recently fought their way through the submission process and won. Authors include Kirstin Hubbard, Cole Gibsen, Michelle Hodkin and more....
Okay, enough peeking. The full contest rules will go up at 6:00 a.m. on Thursday, the first submission window starts at 8:00 a.m. Now back to our regularly scheduled Tuesday "How-to" program,
The Scene Conflict Worksheet--Developing Tension in Your Novel. Scroll down, the worksheet is right below.
Get your openings ready!
Martina & Marissa
Hi Kathy,
Thank you for this information about Curtis Brown. I wanted to get back to you earlier on the question you asked me concerning my genre, but couldn’t because I was preparing my manuscript for the James Jones competition that you publicized in your blog. So you can see your articles and your tips are important to me. And thank you for this information also. I have just submitted my query, synopsis, bio, and manuscript to Steve Kasdin.
In answer to your question, I write nonfiction and fiction. My genre for fiction is inspirational, multicultural, romantic suspense.
Once again thank you for what you do. I live in Germany presently and the information flow to me, an English speaking writer, that was born and raised in the United States is very slow and sometimes non-existent. So, I look forward to your blog articles.
Keep up the great work. I appreciate them very much.
Ciao,
Patricia