Critique with Agent Jen Rofe of Andrea Brown Literary Agency #KidLitForHaiti

 

KID LIT FOR HAITI: Jen is offering a critique of the first five pages of a manuscript (PB, MG or YA).

Jennifer Rofé is my agent (I love saying that!), and I can tell you first hand—her editorial suggestions will make your story sparkle! I attended SCBWI conferences for years and years. After attending Jen’s workshops, having a handful of face-to-face meetings and spending a lot of time stalking researching Jen’s style and sales, my BIG goal was to score Jen as my agent—Dreams come true! It took five years of learning, trying and honing my craft until I finally got “the phone call” and landed on team-Jen (well worth the wait!) I suspect the glasses Jen wears aren’t just any old specs—they have magic—Jen can see right into your story and help guide you with what works and what doesn’t. I remember when I was researching Jen, I landed on a post by Crystal Allen (author of one of my favorite books HOW LAMAR’S BAD PRANK WON A BUBBA SIZED TROPHY.)  In Crystal’s post she talks about how Jen is an editorial agent and her editorial notes urged Crystal to dig deeper, go bigger, write stronger. In the end, Jen got Crystal a six figure deal because Crystal wrote a story that is laugh-out-loud funny, full of heart and drama and jampacked with VOICE. Another one of Jen’s big-time clients is Meg Medina, and if you haven’t yet read her 2014 Pura Belpré Award Winning book YAQUI DELGADO WANTS TO KICK YOUR ASS (Candlewick), then you need to stop reading this blog, race your bookstore and buy this book. 

Jen represents projects ranging from picture books to YA. Middle grade is her soft spot and she’s open to all genres in this category, especially the tender, hilarious, or zany. She is always looking for fresh and distinct voices; stories that simultaneously tug at her heartstrings and make her laugh out loud; and “adorkable” heroes. As for YA, Jen is drawn to contemporary works; dramatic, funny, or cringe-worthy romance; and urban fantasy/light sci-fi. She’s especially interested in smart stories that are layered, complex, and unexpected, and she appreciates big, developed worlds. In terms of picture books, she is interested in character-driven projects and smart, exceptional writing. Jennifer also represents illustrators and author-illustrators.

Critique with Jen: You are bidding on a five page critique to be received via email. If you win, please format your manuscript in Times Roman, double spaced with one inch margins.

How do I bid? This auction item has closed

Place your bid in the comment section at the bottom of this blog post by increasing the previous bid by a minimum of $10. Please include information about how I may contact you if you are the winning bidder; If I haven't contacted you immediately following the auction, please reach out to me at ktomsic@gmail.com . Questions can also be posted in the comment section below.

When does this particular auction item close?

**This Auction will close on December 13, 2014** Last bid will be accepted at 11:59PM Mountain Standard Time (MST) 11:59 PM mountain time = 10:59 PM Pacific Time= 12:59am next day Central Time=1:59am next day Eastern Time This auction item has closed

What happens next?

I will contact the winning bidder (as long as you remembered to provide your contact information!). You will make your donation at this donation link and then you will email a copy of your receipt to me at ktomsic@gmail.com Then I will put you in touch with Jen.

What are other items on the Kid Lit for Hait (#KidLitForHaiti) Auction?

To Visit a full list of all the auction items featured on Kid Lit for Haiti: PLEASE CLICK HERE

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Want to know more? Here are some of Jen's clients and their books:

Meg Medina
SUNSET COLORA (Candlewick, forthcoming)
YAQUI DELGADO WANTS TO KICK YOUR ASS (Candlewick), *Pura Belpré Award Winner 2014*
THE GIRL WHO COULD SILENCE THE WIND (Candlewick)
TIA ISA WANTS A CAR (Candlewick), Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Award 2012
MILAGROS, GIRL FROM AWAY (Holt)

Eliza Wheeler - Author-Illustrator
LEFT-HANDED FATE by Kate Milford, illustrations (Holt, forthcoming)
TELL ME A TATTOO STORY by Alison McGhee, illustrations (Chronicle, forthcoming)
OUR BABY by Varsha Baja, illustrations (Nancy Paulsen Books/Penguin, forthcoming)
NOT EVEN CODY and CODY AND THE MEEN KIDS by Tricia Springstubb, illustrations (Candlewick, forthcoming)
WHEREVER YOU GO by Pat Zietlow Miller, illustrations (Little, Brown Children's, forthcoming)
INCORRIGIBLE CHILDREN Books IV, V by Maryrose Wood, illustrations (Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins)
THE GRUDGE KEEPER by Mara Rockliff, illustrations (Peachtree)
DOLL BONES by Holly Black, illustrations (Margaret K. McElderry Books/Simon & Schuster)
MISS MAPLE'S SEEDS, author-illustrator (Nancy Paulsen Books/Penguin)

Mike Boldt - Author-Illustrator
I DON'T WANT TO BE A FROG by Dev Petty, illustrations (Doubleday/Random House, forthcoming)
COLORS VERSUS SHAPES (HarperCollins, forthcoming)
TIARA-SAURUS REX by Brianna Caplan Sayres, illustrations (Bloomsbury, forthcoming)
GET ME ANOTHER ONE by Robert Munsch, illustrations (Scholastic Canada)
ODE TO UNDERWEAR by Helaine Becker, illustrations (Scholastic Canada)
LITTLE JACK HORNER, LIVE FROM THE CORNER by Helaine Becker, illustrations (Scholastic Canada)
123 VERSUS ABC (HarperCollins)

Joy Preble
FINDING PARIS (Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins, forthcoming)
THE SWEET DEAD LIFE series (Soho Press)
The DREAMING ANASTASIA trilogy (Sourcebooks)

Kathryn Fitzmaurice
DESTINY, REWRITTEN (HarperCollins)
A DIAMOND IN THE DESERT (Viking/Penguin)
THE YEAR THE SWALLOWS CAME EARLY (HarperCollins)

Crystal Allen
THE LAURA LINE (Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins)
HOW LAMAR'S BAD PRANK WON A BUBBA SIZED TROPHY (Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins)

Barry Wolverton
THE VANISHING ISLAND trilogy (Walden Pond Press/HarperCollins, forthcoming)
NEVERSINK (Walden Pond Press/HarperCollins)

Bob Boyle
ROSIE & REX (HarperCollins)

Lauren Strasnick
THEN YOU WERE GONE (Simon Pulse/S&S)
HER AND ME AND YOU (Simon Pulse/S&S)
NOTHING LIKE YOU (Simon Pulse/S&S)

Denise Doyen
ONCE UPON A TWICE (Random House), *E.B. White Read Aloud Honor*

Samantha Vamos
ALPHABET TRAINS (Charlesbridge, forthcoming)
ALPHABET TRUCKS (Charlesbridge)
THE CAZUELA THAT THE FARM MAIDEN STIRRED (Charlesbridge), *Pura Belpré Illustrator Honor*
BEFORE YOU WERE HERE, MI AMOR (Viking/Penguin)

Brandi Dougherty
RECIPE FOR ADVENTURE Books 5-8 with celebrity chef Giada de Laurentiis (Grosset & Dunlap/Penguin, forthcoming)
THE LITTLEST ELF (Scholastic)
THE LITTLEST CHRISTMAS STAR (Scholastic)
MISS FORTUNE (Scholastic)

Nick James
SKYSHIP ACADEMY trilogy (Flux)

Kim Tomsic

THE ELEPHANTS CAME (Chronicle 2017)

DESTINY REWRITTEN a book review

Destiny Rewritten by KathrynFitzmaurice (Harper Collins Katherine Tegen Books) is a charming and absorbing tale. This book will capture the imagination of your eight to thirteen-year-old readers. It’s chock-full of fun quests and unique characters.  But let’s start at the beginning, where the epigraph sets the tone:

          In this short Life

          That only lasts an hour

          How much—how little—is

          Within our power

          –Emily Dickinson

How much do our decisions influence our future, or is everything up to destiny? It’s a fun premise to consider, and that’s what I love—a book full of possibilities.

 

JACKET FLAP: Eleven-year-old Emily Elizabeth Davis has been told for her entire life that her destiny is to become a poet, just like her famous namesake, Emily Dickinson. But Emily doesn't even really like poetry, and she has a secret career ambition that she suspects her English-professor mother will frown on. Then, just after discovering that it contains an important family secret, she loses the special volume of Emily Dickinson's poetry that was given to her at birth. As Emily and her friends search for the lost book in used bookstores and thrift shops all across town, Emily's understanding of destiny begins to unravel and then rewrite itself in a marvelous new way.

Twelve-year-old Emily approaches her quest with a spirit of pluck, creativity, and contagious mania. And in her hometown of Berkley, California, there’s a whole pack of interesting characters to meet—her spy-obsessed younger cousin Mortie (who may or may not be on some sort of reconnaissance mission), her friends at school, thrift shop owners and the local tree huggers.

Katherine Tegen Books, February 2013
Realistic Fiction
352 pages

ISBN-10: 0061625019
ISBN-13: 9780061625015 
Recommended for grades 4-6