Enjoy your summer, writers!

Do you have a specific date in March/April that you will be accepting queries again? I need to mark my calendar…I’m in the editing/tweaking phase and I’ve targeted you as the first agent I want to submit to. Though I won’t be finished by December 17th when you sign off, I will be ready and waiting for your return from maternity leave.

Has a declared date been set…or will it be a game-day decision next quarter?

Also, will you be continuing your Ask Daphne postings during this time? I hope so.

Anne, I’m afraid I’m going to play it by ear. I’m hoping to be opening back up to queries by April 1st, but that may change based on circumstances — it could be sooner, it could be later.

As for the blog, that’s also going to be taking a mini break — I’ll still be posting news and reviews about my clients, and other posts as I have time and opportunity, but I’m not likely to keep to a one-a-day schedule, much as I would like to. I’m hoping to post some classic oldies from the archives for my newer readers, as well as guest posts, so I hope you’ll keep coming back to check in. And if I get questions that beg an answer, I’ll do my best to post those too, though not on an every-Friday sort of set schedule or anything. And yes, I’m afraid the About My Query posts will be taking a hiatus along with me.

The good news? I just can’t quit Twitter. (Haven’t tried, really. Why would I?) If you’re not already following me there, please do. I can’t promise you won’t get tired of tweets about BabyUn, but I’ll do my best to keep up with publishing news and commentary there, even if the blog goes a little quiet.

Hope that helps with your scheduling, Anne!

I’m wondering if, in general, there is a better time of year to query agents. I’m just wondering with trips, conferences, holidays etc, if there are times in the year, from an agent point of view, that receiving queries isn’t the best thing. I am getting ready to query a new book, but I am planning to wait until after the holidays mostly for my own sanity.

And from Caryn:

I’ve nearly finished my final round of revisions on my new manuscript and will be ready to begin querying in late November. However, I’m worried about the timing. I know the holiday season is busy, and that many agencies and publishers are closed during much of December. I imagine that agents are then very busy catching up in January. I wish to begin querying soon, but I would like my book to have the best possible chance. Would it be best, therefore, to wait until agents are not as busy with the holidays and dealing with overflowing in-boxes so my own small query has a chance of getting an agent’s attention? Or should I just submit when I’m ready because a good query is a good query no matter how rushed an agent is and how many other submissions there are? Thanks!

I imagine that many of you may be pondering the very same thing. Speaking for myself, in general, I’m not sure if there’s any one time of year that’s particularly good or bad for querying — sure, every agent may have trips and conferences scheduled, but that’s a throughout the year thing, and varies widely. This time of year, I often try to find myself staying on top of queries, and cutting my response time down, because I do often close for the holidays, and I don’t want to have a huge backlog to go through when I reopen.

So is it better to send now, than in the summer, when a lot of people take vacation? Who can say? Even when I’m a couple of weeks behind on responding to queries, I still look at every one I receive, and do my best to respond to every author.

Caryn speaks truth — a good query is a good query, no matter what. If I get the best query I’ve ever seen on December 17th, or whenever I decide is the last day I’m going to be open to queries, am I going to reject it just because of the timing? No! Heck no! So long as an agent is open to queries, any time is a good one for you to send your letter off.

[This does seem like a good time to remind you, though, that I will be closing to queries not just for the holidays, as per my usual method, but also for most of the first quarter of the year for my maternity leave. So probably starting around December 18th or so, I'll put on the automatic response to any email sent to queries@ktliterary.com to let you know that your query, if you sent it after that day, will be deleted unread. I'll update my submissions policy at that time as well.

Why I'm doing this again? Well, as I said -- baby. Also, because I work for myself, and don't have a back office staff to handle my clients' needs while I take a few weeks/months off, I will have to be checking in on things even as a very new mom. I want to be sure the time I can devote to my work is given to those authors I've already agreed to work with, and not those who are still on the agent hunt. Is there a chance I'm going to miss out on something great while I'm closed? Sure, but that's life.]

So, to get back to Shannon and Caryn’s questions — any time of year is fine, so long as you check each agent’s specific submission policy for possible closures. Good luck!

Until then, however, I thought I’d pop in with a round-up of my vacation reading, since you were so great in helping me decide what to bring. I’ll admit right now, however — I didn’t get to Leviathan. On the flight home, I succumbed to the lure of a glossy magazine in the airport newsstand, and read that during the “no electronics” phase of the flight.

So what DID I read? Of bound-paper books, only Will Grayson, Will Grayson. On my Kindle, though, I also read InterWorld by Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves and Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. I also read three client manuscripts — new books by Kater Cheek, Carrie Harris, and Kiki Hamilton.

I’d have liked to have read EVEN more, but most of that reading took place on the first half of the week, which was overcast and/or rainy. Once we got to spend more time at the beach, between the boogie-boarding, sandcastle-building, and wave-jumping, there wasn’t much time to sit and read with a five-year-old.

I’m of course not going to pick favorites, though it was neat to be a part of the kidlit community while we all tore through Mockingjay together. And Will Grayson had me in happy tears on a crowded airplane. And I think InterWorld was maybe the most surprising to me — if only because I think if it had come out AFTER The Graveyard Book, it would have been more justly lauded as a great YA novel. In some ways, it reminds me of kt literary client Matthew Cody‘s upcoming novel The Dead Gentleman, which I can’t wait to share with you. And if you know me, you’ll know what high praise that is, indeed!

As for the client manuscripts I read — well, let’s just say I can’t wait to share those with you either! They included a couple of sequels and an exciting new direction — more soon, I hope!

As for the above totally-not-posed picture, it’s of one of my sisters’ friends’ daughters reading Maureen Johnson‘s 13 Little Blue Envelopes across the circle of beach chairs from me last Saturday.

But which ones to pick? There are SO MANY great choices!

Well, I’m turning to the powers of the internet to help me decide. I’m posting a list of my top six, in three categories, and ask you to help me decide on the final two. It’s like Design Star, but with fewer trips to the emergency room and mental breakdowns. Ready for our contenders?

In the category of Embarrassing Omissions (Classic/Award-winning): Howl’s Moving Castle by Dianna Wynne Jones or Going Bovine by Libba Bray.

Int he category of Recent and Soon-To-Be Big Releases: Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan or Matched by Ally Condie.

And our final category, Read ‘Em Before Book Two comes out: Rampant by Diana Peterfreund or Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld.

So, what will it be? Remember, I’m only bringing TWO! To the polls, but feel free to add your reasons behind your choice(s) in the comments! And vote quickly, please — I have to finish packing tonight!

Speaking of reading, that’s one of the things I *do* expect to get done on my break. I’m stocking my Kindle with your romances, your paranormals, your mysteries and thrillers. I’ve got drafts of new novels by several of my clients (lucky me!) and a couple of fulls I’m hoping live up to the promise of the early chapters.

But never fear! Even while I’m gone, I wouldn’t dream of leaving you stranded without something to read (and shoes to swoon over). All next week I’ll be featuring guest posts on the blog from my authors, as well as one from Intern Jenny herself, with her thoughts on the query process.

But I’m also curious — so many of you are writers building your web presences. How do you handle blog vacations? Do you schedule posts in advance? Let the blog be silent while you’re gone? Post by phone, just to keep your hand in? It’s not just vacations either — when your deadline is hard and fast upon you, do you let your blog get dusty, or is that when you’re MORE inclined to post, as a form of procrastination? How do you handle enforced time away from the internet? Do you celebrate?

May the comments be lively!

If you sent a query, partial or full already (or hope to do so before midnight on Friday), I’m going to do my best to respond to everyone by the end of the year. Will I get to everyone? I hope so. If not, I’ll be in touch with my reaction in the New Year. I do want to read for pleasure over the holidays, though — I just got a copy of the 2010 William C. Morris finalist Ash by Malinda Lo, and I can’t wait to read it!

I’ll be scheduling some special About My Query posts for Christmas and New Year’s though, and I hope you’ll come check them out.

Otherwise, I’m curious — what books are on your Christmas wish list? Or what titles do you hope or plan to read over the break? Please give your suggestions in the comments!

What are you must-have necessities for a road trip? Can you read in the car? I can, but it always felt rude to me, so I rarely do, especially not when I’m the only passenger. Then it’s my job to entertain the driver!

I aim to get to all pending partials and full manuscripts in the next week, while keeping up to date on queries. We’ll see how that goes.

In other news, kt literary will be closed for the Thanksgiving holiday from November 25th through the 27th, and will reopen for business as usual on November 30th. We’ll also be closed for Christmas from the 21st of December to January 1st. During that time, we will be closed to queries. Any queries received between December 21st and January 1st, inclusive, will be deleted unread.

Now back to your regularly scheduled weekend.

And what a story! I may be the last person in publishing to have read this, but The Hunger Games was fantastic. If, for whatever reason (“everyone else likes it, so I’m going to be contrary and avoid it,” to name one) you haven’t picked this up yet — just do it. And I was lucky enough to grab a galley of Catching Fire at BEA earlier this year, so I can read the sequel RIGHT AWAY. Or rather, the next time I get some time off, whenever that will be.

So that was Friday night, after dinner. Saturday, after my massage, Rexroth and I sat next to the San Juan River, reading and alternately dipping into the hot springs, testing them all out for temperature and comfort. I got sunburned (my family would say, “What a surprise!” and totally make fun of me AGAIN) but I did so in order to finish reading The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, so it was completely worth it.

And I realized both of these were books I’d had on my “To Read” shelf for far too long, and that’s there’s probably scores of other books I’m going to love as much, that I already own, and the only thing keeping me from them is the time to sit and enjoy.

And then I remembered — Labor Day Weekend is only 3 weeks away, and what better time to dip into a few more summer books before “back to school”? Sure, kids are going back to school out here in Colorado THIS WEEK, but I find that an abomination against nature. Everyone KNOWS school starts after Labor Day. And if I’m going to read some neglected soon-to-be-favorites, maybe you’d like to join me?

So here’s what I’ll do. I’ll commit to reading two more books (for fun) between now and the end of the Labor Day weekend. But which ones? That’s where you come in. Tell me which books are on your “To Read” piles, and I’ll compare them against the ones on my shelf. I’ll pick the two most popular titles (that I already own), and report back after I finish them. If you ALSO commit to reading at least ONE of them, and post a review of it of your blog or otherwise linkable corner of the web, and come back here to share it, then you’ll be entered to randomly win a copy of Josie Bloss‘ Band Geeked Out.

What will I read? Only YOU know! It could be Catching Fire, or another E. Lockhart title I hear is great, Dramarama. I still haven’t read Going Bovine or Little Brother yet, or Kiki Strike. Or the Mortal Instruments trilogy — do I have it in me to tackle three books? Maybe!

I used to devour books, and I still love to do so, but I just don’t get as much of a chance to do so as I used to — not when I’m trying to keep up with queries and partials and client manuscripts, which take priority. So sign out in the comments and make some book recommendations! I’ll report back in a week or so on the most popular suggestions.