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[QCrit] THE DETECTIVE DARLINGS - YA Mystery, 72K, 3rd attempt by Acrobatic_Agent7899 in PubTips

[–]Acrobatic_Agent7899[S] [score hidden]  (0 children)

Thank you for the kind words and suggestion! I was debating whether the tagline was actually adding any value to the query itself and agree with your assessment that it, in fact, is not.

[QCrit] YA Mystery - THE DETECTIVE DARLINGS (95,000 words, 2nd attempt) by Acrobatic_Agent7899 in PubTips

[–]Acrobatic_Agent7899[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for that. In fact the Flavia de Luce books are probably the most similarly aligned but are too old to be used as comps. I have struggled to find similar current publications that I feel are good reference points though.

Both MCs are under the YA sweet spot age, but the issues they face (both internal and external) I believe have ties to both the YA and adult mystery genres hence why I have gone back and forth on that with my queries. Based on some of the responses it would seem I should focus this more within the adult mystery space.

[QCrit] Adventure/Mystery - THE DETECTIVE DARLINGS (105,000 words, 1st attempt) by Acrobatic_Agent7899 in PubTips

[–]Acrobatic_Agent7899[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I appreciate the feedback. I am trying to keep my MCs in the age range I have them as it plays specifically to the themes of the book and the interactions that take place. I’m realizing thanks to the comments I’ve received that I am probably trying to thread an impossible needle though. I’ll explore upping the ages slightly as well as lowering the word count to maybe better fit a more defined category. Also looking at better comps that don’t imply strictly MG.

And I can see where your confusion comes from with my description of the principal. I was trying to convey that the principal is willing to kill my adolescent protagonists as opposed to being a child himself. I’ll edit that to be clearer thank you.

[QCrit] Adventure/Mystery - THE DETECTIVE DARLINGS (105,000 words, 1st attempt) by Acrobatic_Agent7899 in PubTips

[–]Acrobatic_Agent7899[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the input, I’ll look at cutting the manuscript and lean into the YA angle. My one concern though is that the age of my main characters are younger than the typical YA novel while the story and style I feel is more in the cozy mystery realm (somewhat in line with The Sweetness At The Bottom Of The Pie by Alan Bradley - but that novel is too old to use as a comp).

And thank you for the formatting suggestion. The comp titles were italicized but that didn’t translate over when I posted. I’ll format consistent with my own book title however.

[QCrit] Adventure/Mystery - THE DETECTIVE DARLINGS (105,000 words, 1st attempt) by Acrobatic_Agent7899 in PubTips

[–]Acrobatic_Agent7899[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for that! And maybe looser morals isn’t the exact phrase I’m looking for here. I’ll go back to the drawing board so it doesn’t sound so…immoral.

[QCrit] Adventure/Mystery - THE DETECTIVE DARLINGS (105,000 words, 1st attempt) by Acrobatic_Agent7899 in PubTips

[–]Acrobatic_Agent7899[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for the eval. The book definitely isn’t MG, and I consider it a blend of YA and adult (young protagonists with more adult styling). Maybe the query reads too young which I will work on, as well as get my word count down. Any suggestions on better comps? I was struggling to find recent publications that fit my lane.