Dear Aspiring YA Author

Dear aspiring YA author,

We have reviewed your manuscript and are declining representation with out regrets. Although your writing is exceptionally strong with a unique voice, we believe the premise is a bit too similar to Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight Series. Due to Ms. Meyer’s iconic imprint on teen readership, we are not interested in acquiring manuscripts that contain the following:

·                  Angst

·                  Boys that sparkle

·                  Boys that are serially shirtless

·                  Any manuscript using any form of the word “dazzle”

·                  Girls into fashion

·                  Girls into sweatpants

·                  Girls that read

·                  Meadows

·                  Tall trees

·                  Indian tribe analogies

·                  Vampires, Werewolves, or Shape Shifters

·                  B-list paranormal creatures, such as fairies, shadowhunters, selkies, banshees, ghosts, zombies, mermaids, angels, demons, etc. (because they’re not as cool as vampires and werewolves)

·                  Teens that are really old

·                  Teens that age appropriately

·                  Teens that need to eat

·                  Teens that don’t eat

·                  Floating feathers (to be safe, no birds of any kind)

·                  Extraordinary abilities like mind reading, manipulation of emotions, and seeing the future

·                  Weather (including rain, snow, and sunshine)

·                  Prom

·                  Apples

·                  Forks (in fact, all cutlery is generally to be avoided)

·                  Times of day (especially sunset, sunrise and midday)

·                  Lunar cycles

·                  Red eyes, golden eyes, black or brown eyes (eyes in general have become cliché)

·                  Old trucks, motorcycles, and new sports cars

·                  Love triangles and teen couples (romance of any kind should be avoided especially true love and puppy infatuation)

·                  Relocating to a new town

·                  Living in the same place for any length of time

·                  Windows

·                  Bedrooms

·                  Kissing

·                  Sneaking in windows to kiss in bedrooms

·                  Teens that move too quickly into marriage

·                  Teens who don’t get married in opposition to books containing those who do

·                  Cold and hot (we will not publish any manuscript that references temperature)

·                  Anything with a pulse

·                  Anything without a pulse

·                  Characters that enforce or break the law

·                  Characters with foreign sounding names, old people names, or trendy names

·                  The number 17 (no characters of that age, nor any manuscripts containing the page number 17 or a 17^th chapter will be considered)

·                  Manuscripts with short or one word titles

·                  Manuscripts with long titles (too contrary to what’s hot in the current YA market)

·                  Exotic locations like Italy, South America, or private islands

·                  The Pacific Northwest

·                  The Southwest (in fact, probably best if you set your story somewhere other than Earth)

·                  We are also not interested in books set in outer space or alternate worlds

However, if you are able to come up with a fresh YA concept that does not infringe on these areas, we would be most anxious to read it. We are also looking for Dystopians.

Sincerely,

Jane Doe Publisher

(Author note: My new young adult WIP is about one ordinary child and one eyeless grownup who don’t live anywhere, go anyplace, or have any adventures of any kind. Estimated length is 16 pages. It’s guaranteed to be a bestseller!)

YOUR TURN: What else needs to be on the list?