The Craft of Specificity: Why Vague Kills Queries
The Shit No One Tells You About Writing
Bianca Marais, Carly Watters and CeCe Lyra
4.8 • 842 Ratings
🗓️ 7 May 2026
⏱️ 50 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On this week’s Books with Hooks, Carly and CeCe talk about TWO standout queries hit the table this week—and the bar is high. One delivers a polished, compelling YA pitch with strong writing and commercial appeal, but raises a big question. The other hooks with voice and literary edge, but struggles with clarity—multiple storylines, shifting tones, and an unclear inciting incident leave agents searching for the core. On the page, both authors shine. We talk sneaky prologues, elevated voice in YA, and the balance between internal vs. external stakes. Plus: why “sparkle” matters in a crowded market, how query letters must signal tone as much as plot, and the difference between intriguing and confusing.
Note: CeCe Lyra is a literary agent at Wendy Sherman Associates. If you’d like to query CeCe, please refer to the submission guidelines at www.wsherman.com. Carly Watters is a literary agent at P.S. Literary Agency, but her work on this podcast is not affiliated with the agency, and the views expressed by Carly on this podcast are solely that of her as a podcast co-host and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, policies, or position of P.S. Literary Agency.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Have you been sitting on the fence about signing up for the Bateser-read a matchup, |
| 0:04.5 | or have you signed up before but haven't yet found your writing soulmates? |
| 0:08.6 | The next matchup is the last one for the summer, so don't snooze on it. |
| 0:13.1 | Get matched up with those writing in a similar genre and or time zone so they can critique your work as you critique theirs. |
| 0:22.5 | Your manuscript doesn't have to be complete to sign up for those 3,000 word evaluation. This particular matchup will be open to |
| 0:28.4 | registrations from now until the 1st of June with the matchup emails going out on the 2nd of June. |
| 0:35.3 | For more information and to register, go to Bianca Moray.com |
| 0:39.5 | and go to the beta reader matchup page. |
| 0:45.1 | What's up, everyone? This is Cece. So I recently grabbed lunch with an acquiring editor from Harper |
| 0:50.7 | Collins, who told me that the number of submissions she's been getting has |
| 0:54.7 | nearly doubled. And I wasn't surprised at all, because every agent and editor I know has been |
| 1:01.2 | talking about how the volume of submission keeps increasing. So personally, that is a wonderful |
| 1:07.3 | thing, because it's more reading for for me but it also means I have more |
| 1:10.9 | chances of matching with authors. I consider it a privilege to review queries on |
| 1:15.8 | books with hooks and of course in my submissions inbox. But at the same time I |
| 1:20.8 | talk to writers who tell me that they wish agents would read more than a few pages |
| 1:25.6 | because and I quote my story gets better in Chapter |
| 1:30.3 | 2. |
| 1:31.3 | I have to be honest, this kills me. It's like me wanting chocolate chip cookies to have |
| 1:36.3 | the nutritional value of kale. It's just not realistic. Like it or not, no agent, no |
| 1:43.3 | acquiring editor is going to stick around to see if a submission |
| 1:46.8 | gets better. It's not because we're mean, it's because we get dozens and dozens every day. |
... |
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