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Nicole Nagaki

@nicolenagaki.com

👀 Plot twist to be announced Reading & writing for laughs Rep: Hannah Schofield at LBA SmoochPit ‘24 mentee Ⓥ

24 Posts99 Follower 97 Folgt

Victoria Strauss @victoriastrauss.com · last mo.

A new scam-hunting tool: check a website's source code for AI prompts www.propublica.org/article/goog...

How Google and AI Nearly Made a Seasoned Reporter Spiral

I thought I had missed something major in my reporting. Turns out I had stumbled into an AI-fueled feedback loop that involved a real LLC’s fictional website and a search engine that’s thrusting unrel...

propublica.org

Nicole Nagaki @nicolenagaki.com · last yr.

Highly recommend Katie, from personal experience!! 😄

Katie Seaman@katielseaman.bsky.social · last yr.

I have availability over summer so if you’re a writer looking for book coaching, editing or query package reviews then I’m here to help. I love a good story and can’t wait to read yours … Find out more: www.katieseaman.co.uk/services-wri... 5/5

Nicole Nagaki @nicolenagaki.com · last yr.

Thrilled to announce I’m now represented by Hannah Schofield at LBA Literary Agency! I couldn’t have asked for a better champion of my romcom BIG SPITE ENERGY, a sporty, millennial workplace spin on John Tucker Must Die. #amagented #writingcommunity

Victoria Strauss @victoriastrauss.com · last yr.

Scam "literary agency" Envision Literary Agency is impersonating Penguin Random House with fake publishing offers, via the email below, using the fake email address acquisitions@penguinrandomhouse-prh.com 🧵1/8

This is Mike Guzman, Contract Specialist at Penguin Random House.

Penguin Random House is looking for new book titles to be published this year. We are the second-largest consumer book publisher in the world. Headquartered in New York, we have publishing operations in 17 countries. With two hundred years of history and more than 120 branded imprints around the world.

At Penguin Random House, authors and their work are the center of everything we do. We are proud to provide authors with unprecedented editorial excellence, marketing reach, long-standing connections with booksellers, and industry-leading insight into reader and consumer behavior. Consistently at the forefront of innovation and technological advancement, Penguin Random House also uses digital technology to create unique reading experiences and expand the reach of our authors.

I am reaching out to you to let you know that we received a preliminary endorsement of your book, [redacted] from a literary agent named Pamela Morrison, and we are pleased to accept the submission. Before we can proceed with the acquisition process, we kindly request your assistance in processing a Separation of Book Rights Order to ensure that the rights of your work are properly assigned.

As we move forward with the potential publication of your book, it is essential for both parties to have a clear understanding of the ownership and rights associated with the work. The Separation of Book Rights Order will formalize the transfer of rights to our publishing company, outlining the terms and conditions of the agreement in a legally binding document.

This step is necessary to protect the interests of both yourself as the author and our publishing company, ensuring that the rights to your creative work are secured and that all parties involved are in agreement regarding the terms of the acquisition.

Once the Separation of Book Rights Order has been processed, we can proceed with the acquisition process and work towards bringi…

Emily is writing @emilylwrites.bsky.social · last yr.

Did you go an a dating show and fall for your competition or are you normal? What’s a not-really-closeted-but-not-out-on-TV bisexual guy supposed to do? Bi4Bi MM romance The Bachelorette Only one mansion Kidney donor MC #UnhingedPit #LGBT #Q #A #R

maia @maiahbaker.bsky.social · last yr.

Put a finger down if 1. you're a disaster bisexual who 2. has to pull a con on an unreasonably handsome man you don't like AT ALL so 3. you can steal his stuff and flee the country and 4. you *won't* join your staff's found family because 5. you fear to love again. Quick: 🖐️✊ #UnhingedPit #R #Q

angsty dancing meme: "they don't know I'm not a housekeeper, I'm a con artist stealing as much as I can from our employer so I can get away before the police show up and clap me in irons for a (different) crime"

Nicole Nagaki @nicolenagaki.com · last yr.

~150k unique queries were sent to literary agents in the past 12mo. I ran an analysis based on complete datasets for literary agents that exclusively collect queries through QueryManager, and extrapolated for the full agent population. More details in my Substack: #amwriting #amquerying #publishing

There were ~150k unique queries to all literary agents in the past year, based on extensive data

In the major "English" markets. A breakdown of my analysis using QueryTracker.

nicolenagaki.substack.com

Jada @jadathewriter.bsky.social · 2y ago

A sheltered preacher’s daughter who doesn’t believe in God finds comfort in the arms of a local biker. Their clandestine relationship starts to unravel her family’s secret plans and her poorly arranged marriage, but she doesn’t know her newfound rebellion has a price. #2025pit #wf #r

Ruth Cantu is querying 🦄@ruth-cantu-writes.bsky.social · last yr.

HURRICANE WARS X DAWN OF ONYX A fate chosen group of witches from opposing realms battle prejudice to overthrow a queen whose compulsion magic twists love into betrayal and family into enemies. ✨prince captures fmc ✨toxic sapphic subplot ✨sun vs moon magic ✨swords & battles #QuestPit #Q #A #F #RF

Eleutheria, 133k, Adult High Romantic Fantasy, “Why would they bother caging your body when then can cage your mind?” Photos from clockwise: a woman made of stars standing before an eclipse, a deer in the forest, a constellation in oranges and golds, two sets of hands creating a web pf string, a mirror standing in the surf, an open book on the occult.

Johnna Matook @johnnatries.bsky.social · last yr.

A burnt out teacher must fake date her co-worker in exchange for help winning the Teacher of the Year cash-prize so she can finally quit her job;when she falls for him, she realizes if she admits her feelings she'll risk not only losing him, but freedom from the classroom. #querying #smoochpit

Collage photo: gold stars, silhouette of two people touching foreheads, confetti case containing a label that says: BREAK IN CASE OF HAPPY ENDING; sticker that says PROGRESS OVER PERFECTION; a happy octopus plushie sitting on top of a frowney octopus plushie; typography that reads AND SO THE ADVENTURE BEGINS; a patch that reads GIRL GANG on a denim jacket; the word HABIBI embrodered on a sweatshirt; a teacher planner on a desk; a man holding a woman's hand across a restraurant table; a couple relaxing on a couch; dijon lyrics: WHATEVER, I WANT YOU FOREVER, MAYBE; a sticky note that says "you look so pretty today"; taylor swift lyrics that read: WHAT IF I TOLD YOU I'M THE MASTERMIND AND NOW YOU'RE MINE; a couple cuddling on a couch

✨Meagan Essary is back at the querying (and finishing her WIP)✨@thecrumpet.bsky.social · last yr.

SANDWICH x THE WEDDING PEOPLE x THE PAPER PALACE THIS ENDS NOW: Ditching perfectly good husbands is a bad look, especially for a wedding planner. But there's no breaking the cycle until Lainey confronts her clever, cunning first love who's still dying to put her in her place. #A #WF #Q #QuestPit

A collage of photos: a weathered stone window in Gothic architecture; a classic red Vermont farmhouse in autumn, with a low stone wall in the foreground; a forest scene, with a path cutting through the trees, suffused by sunlight, branches reaching towards each other; a man’s hand clasping a woman’s hand, with a snow-covered fir tree in the background; many candles, all lit, dripping in candleholders; a dark-haired woman floating face upwards in water, surrounded by white flowers, her eyes open. Beneath the last picture is the title of the novel, “This Ends Now.”

m 🌸@maggiesbooks.bsky.social · last yr.

HAPPY PLACE + EVERY SUMMER AFTER = NONE OF THIS WAS REAL If you love someone, let them go and if they come back for your sister's wedding, then nothing can possibly go wrong. She broke his heart years ago. She wants him back. He doesn’t trust her. But should she even trust him? #questpit #q #r

An Agent’s Guide to
None of This Was Real
Adult Contemporary Romance

The Pitch

If you love someone, let them go and if they come back for your sister's wedding, then nothing can possibly go wrong.

Jasper’s life in NYC is falling apart. She might get fired and she’s not over her last relationship. She arrives at her family’s lake house in the Quebec Laurentians for her sister’s wedding week only to find her favorite ex is also invited. She broke his heart years ago. She wants him back. He doesn’t trust her. But should she even trust him?

Comps:
Every Summer After by Carley Fortune
Happy Place by Emily Henry
Seven Summers by Paige Toon

What to expect
Canadian Setting
Two timelines
Family Drama
2010s Nostalgia
Flawed characters

Duane Simolke @duanesimolke.bsky.social · last yr.

💙📚According to a #SciFiBookReview by S. E. Rench Author (formerly Author Shay Mills), Sons of Taldra “Wasn’t just good — it was truly unique and amazing!” 🪐📚💙 #Sci-Fi #ScienceFiction #BookReviews Read more at www.goodreads.com/book/show/33...

Sons of Taldra

We thought the aliens wouldn’t find us. We thought we c…

goodreads.com

Zed Prospero @zprospero.bsky.social · last yr.

Thread of #QuestPit pitches: bsky.app/profile/zpro...

Zed Prospero@zprospero.bsky.social · last yr.

GOOD OMENS X ASSISTANT TO THE VILLAIN Virgil Mora never expected "Go to Hell" to be career advice. As Hell's Consultant it's up to Virgil to restore Heaven's faith in Hell and save Lucifer, the Angel he's fallen for. Before his past comes back to haunt him. Literally. #QuestPit #W #A #F #LGBT

Moodboard 3 by 3 grid of images:
A hand proffering a red apple with a snake coiling around both
A couple in the dark lit only by a match lighting a cigarette between them
A man in a business suit offering his hand
A long chain pulled taught seeming chained to the viewer
A crude pentagram drawn on asphalt with pink Disney Princess chalk and one dollar tea lights lit at each point
A businessman staring at his shadow which has horns and a tail
A man crouched in a cave weeping hiding from the light outside
A man in a white suit and a man in a black suit stand back to back and clasp hands
An hourglass running out of sand in a lonely black room with a skull set on top of it

Sara Harte @saraharte.bsky.social · last yr.

When Edwardian heiress Celia accidentally makes a deal with a charming demon, she must break the contract before his presence threatens her advantageous betrothal—and her heart. EMILY WILDE x HALF A SOUL Slow burn, reluctant allies-to-lovers, forbidden romance #QuestPit #Q #A #HR #PR #RF

Eight images depicting a blonde haired man, a painting of a demon, an open book, a hand touching a woman's chin, a man and woman in period clothing sitting beside each other, a classical painting of a woman, a formal old fashion room, and the back of a brown haired woman's head wearing Edwardian attire

Caitlin @awritingcaitlin.bsky.social · last yr.

FOUNDRYSIDExARCANE 🎶Lelia doesn't want to be an enginemage, she wants to perform 🎻Em's life is performance, but when her violin breaks, she's out of luck 🔥They must work together to steal a prized violin before midsummer's end or they'll go to prison forever #QuestPit #A #F #Q #DIS #LGBT #ND

Photo collage with pictures taped to a background.
Top Left: Top portion (neck) of a guitar.
Bottom Left: Brunette woman wearing a tan cardigan playing violin.
Center: Sheet music on wooden table.
Bottom middle: Marble columns in two story building.
Top Right: Blonde woman wearing black shirt holding a violin.
Bottom Right: Violin and bow.
In the top middle are the words: "Find your Path"

Abigail is Agented @abigailwadlington.bsky.social · last yr.

TANGLED x ANASTASIA In a realm where people go to forget their worst memories, an orphan with Tourette’s recruits an infuriating pickpocket to help her win her own memories back, hoping to recall her lost family. #QuestPit #Q #YA #F

Ilana Kelley @ilanakelleyauthor.bsky.social · last yr.

THE BARGAINER x SIX OF CROWS x THE LOST APOTHECARY A Reader’s & #LitAgents Guide for NIGHT BIRD, an adult romantic fantasy ft: 🕰️dual timeline ✴️invisibility & intangibility magic 🔪FMC vigilante for wronged women 💞friend or foe? ☠️poison & female rage 🫂found family #QuestPit #Q #RF #F #A #AgentGuide

A Guide to Night Bird
An adult romantic fantasy novel

The Pitch
Ava can become invisible and walk through walls but can’t escape her warded cage. Destined to follow in her dead mother’s footsteps as a courtesan and spy, she’s trained to get close to—and betray—those in the highest levels of society. But alone at night in her room, she listens to the steam engine’s whistle, plays her cello to the night birds, and dreams of escaping her prison. Until one stormy evening, a boy, Zev, breaks through her window and gives her a taste of life beyond the bars.
Their chance meeting spawns two years of secret friendship until her eighteenth birthday, when her seduction training will begin. Instead, she wakes up to a grisly scene—a bloody trail, dead guardians, and broken wards. Given what she knows of Zev’s powerful abilities, she assumes her freedom came at his hand. She waits for his return, which never comes.
Eight years later, Ava has reinvented herself as Night Bird, a vigilante for wronged women. She’s assisted by a group of former street kids who’ve matured into a misfit gang. A botched mission finds them in the crosshairs of a shadowy man known as a high-powered fixer. That man turns out to be the boy who’d disappeared years earlier. It’s unclear if he’s friend or foe. However, when she takes on her biggest target—the last man to see her mother alive—Zev may be the only person keeping her from going up in flames.

For Fans of:
Rhapsodic by Laura Thalassa—dual timeline & lost love
The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner—female rage & poison
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo—found family & misfit crew

Chapter One
Only the night birds provided company in my caged existence. They sang for me after the sun dipped, gliding beyond my window’s metal bars as their trilling tunes wove through the moon’s light. They were my link to the outside world, a fragile tether to life beyond my warded room. My self-given name—Ava—was an homage to them, the beautiful creatures that kept me sane.
During the day, when I was granted time away from lessons, the noise and bustle of the street scared them beneath the eaves, into the holes and crannies of buildings. I’d sit, fists clenched, ears straining for their hopeful notes. But I was alone. The lectas didn’t count. They were caretakers, not company.
When streetlamps glowed in the satiny darkness, the night birds’ warbles piercing the quiet, I’d pull out my cello. My bow swept the strings like a feathered wing, and the resonant chords danced with the birdsong. They’d swoop and dive, triumphant in their freedom—something I’d never known and never would.

S. E. Berkeley @seberkeley.bsky.social · last yr.

An agent's guide to THE CORRUPTION OF ASTORIA ROSE. Fully revised and coming to the SmoochPit Showcase this Friday! - 109k Romantasy - Queernorm World - Unrepentant Villainous FMC - ✨Everyone✨ Kisses - Single, Close Third Person POV #questpit #Q #RF #A #agentguide #smoochpit #litagents

Chezza @chezza.bsky.social · 2y ago

“I will always be destined to love you, in every life.” 🕊️Feminist reimagining of Cowherd + Weaver myth ❤️Past lives 🌹Mortal-immortal love ⛓️Social expectations of women 🧧Epic/historical Asian-insp. fantasy 🧵Red threads of fate 👹Diyu/spirit world #YouDeservepIt #Q (after SmoochPit) #A #RF #OwnVoices

An agent's guide to BRIDGES OF MAGPIES by Chezza Lee

Pitch: In a feminist reimagining of a Chinese folktale, rebellious Shizhi runs away with the farmer she’s forbidden to marry, but when a jealous Celestial Empress forces her to relive a past life that spans three realms, Shizhi must confront madness, tragedy, and hell itself to reclaim her freedom and save the man she loves.

Snippet: “He swiftly pulled the needle from my palm and the sharp pain bit me again. But as I winced, a bright light flashed behind my eyes—a roiling pink gap in the stars. A glimpse of feathers tinged with blood. The heat of cracked lips against mine.

The pain of my hand was lost in a wave of agony surging deep inside, from a part of myself I hadn’t known existed. Swells of bliss tainted by brokenness. The duality of joy and sorrow. I felt it all, as if I’d always been one with these feelings. I knew I should be afraid, but instead I lingered in the raw grasp of these emotions.”

Comps: IMMORTAL, A SONG TO DROWN RIVERS, THE NIGHT ENDS WITH FIRE. Tropes/themes: Female agency vs. internalized misogyny; Star-crossed lovers; Morally grey FMC + MMC; Celestial immortals; Three realms / past lives; Female friendship; Diyu and the eighteen levels of hell

Author Stephen Coghlan @wordsbysc.bsky.social · 2y ago

I'm a father and a husband, I'm a tradesperson and blue collar worker. My family is diverse and mixed, so while I may identify one way, I accept that this world is beautiful when mixed. I hope my works reflect that. scoghlan.com

Author Stephen Coghlan

Welcome to My Worlds

scoghlan.com

YiJun 找伯乐 (找到了)@yijuno.bsky.social · 2y ago

I am starting an accountability for memorywip revision Goal: to get it in shape for the #Smoochpit showcase in february!

9 pic collage: silhouette against red lit window, swing on fire, flapper sitting with legs crossed, woman whose face obscured by darkness except for her eyes, a cluster of insect wings, Josephine Baker, woman whose hair catches the light as if on fire, a tree sapling on fire, a hand playing chess

Kayla Hill @kaylahillbooks.bsky.social · last yr.

He’s a threat to the crown they both serve. 👑 ⁣ She’s a threat to more than just his heart. 💔 As the web tightens, the Spinners always come first.⁣ 🎻 THE SPINNERS' GUILD, an adult romantic fantasy #QuestPit #A #F #RF #Q

A violin hidden behind a web. Text says: An agent's guide to THE SPINNERS' GUILD

DEAHNNA’s music gifts her the power to Spin listeners under her spell, compelling them to reveal secrets she can use to protect her city. After two years spent abroad as a diplomat, she uncovers news of a brewing revolution that sends her rushing home, where she’s tasked to root out the rebels—only to discover that the one behind it is none other than her once great love: Zephyr, the monarch’s own son.

ZEPHYR’s city is flooding and he will do anything to save his people, even if it means overthrowing his own tyrannical mother. When the monarch closes the borders, shutting off the city’s final hope for aid, he must decide if he can trust Deahnna with his secret, or if she’s a threat to more than just his heart.

Together, they’ll have to work through old heartbreak and incite a rebellion if they want to shatter the sovereign’s grip on the city before it sinks beneath the waves.

The tropes: music-based magic system, second-chance romance, glittering political intrigue, ballroom mayhem

Moodboard with 4 images: two people dancing; a dark hallway; a window in a shattered greenhouse; a violin in water

Crissie (C.T. Wood)@crissthecreative.bsky.social · last yr.

A Greek God Got Me Pregnant is PERCY JACKSON x TWLIGHT but for adults because immortals dating teens is actually kind of weird when you think about it… Think Sally Jackson’s story but with Apollo and a happy ending 🥰 #questpit #W #A #R #PR #RF

Brandon Love @blovewrites.bsky.social · last yr.

17 is hard, but when you're set to take over presidency from your father, survive a ☠️ attempt, are betrayed by the two you love & learn your role is to maintain peace by keeping 200yo lies & manipulating the public or start the biggest war in centuries, 17 is REALLY hard. #QuestPit #Q #YA #SF #LGBT

Dystopian, manipulation, hidden knowledge, The Alpha Project

Emily is writing @emilylwrites.bsky.social · last yr.

When Carter starts to fall for another contestant on a popular dating show instead of its female lead he must decide between his original plans and where his heart is pulling him while facing what it means to be famous in a franchise whose audience can turn on a dime. #QuestPit #Q #A #R #LGBT

Moodboard: a man holding a TV camera, a line drawing of holding hands with a rainbow bracelet over a snowy background, clinking glasses of champagne, a figure behind a bisexual flag, the view out an airplane window, Bachelor mansion. Two stickers are a lipstick kiss and boyfriends, one carrying the other. On image text: Tropes, Bi 4 Bi, Forced Proximity, Kidney Donor MC, Slow(ish) Burn. Reality TV shenanigans, Anxiety Rep.

B. van Bodegom 📃is AGENTED @bvbodegom.bsky.social · last yr.

CABIN IN THE WOODS X JOHN DIES AT THE END X KNIVES OUT When their detective friend is murdered during their annual gaming retreat, 5 dads must use their years of TTRPG experience—and puns—to solve the crime before they're all killed off like NPCs in a badly-written campaign. #QuestPit #A #H #MY #W