Apr 24, 2018

2018 Query Kombat Forum

The QK Forum has returned for a second year!




With an estimated 300+ people joining in on the fun this year, we figured we needed a place to bring together our agents, editors, industry professionals, and kombatants. Not only that, but we wanted a place for entrants who don't make it into the tournament to find advice, friends, and support.

So, if you plan on entering the tournament or just rooting for your favorite entry, join us in our new forum. There's also a place to get feedback on your query and first 250! And who knows who might reply to your post!

***Remember: Forums are open to the public, Agents, contest hosts, editors, and mentors may make appearances. Please give other posters the same respect and consideration you’d want them to give you***

Final note: Sincerest apologies for the lack of non-typical gender options when creating a profile in our forum. Proboards hasn't quite gotten with the times. After creating your profile, to hide the gender from your posts, go to Profile -> Edit Profile -> Privacy -> Gender Visibility. 

Apr 16, 2018

Query Kombat Judges (partial list)

Time for our AMAZING lineup of judges for this year's Query Kombat tournament. Many of them were contestants in prior contests. We've worked hard to find authors that form a diverse group of opinions, talents, and specialties from all categories and genres.

Query Kombat would not be possible without the wonderful people who donate their time to help. For this month-long contest, we've recruited 40+ industry professionals to critique entries and vote for a winner of each match-up. Each and every one of these judges is participating out of the kindness of their heart, so please join the QK Crew in thanking them for volunteering.

THANK YOU!

On Monday, May 14th we'll be hosting a Twitter party where writers can reach out to the judges and ask questions about their entries, writing, querying, etc. Join us at 3:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. Eastern. The hashtag will be #QKChat.

We'll have a second chat to calm raw nerves on Saturday, May 19th at 3:00 pm and 7:00 pm Eastern.

Visit Kara and Michelle's blog for their portion of the list.




Marty Mayberry

Marty Mayberry writes adult and young adult novels, and infuses them with romance. When she’s not dreaming up ways to mess with her character’s lives, she works as an RN. She lives in Maine with her husband, children, three neurotic cats and a high-strung Yorkie. She’s a member of YARWA and a PRO member of RWA.

Her YA sci-fi thriller won the ‘15 YARWA’s Rosemary Award for speculative fiction. Her NA Urban Fantasy took second place in the ’17 YARWA’s Rosemary Award in the NA category. And her romantic suspense and short contemporary romances both finaled in the’18 RWA Golden Heart ® Award. She’s represented by Jessica Watterson of the Sandra Dijkstra Agency.

Twitter
Author Website


Kelly deVos

A third generation native Arizonan, Kelly deVos can tell you everything you’ve ever wanted to know about cactus, cattle and climate. She holds a B.A. in Creative Writing from Arizona State University. Kelly is represented by Kathleen Rushall of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency. Her debut novel, FAT GIRL ON A PLANE, will be published on 6/5/18 by Harlequin Teen and her work has been featured in Normal Noise and 202 Magazine. Kelly is also a passionate advocate for body positivity and fat acceptance.

Instagram
Goodreads
Twitter
Website


Kaitlin Hundscheid

Kaitlin Hundscheid is a middle grade writer in Birmingham, Alabama, currently honing her writing-during-naptime skills. She is an alumna of ’15 Query Kombat and ‘16 Pitch Wars, and she is represented by Catherine Drayton of InkWell Management.

Author Website
Twitter
Instagram





J Lenni Dorner

While embracing the ancient tribal traditions, J Lenni Dorner learned a legend originated by The Grandfathers.

In May 2016, J became a member of the Operation Awesome Team, running the Debut Author Spotlight on Wednesdays. Blogging from A to Z #AtoZchallenge co-host as of 2017.

J weaves fantasy with lore to unhinge your mind.

This speculative fiction and reference author is happily married and living in Pennsylvania (USA) on the original lands of the Lenni-Lenape people. When not reading or writing, J enjoys video games, funny cat videos, finding drawings of dragons on Pinterest, and watching movies.

Twitter
Goodreads
Website
Amazon
Facebook

Erin King

Erin King lives in Manhattan with her graphic-designer-husband where they like to pretend “creatives” can afford the city. While her three native New Yorkers attend elementary school, Erin writes YA fiction and sometimes risks her life by going for runs in Central Park. (She’s anaphylactically allergic to exercise. Yes, it’s a thing. No for real, google it.) Erin was crowned the 2017 Query Kombat Grand Champion and is repped by Alyssa Eisner Henkin of Trident Media Group.

Twitter
Website

Diana Pinguicha

Born and raised in the sunny land of Portugal, Diana lives in Lisbon, where she works as a game developer and writer. In her free time, she can be found writing (obviously), painting, and devouring extraordinary quantities of books and video games—especially anything on the fantasy spectrum. Keeping her company are two awesome kitties, Sushi and Jubas, and her bearded dragon Norbert!

Blog
Twitter



Betsy Aldredge

Betsy Aldredge is the co-author (with Carrie DuBois-Shaw) of the YA romance, SASQUATCH, LOVE, AND OTHER IMAGINARY THINGS (Simon Pulse, August 2017), which has been called "the most hilarious, charming, feminist Sasquatch-hunting book ever to grace a bookshelf" by author Alison Cherry. Kirkus said, "Squatching doesn't get any funnier than this." A retelling of Pride and Prejudice, focusing on a family of Jewish Bigfoot hunters, SASQUATCH was the Grand Champion of Query Kombat in 2014.

Twitter
Auther Website

T. Frohock

T. Frohock has turned a love of history and dark fantasy into tales of deliciously creepy fiction. A real-life cyborg, T has a cochlear implant, meaning she can turn you on or off with the flick of a switch. Make of that what you will. She currently lives in North Carolina, where she has long been accused of telling stories, which is a southern colloquialism for lying. Her newest Los Nefilim novel, Where Oblivion Lives, is coming in 2019 from Harper Voyager.

Twitter
Website



Richard Pearson

Richard Taylor Pearson is a triple threat: author, actor, and attorney. He grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas, where he appeared in many plays and musicals. After graduating from Rhodes College, Richard went on to obtain a law degree from Rutgers School of Law. While he works as an attorney by day, his nights and weekends are spent writing novels and performing in theatrical events all over New York City. Richard lives in Jersey City with his husband, Brian, and their daughter, Natalie. His debut novel, The Role, was published by Lethe Press in May of 2016.

Blog
Facebook
Twitter
Google+
Book Link



Cimone Watson

I love Jesus first, my family second, and everything else third. I’m a math nerd, movie nerd, linguistics nerd and book nerd. My family and I are a whole box of Nerds. I grew up in South Florida and attended college at the University of Houston for a while, which deepened my understanding of diversity, something I love to see in books. I love kakuro puzzles, spending time with family, drinking banana, peanut butter and cacao powder smoothies, and listening to the sound of ocean waves. Team Peeta, so don’t @ me. (Kidding; you can always @ me.)

Youtube
Twitter
Blog

Kristi Wientge

Kristi Wientge is originally from Ohio where she grew up writing stories about animals and, her favorite, a jet-setting mouse. After studying to become a teacher for children with special needs, she spent several years exploring the world from China to England, teaching her students everything from English to how to flip their eyelids inside out. She’s spent twelve years raising her family in her husband’s home country of Singapore, where she spends her days taking her four kids to school, Punjabi lessons, and music. With the help of her mother-in-law, she can now make a mean curry and a super-speedy saag. Karma Khullar’s Mustache is her debut novel.

Website
Twitter
Instagram



Rachel Bateman

Rachel Bateman grew up with an abundance of sisters, but an unfortunate lack of boys next door. When she’s not writing, you can find her sewing, wrangling chickens, or secretly planning her next road trip. Rachel lives with her husband and two sons in Great Falls, Montana. She's the author of Someone Else's Summer (a 2016 Pitch Madness success story!) and the owner of Second Star Books, a YA subscription box that promotes debut authors.

Website
Instagram
Second Star Books