FAQs

Dear Critique Carousel: Questions from Past Years to Help You Navigate This Year

Q: What is the Critique Carousel?

The Critique Carousel is a virtual SCBWI-MI event for members to receive a written critique from an acquiring agent or editor. The critique will be on our standard SCBWI Gold Form, or an editorial letter. 

After the event and after revising their work, participants will have six months to submit to their critiquing agent/editor. This does not guarantee representation or acquisition, but presents another opportunity to put your work before a professional, especially since editors and agents are not always open to unsolicited queries/submissions. Instructions for each agent/editor will be provided when you receive your critique. This is not another critique, nor a guarantee of comment on your materials. This is an opportunity to submit to agents/editors who are not always open to submissions.

Critiques cost $55/each and are a max of 6 pages. Please see more information regarding submission requirements below. Once you’ve submitted your manuscript/portfolio, it cannot be withdrawn or revised.

Q: When can I expect a response from my agent/editor?

Agents have until mid-November to complete their critiques. We will do our best to have all completed critiques back to participants before the end of November/early December.

Q: Can I sign up for more than one critique?

No; participants can only register for one critique during the registration window. In the event critique spots are still available, we will notify participants via email regarding opportunities to purchase additional critiques. 

Q: Will the agents and editors in the carousel be open to submissions? If agents are currently closed to submissions, will they accept submissions from the writers they critiqued?

Yes, agents and editors will be open to submissions from the persons whose work they critiqued during the Critique Carousel for six months after receipt of the completed critique. Instructions for submitting to their specific critiquing agent or editors will be shared with participants via email, along with their completed critique.

Q: I’m submitting a novel, should I include a synopsis?

While it is NOT mandatory, it is highly encouraged that you include a synopsis of your novel or graphic novel with your materials for critique. This way, agents and editors have more information to analyze your submission. Please note, agents and editors are not asked to provide critique on the synopsis itself, but they may use it for more context on your story, in order to provide better feedback on your work.

Note: Please limit your synopsis to one page, single spaced, standard formatting (12pt size font). Include this at the end of your 6 pages. All synopses are limited to one page and are not included in the total page count, nor will they be critiqued.

Q: How do I write a synopsis?

There are a lot of great resources online for synopsis writing. A few that may be helpful: 

How to Write a Novel Synopsis (Mary Kole)

Synopsis Writing Made Easy (Writers Helping Writers)

How to Write a Novel Synopsis (Jane Friedman)

Please note, these are posts on the content of a synopsis. Guidelines differ among agents and editors, so for this event, please adhere to the Critique Carousel formatting guidelines of one-page, single-spaced as noted above.

Q: For novels and graphic novels, should I submit the first 6 pages? Or can I submit any 6 pages?

We strongly suggest you submit the first 6 pages. 

Your first pages are your first impression with an agent or editor, and they’re likely to be the only pages read in a submission package. Those are also the pages that set up the story, and the story may not make sense if you choose pages from the middle of your manuscript. You want those pages to shine! Making these pages as strong as possible can make a big difference in getting an agent or editor to request more work.

Q: I’m submitting a novel and my first chapter ends on page 7 and the limit is 6 pages. Can I just send 7 so you'll have a complete chapter?

No; please limit your manuscript to 6 pages. If your chapter is longer than 6 pages, look for a natural stopping point before that and send the pages up to that point. 

Take a look at the manuscript sample for a novel. You may be able to fit in more than you realize by not leaving the typical spacing for a chapter beginning. 

Q. The guidelines for Picture books say to put a header on each page with your name/email/title. The picture book sample shows a "traditional" header" and also says to put a header beginning on page 2 with your name/title and page number. Would you please clarify this for me? 

Since PBs are a word-count limit rather than a page limit the way novels are, you can do the full header like the pb sample, and then the second page will have the name, title, page number. PBs have only a maximum word count for the CC, so you can afford the extra space in formatting to industry standards. Picture Book submissions might be longer than six pages, but they should not be more than 800 words for fiction or 1200 words for nonfiction.

Q: After I submitted my work, I made some changes and I want to replace my original submission with a new one. There is still time before the submission deadline, so can I do that?

No; please upload your manuscript ONLY ONCE. We cannot accept multiple revised uploads. Proof your work carefully and submit when you are absolutely ready.

Q: Dear Critique Carousel, I never received an email with a link to the critique that was scheduled for this morning at 8 a.m. What am I to do?

The event is completely asynchronous. For some reason the system sends out a time, but there's no meeting. (We are trying to fix that glitch this year! But just in case…) It's solely a written critique and your manuscript will be critiqued with written comments only – no appointments, only deadlines! 

Q: I submitted a manuscript last year to Agent M and have significantly revised that manuscript. Should I submit the same manuscript this year to Agent M? Or should I choose a different agent/professional?

I asked a couple seasoned SCBWI members and professionals this question and here are their answers:

• If the writer is fine with receiving fewer notes on a revised manuscript, then send it to the same agent/editor. But keep in mind, people often do remember your story, so it does make it more difficult to give comprehensive feedback, especially if the writer has addressed the concerns in the first critique.
• Remember that if you’ve already used the open submission period following the first critique, you may be limiting the amount of input this agent has on your piece. 
• Getting another professional’s opinion on the same piece you submitted to someone else last year could be a very good idea, and help you see the ways industry professionals vary. So I’d recommend choosing a different agent/editor. Or sending a different manuscript to the same agent/editor.

Q: Do we get to query the agent after the carousel is completed? Is that part of the carousel deal? And, if so, is the agent obligated to respond to our query as part of the carousel program?

Yes, all of the agents and editors are open to a special query session for six months after the Carousel to the person they critiqued. 

While many of the agents and editors will respond kindly due to the mention of Critique Carousel participation, and most do, some agents have a policy of not responding if they aren't offering representation due to time constraints and the sheer volume of queries they receive. Likewise, some of the editors don’t always respond due to sheer volume of submissions. 

Unless an agent or editor has requested additional materials (another picture book, a full novel manuscript, additional portfolio items), we don’t advise following up on a conference/event submission. Take any personal response you do receive as encouragement and use that momentum to seek more opportunities. 

Q. I just wanted to follow up as I submitted to Editor X two months ago and have not yet received a response.

Agents and editors may take up to six months to respond, so give it a little more time. Summer, ALA, and other conferences all can cause delays. I know it's tough to wait, but try submitting elsewhere, and then start on another project.

Q. When I registered for the event, I was sure Agent P wanted fiction picture books, but now I see it’s not listed on Agent P’s query manager. What should I do?

Agents open and close to specific types of work, based on what they acquire for their list. Sometimes something they were interested in at the time of planning for the event changes. You may still submit your manuscript/art to Agent P with the special link and mentioning the SCBWI-MI Critique Carousel, however, if you have polished, query-ready work that more closely matches their wishes, you may opt to do that.

Q. The agent who critiqued my work loved it! But now I see she/he doesn’t represent the genre I submitted. What should I do? Do I query anyways?

You can always draft a nice letter thanking the agent for their great critique and asking if they’d consider representing your work. Be aware, however, that often if an agent is very interested in representing your work, they will ask you to submit when you are ready right there in their critique notes. The good news is if one professional loves your work, it’s likely there are others that will, as well. Submit widely! (After revising, of course).

Q. My agent gave me a lovely critique, and I followed all of their suggestions in my revision. I submitted my materials to them during the six-month window but haven’t heard back from them. How do I follow up?

Don’t! Don’t follow up, that is. Unless you’ve had a request for more materials or the agent has specific guidelines on their website saying otherwise, it’s best to wait patiently and send your work to a few other agents at the same time.

Q. I revised and submitted my manuscript to the agent who critiqued my work. Her special query manager link stated, "Please note ALL submissions receive a response. Please do not consider no response a pass." I am wondering what that actually means? Will she respond in about 6 months from when my manuscript was returned to me?

Many agents say if they don't respond, it's a pass. Please don't inquire. However, the agent you queried responds to every query received. So, she'll respond. 

I don't know how soon she will respond, but three months is not uncommon. Nor is four months, five months, or longer. The six month window the Critique Carousel gave is for you to submit is regarding your work–you have six months after critiques are returned to revise and submit during the special window the agent/editor agreed to stay open to participants. Many agents and editors close to submissions, so this is very special to have them stay open to Critique Carousel participants.

There is not a window in which the agent will respond unless they explicitly state that window. My best advice is to send your work elsewhere (simultaneous submission) and start working on a new work-in-progress.

Q: I would like a refund, or I’d like to cancel my participation, or I didn’t like my critique and I think I should get a refund. How do I do that?

There are no refunds or cancellations for this event. 

Q: I have a question that’s not addressed here. Who can I contact?

For any questions that are not already addressed in our FAQs, please reach out to Wendy at [email protected]. We’ll respond as soon as we’re able.

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