md fiction for boys

bruinflak

Hi everybody, I'm new here. My first post. I've got a 75 page mg book about baseball that's aimed at boys. In doing my research and sending out queries it seems that the majority of the agents and editors I'm encountering are women. I know I'm making a huge, sweeping generalization here, but my book has a lot of bugs, boogers and butts in it as well as a good story about a first grader trying out for baseball for the first time. Nothing inappropriate, just stuff that I think first grade boys find funny. I think maybe a male agent or editor might be able to relate better to that kind of humor.

Does anybody know of an agent or editor that likes, or specializes in fiction for boys? Thanks a bunch.
 
stormie

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Yup, three right off the bat. Michael Bourret at Dystel & Goderich, and Stephen Barbara at Donald Maass, and Dan Lazur at Writer's House.
Also do a search at www.agentquery.com
In fact, Dan Lazur just posted on the verla kay boards what he's looking for. Go here on AW to "Ask the Agent" board, and you'll find I posted a link to the Verla Kay site.

ETA: A few things about your book. It wouldn't be a middle grade novel with a first grader in it. MGs are usually ages 8-12. Also, word count matters more than pages. Word count for an MG would be about 25k to 35k, give or take. Could yours possible be an early/easy reader book or early chapter book? Think the Junie B. Jones book. Not sure their word counts, but I think maybe 5,000 words?
 
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myscribe

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Fiction for boys is a big thing with editors/agents -- female or male -- they want books that boys can relate too. They want the elusive boy readers! I don't think you should limit yourself to only males.

I don't have any names for you off the top of my head. Look at some books that are similar to yours and see who published it and worked on it (one tip you may try: check the dedication page as many authors thank editors and agents there).
 
Soccer Mom

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You would be surprised how many women are accustomed to the things little boys like. Butts, boogers, and baseball won't faze most agents who are looking for fiction for boys regardless if the agent is female or male.
 

bruinflak

Great advice

Great advice everyone . Question on page count. My book is 17K. Is that too long for a chapter book? It seems like I'm right in that gray area between chapter books (5k pages) and middle grade (25K pages). Is that correct?

Ironically, my book was originally 27k words but I was getting feedback that it was too long, so I cut it down. I think I can make the characters 3'd graders instead of first graders with a little massaging of the language. It has three story arcs going on, so I think it might be more complex than a chapter book should be.
 
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17K is in the gray area for chapter book. It's honestly a little high and is closer to MG. 27 is very much in MG range and making the characters a little older and developing the story arcs might be the way to go.

Don't get hung up on page counts. It's word count. If you use Courier 12 and place 1 inch margins, that will put you around 250 words per page.
 
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