We are so proud of writer Robyn Ryle! She’s the first person to get feedback twice from our feedback panels—and by the time she’d incorporated the feedback from the first panel, the second panel was blown away by her revision, her stakes, and her quick turnaround.

We go over versions one and two, talk about the balance of giving versus hiding details, reader investment versus tension—and why writing your query halfway through your manuscript may be perfect timing.

We also talk about what agents focused on when critiquing her work (hint: it wasn’t a tiny mistake she’d been fretting about) and what they likely focus on when looking at your work, too.

Mostly, we are super impressed with Robyn, and love how she took agents’ edits, ran with them, and ended up with a great query.

Robyn Ryle is the author of two award-winning nonfiction books—She/He/They Me (Sourcebooks) and Throw Like a Girl, Cheer Like a Boy (Rowman and Littlefield). I’ve published a chapbook (The Face of Baseball) as well as short stories and essays in a wide range of journals and magazines, including Newsweek, CALYX Journal, BELT Magazine, and Bartleby Snopes, among others. When I’m not writing, I teach sociology and gender studies to college students in southern Indiana.

Read versions one and two of her query here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CpmRZD0oqgshnWkttxf69Go2lVzUuoMF/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=109573504283059747627&rtpof=true&sd=true