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John Berkowitz is querying 🪤 @johnberkowitz.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

Meet Clank. 10yo Edison Skrooluse’s failed invention (until he adds a forbidden golem scroll which brings it to life). Clank has many hidden “talents.” Think a post-apocalyptic Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang.

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John Berkowitz is querying 🪤 @johnberkowitz.bsky.social · 26/04/2026

Oh, a Plotter 100%. I’ve tried pantsing, and I write myself into a corner every time. Which just means I end up scrapping half of what I wrote and just plotting the rest anyway. I HATE throwing away what I’ve written. So why not just plan and write to the plan, I say.

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John Berkowitz is querying 🪤 @johnberkowitz.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

EDISON SKROOLUSE AND THE WARLORD HORDE SWORD MG Elf Punk In this scene, 10yo Edison and his friends (Ziggy is a 2-inch tall sprite, Kit is a kitsune) are naming Edison’s toy sword, which they just discovered is magical and alive. It’s name will determine its personality forever.

Ziggy made a face. "Not half mean enough, mate.
He should call it something dangerous. Like ... like
Wartip the Watchful!"
While they argued, I sat down next to Kit. "So,
what do you think I should call it?"
"Me?" She looked startled. "Mmmm. How about...
Pointy McStabbyface?"
I grinned. "Good name. But it's quite a mouthful."
"You could just call it Wacky."
"Hilarious." I smirked.
"You were going to name it Jeff."
We both laughed.
"Bruv!" Ziggy zipped over to Kit and me. "I have
the perfect name for your Horde Sword. Sir
Thwackalot!" He gestured majestically.
Kit snorted. "How do you know it's a boy sword
and not a girl sword?"
"They're ALL boy swords!"
Kit crossed her arms. "I don't believe you."
"Oh, yeah?" Ziggy rose higher and glared down at
Kit. "Then give me one girl sword name."
"Stabitha."

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John Berkowitz is querying 🪤 @johnberkowitz.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

#CRPSugarGliders Hi, guys. I'm 62, Director of Pubs by trade (I lay out magazines), and I'm working on my 5th book (4th MG). I've been in the querying trenches for the last decade with little or no success, but my amazing editor @mariatureaud.bsky.social assures me it's not me; it's the market.

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John Berkowitz is querying 🪤 @johnberkowitz.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

WIP is the sequel to my #amquerying book: He’s 10. He doesn’t have fae abilities. Just scrap metal, tools, a sprite who smells magic, and a broken robot. To save his fae friends from the Anti-Fae League, Edison must become the hero he’s been trying to build. #CampRevPit #CampKickoff #CRPSugarGliders

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John Berkowitz is querying 🪤 @johnberkowitz.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

I’m a huge fan of the Emotional Wound Thesaurus by Becca Puglisi. Invaluable.

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John Berkowitz is querying 🪤 @johnberkowitz.bsky.social · 25/03/2026

This is an amazing opportunity. Are there plans to continue this offering in the future, possibly for non-BIPOC mentees?

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John Berkowitz is querying 🪤 @johnberkowitz.bsky.social · 23/03/2026

Please do not use the #MSWL hashtag for your promotional posts. This tag is exclusively for literary agents to post their wishlists, and we don’t want to clog up the feed with non-wishlist posts. Thank you!

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John Berkowitz is querying 🪤 @johnberkowitz.bsky.social · 02/12/2025

This is what Bluesky is for. Post your successes; make that feeling go viral! I got my first full request today, too, on my #MG Elf Punk. #amquerying

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John Berkowitz is querying 🪤 @johnberkowitz.bsky.social · 02/12/2025

Just received my first full request on my #MG Elf Punk Fantasy, EDISON SKROOLUSE AND THE JUNKYARD BODYGUARD after 31 queries and 6 form rejections. Now, there are 3 agents I queried who noted I should notify them if I receive a full request. Let’s see if I can make this thing go viral! #amquerying

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John Berkowitz is querying 🪤 @johnberkowitz.bsky.social · 02/12/2025

Chapter One: “I can smell magic, mate ... and I smell some right now!” Chapter Two: "It would seem our home is under a wee bit of an attack.” Chapter Three: The note was signed with a big, red “W.” #amquerying #MG #KidLit #Writesky #MGBookChat

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John Berkowitz is querying 🪤 @johnberkowitz.bsky.social · 25/11/2025

That's a fine wish, but here's the thing: by the time you've finished writing, workshopping, editing, and revising this magic novel, the industry will have moved on to the next thing. Or more likely, the agent will have connected with a book already written. Write your passion. Your time will come.

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John Berkowitz is querying 🪤 @johnberkowitz.bsky.social · 18/11/2025

Problem #1: agents have no reason to sign you if they can’t read a book you’ve written. Problem #2: by the time you write the book they’re looking for, they will have found a dozen that were already written and/or that trend will be over.

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John Berkowitz is querying 🪤 @johnberkowitz.bsky.social · 17/11/2025

I hesitate to call her an “animal,” but 10yo Kitomi is a kitsune (her other 6 tails haven’t grown in, yet). #FiFRevPit

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John Berkowitz is querying 🪤 @johnberkowitz.bsky.social · 14/11/2025

Querying my #MG Elf Punk & starting the sequel! Interested in swapping w/a story about the fae returning to Earth & humans resenting them for fritzing out Earth’s electrical grid? A gang of fae orphans deal w/bigotry, preconceptions, and mercenary Ice Elves rounding up “bad” fae. #FiFRevPit #match

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Revise & Resub @reviseresub.bsky.social · 13/11/2025

🍂🍁 Critique Partner Matching is tomorrow!🍁🍂 For those seeking critique partners, post to the #FiFRevPit feed on Bluesky on Friday, the 14th, and then take some time to scroll through this weekend to find your match! 🧵

Fall Into Fiction with RevPit: Tomorrow is CRITIQUE PARTNER MATCHING #FiFRevPit

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John Berkowitz is querying 🪤 @johnberkowitz.bsky.social · 12/11/2025

“I wasn’t old enough to remember the time before the faeries came back to Earth, back when lektricity still worked and people still used money and tell-phones and puters.” #MG #amquerying

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John Berkowitz is querying 🪤 @johnberkowitz.bsky.social · 10/11/2025

Well, there’s the human Anti-Fae League that hates all refugees from the Faerie Realm and demands they go back where they came from. Then there’s the army of mercenary issalfar (ice elves) tasked with capturing criminal fae and sending them back to the war-ravaged Realm. Take your pick.

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John Berkowitz is querying 🪤 @johnberkowitz.bsky.social · 10/11/2025

What do y’all think about using this as my author photo when my MG novel (currently querying) gets published? #FiFRevPit #writingcommunity

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John Berkowitz is querying 🪤 @johnberkowitz.bsky.social · 07/11/2025

All his friends are fae-born. But when anti-fae mobs rise, 10yo Edison Skrooluse has to rethink what’s dangerous; The kids who glow and sprout wings? Or the people demanding they disappear? He’ll need tech, teamwork, and heart to find out. #MG #F #STEM #FIFRevPit #MockPit

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John Berkowitz is querying 🪤 @johnberkowitz.bsky.social · 07/11/2025

A shadowy warlord is raising an army to drive the fae off Earth. The sheriff turns a blind eye. And 10yo inventor Edison can’t fix hate with gadgets. But with a golem built from junk, a glider, and a few brave friends, The Gadgeteer might change one town’s mind. #MG #F #STEM #FIFRevPit #MockPit

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John Berkowitz is querying 🪤 @johnberkowitz.bsky.social · 07/11/2025

10yo Edison is just a kid with no magic, a broken robot, and a workshop full of failed inventions. But when the Anti-Fae League targets his fae friends with hate and lies, Edison must fix the one thing he doesn’t believe in to save them: Himself. #MG #STEM #F #FIFRevPit #MockPit

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John Berkowitz is querying 🪤 @johnberkowitz.bsky.social · 07/11/2025

Congratulations on your new releases. You mention your MSWL — are you acquiring manuscripts? How does one submit if our ms matches your MSWL? I have a MG Elf Punk that features a kitsune.

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J.J. Phillips | #SCBWI #KidLit @jjphillipsyo.bsky.social · 05/11/2025

12yo Catch doesn’t know magic. The Acolytes hunting him for his meteorite wand don’t care. At Alpine—a spy school for wizards—he must master spell-hacked spycraft to stop them from enslaving Guardian Spirits & seizing the Minerals of Power. NEVERMOOR X AMARI X ANDOR #QuestPit #MG #F #AmQuerying

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John Berkowitz is querying 🪤 @johnberkowitz.bsky.social · 05/11/2025

Edison Skrooluse and the Junkyard Bodyguard book cover

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John Berkowitz is querying 🪤 @johnberkowitz.bsky.social · 03/11/2025

Wrapped up revisions and polishing on my #MG ms, query, & synopsis with my amazing editor, @mariatureaud.bsky.social and sent out my first batch of queries Friday. Now, I’m back to working on the sequel, and #FiF is just the motivation I need to get back in the groove. #WIP #RevPit

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John Berkowitz is querying 🪤 @johnberkowitz.bsky.social · 28/10/2025

Thank you! Just got your letter and I feel so validated. Going to start querying very soon. Thanks for the kind words and encouragement. It means everything.

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John Berkowitz is querying 🪤 @johnberkowitz.bsky.social · 17/10/2025

Do agents typically close for the holidays, meaning it is better to skip December, or should we query anyway?

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John Berkowitz is querying 🪤 @johnberkowitz.bsky.social · 10/10/2025

I just entered #RevPit #10Queries. Enter now for a chance to win free feedback on your query and 1st 5 pages. Totally worth it. Do. It.

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John Berkowitz is querying 🪤 @johnberkowitz.bsky.social · 07/10/2025

I'll be pitching: 10yo Edison Skrooluse is just a kid with no magic, a broken robot, and a workshop full of failed inventions. But when the Anti-Fae League targets his fae friends with hate and lies, he’ll risk everything to prove one thing: Different doesn’t mean dangerous. #MG #STEM #F #RevPit

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John Berkowitz is querying 🪤 @johnberkowitz.bsky.social · 04/09/2025

You want to read this book. You NEED to read this book. So full of supernatural and historic goodness.

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John Berkowitz is querying 🪤 @johnberkowitz.bsky.social · 30/08/2025

Thank you, Kara. Emailing it now to your attention, per the instructions on your submissions page.

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John Berkowitz is querying 🪤 @johnberkowitz.bsky.social · 30/08/2025

Sending now. Should I reference this skeet in my query letter?

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John Berkowitz is querying 🪤 @johnberkowitz.bsky.social · 27/08/2025

Totally worth it. Got my ARC yesterday and I'm on chapter 10. It was difficult to put it down long enough to write this recommendation. You want to read this book. You NEED to read this book.... #Goodreads #booksky #BookReview #booklover #writingcommunity

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John Berkowitz is querying 🪤 @johnberkowitz.bsky.social · 25/08/2025

Got my ARC today; diving in tonight (sorry, WIP).

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John Berkowitz is querying 🪤 @johnberkowitz.bsky.social · 20/08/2025

I just put in my request on Netgalley. Can't wait to dig in.

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John Berkowitz is querying 🪤 @johnberkowitz.bsky.social · 19/08/2025

I still have my original first edition copies of volumes 1-7. Still waiting for the movie....

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John Berkowitz is querying 🪤 @johnberkowitz.bsky.social · 19/08/2025

People have been doing that here in Idaho. Thing is, the MAGAt-infested GOP passed a law that states only Republicans can vote for Republicans in primaries, AND only if they've been a Registered Republican for over 1 year.

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John Berkowitz is querying 🪤 @johnberkowitz.bsky.social · 19/08/2025

13yo Clio doesn’t believe in fairytales until she & her BFF awaken in 1508 Ireland. Caught between the faerie queen & her wicked ambition, only Clio can prevent the curse that will destroy her own family. But she must choose between saving her BFF & going home. #PitchFPP #MG #HF #FT

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John Berkowitz is querying 🪤 @johnberkowitz.bsky.social · 08/07/2025

Tell us about this book. Is it kidlit or adult?

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Maria Tureaud 🕯✒️🕯✒️ @mariatureaud.bsky.social · 08/07/2025

It's that time, frens! From July 8-11, 2025, Barnes & Noble are running 25% off all hardcover pre-orders for premium/rewards members, so now is the time to get your copy of THIS HOUSE WILL FEED. Use promo code: PREORDER25 #newbooks #writingcommunity @barnesandnoble.com #booksky

Pre-order THIS HOUSE WILL FEED for 25% off at Barnes & Noble July 8-11 with promo code PREORDER25. (Cover of This House Will Feed by Maria Tureaud nestled in the backdrop of The Burren, that's been edited to match the colors of the cover: pinks, purples, and dusky cyan.

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John Berkowitz is querying 🪤 @johnberkowitz.bsky.social · 24/06/2025

Currently editing When 10yo Edison’s fae orphanage is attacked by the Anti-Fae League, he builds defenses from junk. But this isn’t just about gadgets, it’s about standing up to fear, lies, hatred, and a world that says fae kids don’t belong. He’s not magic. But he’s not backing down. #MG #STEM #F

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