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Mary Cummings & Victoria A. Selvaggio – 12 x 12 Featured Agents November 2020

It’s our last month of submissions for 2020! Is it possible for a year to seem 1,000 years long while also seeming 10 minutes long? I think  2020 has proven that just about anything is possible. On to this month’s agents! Our 2020 Little GOLDen Book members will be able to choose one of these two agents to submit their manuscript to this month. (If you are a SILVER member, you may use this info for research, but please double check the agents’ website to see IF they are open to general submissions. IF they are open to general submissions, SILVER members should follow the guidelines on the agent’s website.)

Mary Cummings of Betsy Amster Literary Enterprises will be accepting picture book submissions from 12 x 12 GOLD members November 1-15. Victoria A. Selvaggio of Storm Literary will be accepting picture book submissions from 12 x 12 GOLD members November 16-30. Mary’s profile appears first, followed by Victoria’s. Please read BOTH and then decide who would be the best fit for your work.

Mary Cummings 200x300

Mary Cummings – Betsy Amster Literary Enterprises 

A little bit about Mary:

For fourteen years Mary Cummings was Education Director at the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis. At the Loft she curated an annual Festival of Children’s Literature, and hired judges for the McKnight Award in Children’s Literature from among the nation’s top editors of children’s books. On many occasions, she hired Betsy Amster to teach workshops at the Loft and, in 2008, joined Betsy Amster Literary Enterprises to bring contacts and expertise in children’s lit.  Many star-reviewed, inspiring books later, and more in the pipeline—she’s still having lots of fun!

Houses she’s sold book projects to include, among others:

Little, Brown; Abrams; Knopf; Henry Holt; Imprint; Holiday House; F,S,G; Viking; David Godine; Walker; Feiwel & Friends; Philomel; HarperCollins; Chronicle; Candlewick; and Paula Wiseman Books/Simon & Schuster.

Check out client profiles on the agency website, amsterlit.com, and articles on Mary’s website, cummingskidlit.com, to learn backstory on books; how she works with clients; what kinds of manuscripts excite her; some mistakes she sees (every day!) in query letters and in writing; and more.

Here is what Mary had to say when asked what he is looking for in picture books today:

“I’m looking for stories with a clear beginning, middle, end structure and engaging characters. I’d like to see friendship stories, humor themes, and good night stories. A Thanksgiving story would be great, and I also always like to see holiday stories from recent immigrant cultures. Lyrically written non-fiction on science and natural world themes are also welcome. Be careful about rhyming (see articles on cummingskidlit.com) and avoid meta narration. I welcome both authors and author/illustrators to submit. ”

Mary has been a 12 x 12 Featured Agent previously. You can find our previous posts here, here, and here. Here are a few additional resources:

Victoria Selvaggio 200x300

Victoria A. Selvaggio of Storm Literary

A little bit about Victoria

Victoria Selvaggio, previously with The Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency, was drawn to the publishing scene first as an author. She is a prior Regional Advisor for SCBWI: Northern Ohio, where her desire to help writers and illustrators reach their publication goals inspired her to become an agent.

With over twenty-five years as a business owner, Victoria is excited to help grow the agency’s client base with talented writers and illustrators, while also helping build the agency from within with motivated agents who possess the same ideals, literary interests, goals, and approaches to the industry.

When asked what she’s looking for in picture books, Victoria said:

“I love everything! Seriously…my tastes are pretty broad, in both fiction and non. I do love rhyming picture books and because of this, I receive tons–participant should know the basics of writing rhyme. I have a lot of picture book clients — I’m looking for projects that are unusual/unique in both fiction and non-fiction. I tend to be very selective. I love learning something new, in both fiction and non.'”

This is Victoria’s first year as a 12 x 12 Featured Agent. Below are a few more resources:

Remember: Little GOLDen Book Members may only submit to ONE of these agents. Please choose the agent who is the best fit for you and your manuscript. Look for submission guidelines in the Submission Station on the 12 x 12 forum.

Submissions will only be accepted for Mary Cummings from November 1-15 at 6pm ET/3pm PT.

Submissions will only be accepted for Victoria Selvaggio from November 16-30 at 6pm ET/3pm PT.

Please double check the times for your time zone on your submissions. Anything received before or after the submissions window is open will be disqualified and you will not be able to submit again this month.

Remember, it is NEVER okay to submit your manuscript twice. Contact Kelli if there is a problem with your submission.

Good luck!

Want to make sure your submissions are tip-top? Grab this 7-Step Submissions Checklist.

 

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2 Responses

  1. I want to submit to Mary Cummings, but can’t log in to the Forum to get her submission information. I need to submit to her by the deadline on Nov. 15, which is this Sunday. I’ve been trying to log in to 12×12 Challenge with my email address and with my user name and password since Thursday, but get this message:

    “Bad login, double-check your credentials and try again.”

    My user name and password are stored in my computer and have worked just fine all year, most recently on Oct. 27 when I submitted to Adriana Dominguez.

    In desperation, I tried to request a new password, but got this message:

    “Couldn’t find an account associated with that email/username.”

    It’s as if I don’t exist in the 12×12 Challenge system. What happened?

    I have emailed Kelli. but she hasn’t replied yet. When I’ve contacted her in the past, she replied very promptly, if not the same day, then the next day.

    I’m getting more nervous as noon today (Friday, Nov. 13) approaches and am concerned I won’t get help over the weekend in time to submit to Mary. If I don’t, how can I submit my manuscript to her before the Sunday deadline passes?

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Interested in Joining the 12x12 Challenge?

Financial Need Scholarship Guidelines

All applications will be accepted via email only between November 1, 2023 – November 30, 2023 at kelli@juliehedlund.com.

Subject line of the email:

  1. 12 x 12 Financial Need Scholarship
 

Please include the following in the body of the email:

  1. An autobiographical statement and career summary in 250 words or fewer.
  2. A short statement describing the nature of the financial need/circumstances in 250 words or fewer.
  3. A sample query letter for the manuscript you are submitting with your application.
  4. Pitches for two additional completed picture books.
 

 Attached to the email:

  1.  The full text of one picture book manuscript, attached as a Word document named as FIN_YourFirstName_YourLastName_Title_of_Manuscript.doc (or docx).