Twitter: @a_reflective
Agent: Jennifer Laughran at Andrea Brown Literary Agency Inc.
Published books: Currently revising before submission.
Genre: Contemporary Upper MG/YA
Bio: A M Dassu is a magistrate and a freelance writer. Her first piece for The Huffington Post, for whom she was a featured writer, was published on the front-page, alongside Barack Obama and Lenny Henry. She is the Deputy Editor for Words & Pictures, the magazine for the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators, British Isles. A M Dassu’s previous work experience includes project management, marketing and editorial work at Reader’s Digest.
Experience: In January 2017, she won the international We Need Diverse Books YA mentorship award and was delighted to learn that both award-winning YA mentors in her category wanted to work with her. She knows from experience how valuable support from someone in publishing can be and how it can help a writer to submit their work with more confidence. A M Dassu writes contemporary upper middle grade novels and likes nothing better than the thrill of completing a first draft. She has edited and critiqued full manuscripts for multi-published MG & YA children’s writers and also numerous query packages for unagented writers, who have then gone on to be signed by an agent. A query letter and synopsis aren’t as hard to get right once you know how and A M Dassu would love to help a writer polish their query package and hopefully sign with an agent.
Mentoring style: I am happy to critique either upper MG or YA because that’s where my experience lies. I will line edit the query letter, synopsis and first three chapters, making notes/comments as I read. I will ask questions where things need clarifying and make suggestions where suitable. If something isn’t working, I will let you know and make a suggestion for improvement. I am very communicative and am happy to email, Skype or chat on the phone after I have read your submission package.
Mentee style: I would like to work with someone who has a complete manuscript and who is not afraid of rewriting and looking at their work to improve it, if needed. I would like to work with someone who is open to constructive feedback and critique and will be ready to accept it to ensure they have the best chance to get an agent and hopefully get published.
What kind of novel would you like to work on? A strongly written story with interesting characters that will capture my attention from the first page and want me to read more.
Favourite novels: One of my favourite YA novels is Just In Case by Meg Rosoff, I laughed so much through that and was throughly impressed by the way it was written. I cried bucket loads through A Monster Calls, if you’ve read it, you’ll know why. The Geek Girl series was a total hoot. I also really enjoyed The Hate You Give and Hell and High Water by Tanya Landman. On the younger scale of MG, I really enjoyed Knitbone Pepper Ghost Dog. As you can see, I have diverse taste, and I’m happy to give most books a try.
Mentoring package offered: Submission package (first 3 chapters, query letter, synopsis)
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