April Agent of the Month – KAYLA CICHELLO Upstart Crow

ANNOUNCEMENT:

KAYLA CICELLO AT UPSTART CROW IS APRIL’S AGENT OF THE MONTH

Kayla Cichello brings to Upstart Crow Literary nearly a decade of experience in children’s publishing. A former Conference Coordinator for the Summer and Winter Conferences for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, she most recently logged several years as assistant to Senior Agent Jennifer Rofé at the Andrea Brown Literary Agency. She is open to picture books through YA and illustrators, and is searching for those voices that make her laugh and keep the page turning. Some of her clients include author Ana Otaru, author of the upcoming MASQUERADE FOR GRANDPA (Atheneum/S&S, 2023) and author/illustrator Kirbi Fagan, illustrator of SUMMER OF THE TREE ARMY (Sleeping Bear, 2021).

Kayla is seeking everything from heartfelt or humorous picture books (she has a soft spot for animal protagonists) to dynamic, unpredictable YA (she loves a good murder mystery or a clever rom-com).

Kayla’s taste lies squarely in that sweet spot between commercial and literary, and she is looking for captivating voices and rich worldbuilding—whether it’s a seaside town in Maine or a fantastical other world. Kayla welcomes dark humor, suspense, magical realism, awkwardly adorable romance, and everything in-between.

She is not seeking sci-fi, horror, or high fantasy.

Kayla is also open to representing illustrators. Some of her favorite illustrators include Mike Boldt, Amber Ren, Vashti Harrison, and Eliza Wheeler.

Some favorite titles that provide a sense of her tastes:

Picture book: Penguin and Pinecone by Salina Yoon; Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds and Peter Brown; I Don’t Want to be a Frog by Dev Petty; Bad Dog by Mike Boldt

Middle grade: Merci Suarez Changes Gears by Meg Medina; The Year the Swallows Came Early by Katherine Fitzmaurice; Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed; The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Young adult: The Sea is Salt and So Am I by Cassandra Hartt; Dumplin by Julie Murphy; The Cost of All Things by Maggie Lehrman; To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han; The Girl in the Blue Coat by Monica Hesse

In her own words: “I’ve always been a voracious reader. From the time I could read, I would spend summers staying up late with a flashlight reading, making my way through each Nancy Drew mystery and the Little House on The Prairie series. I would often imagine myself as a new character in the stories; a kind friend to Laura or Nancy’s sassy sidekick (move over, George). For me, reading has never felt like an escape from reality, but rather an invitation to run alongside the author’s imagination, and strengthen my own. Weekends always included a trip to the library with a list of books to check out and back up selections in case my first choices were currently checked out.

‍“Hailing from Texas, I did not take the traditional path into publishing. After majoring in English at the University of Texas, I found my way to California and into the generous and welcoming tribe of SCBWI. I owe my education in children’s books to Lin Oliver, Kim Turrisi, and Jennifer Rofé, each of whom imparted on me their knowledge of and passion for this industry. ‍

‍“I may have upgraded from a flashlight, but I’m still on the lookout for those stories that will make me stay up late turning the next page.”

HOW TO SUBMIT TO KAYLA:

• Please put your query and sample in the body of the email. We will not open emailed attachments.
• Author/illustrators: NB—Please include a link to your online portfolio and/or to your downloadable dummy. (Thank you!)
• Email a QUERY and TWENTY PAGES of your manuscript to: kayla.submission@gmail.com.

O‍THER LINKS:

Twitter

Submissions

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HERE ARE THE SUBMISSION GUIDELINES FOR APRIL 2022 FIRST PAGE CRITIQUES:

In the subject line, please write “APRIL 2022 FIRST PAGE CRITIQUE” Example: Paste the text in the email, plus attached it as a Word document to the email. Please make sure you put your name, the title of the piece, and genre: a picture book, chapter book, middle grade, or young adult, Non-fiction, contemporary, historical, Sci-fi, fantasy, etc. at the top on both the email and the Word document (Make sure you include your name with the title of your book, when you save the first page).

PLEASE name the Word document file by putting 2022 APRIL  – Your Name – Title of first page. Thank you.

REMEMBER: ATTACH THE WORD DOCUMENT AND NOT GET ELIMINATED! Your First Page Word document should be formatted using one inch margins and 12 point New Times Roman font – double space – no more than 23 lines – only one page.

Send to: kathy(dot)temean(at)gmail(dot)com. Sending it to my hotmail account will probably keep me from seeing it and including you in the running.

PLEASE FOLLOW THE GUIDELINES: Your submission will be passed over if you do not follow the directions for both the pasted email and the attached Word doc. This is where most people mess up.

DEADLINE: APRIL 22nd. – noon EST

RESULTS: APRIL 29TH.

CHECK BACK NEXT FRIDAY FOR PART ONE OF MY INTERVIEW WITH KAYLA.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy