Adiba Jaigirdar

by | Feb 12, 2019 | Mentors (R6) | 0 comments

adibajaigirdar.com
@adiba_j

AGENT
Uwe Stender (TriadaUS)

WRITES
YA contemporary

PUBLISHING STATUS
On sub with a YA rom-com where a Bengali teen faces family backlash after coming out, so she dives into a henna business competition which pits her against the girl of her dreams.

BIO
Adiba Jaigirdar is a Bangladeshi and Irish writer and teacher. She has a BA in English and History, and an MA in Postcolonial Studies. Currently, she lives in Dublin, Ireland where she writes with the help of many cups of tea and a lot of Hayley Kiyoko and Janelle Monaé.

PUBLISHING BACKGROUND
Even though I’ve been writing for most of my life, I only really started seriously revising my work with the hopes of publishing in 2017. That was also the year when I began to query for the first time. After a few months of querying, I shelved that project and began to work on something completely new. After months of drafting revising, beta feedback, more revising, and finally querying, I signed with my agent on November 2018. I immediately began to revise the book with my agent and went on sub a few weeks later.

EXPERIENCE
I have a BA and MA in English, both of which really helped me hone in my writing, editing, and critical thinking skills. I also worked as the editor of my university’s literary magazine where I edited both prose and poetry.

OVERVIEW
As a marginalised person, I know first-hand how daunting this industry can seem. There doesn’t always seem like there is support or help available. It can often seem like you’re fending for yourself in an industry that doesn’t always value you. I was lucky during my publishing journey that I was able to find friends who helped me immensely from drafting to going on sub. I think everyone deserves someone in their corner during this process, and I hope I can be that person and give someone the helping hand they need in this tough industry.

I love books with a strong voice, but I also adore beautiful, lyrical prose. I love books with LGBTQIAP+ representation, especially if it’s f/f. Naturally, I am also a huge fan of romance, whether this is a subplot or the main element of the book. I also love books with characters of colour trying to come to terms with their relationship with their culture/identity. I especially love books that feature intersectional identities and complicated family dynamics.

  • Contemporary
  • Mystery/Thriller
  • #ownvoices
  • LGBTQIA
  • Romance

Tropes/Genres I love:

  • enemies to lovers
  • friends to lovers
  • slow burn
  • fake dating
  • cinnamon roll love interests
  • I really love romcoms, social thrillers, and whodunnits.

Tropes/Genres I hate:

I don’t want any queer and/or POC characters dying to further plot/character arcs. I also hate the white saviour trope, or any saviour trope. I’m also not the right person for books with suicidal ideation/suicide/self-harm narratives.

I WILL PROVIDE:

  • Edit Letter (Big Picture developmental feedback)
  • Line edit (dropping notes into a Word Document)
  • Freestyle in chat

WORKING STYLE
During my read through, I will probably leave general notes on your manuscript (along with a lot of gushing and exclamation marks). Then, after a thorough read through (or two) I will send you an editorial letter that focuses on big picture edits. I will probably also send you a lot of questions, not because I think you need to be able to answer all of them, but because I think thinking about questions and why you have written things the way you have will help me understand your vision for the story, and where we need to go with revisions.

I’m very open to discussing revisions and going back-and-forth on them. It’s your book – I’m just here to help you give your book the best possible shot.

IDEAL MENTEE
My ideal mentee is good at communicating and asking any questions that they might have. They’re willing to put in the work required to make their manuscript shine, and to seriously think about criticism and take it on board.

SEND ME:

  • LGBTQIAP+ and/or POC characters
  • Muslim characters
  • fat characters (especially if they’re POC)
  • marginalised characters in general (and preferred #ownvoices)
  • complicated sister/sibling stories
  • complicated family relationships
  • toxic friendships
  • anything that handles a difficult topic (sexual assault, racism, homophobia, etc.) with careful nuance (think Saints and Misfits by S. K. Ali, or Love, Hate, and Other Filters by Samira Ahmed)
  • whodunnits
  • anything that has Hayley Kiyoko vibes
  • anything that can be comped to GET OUT

DO NOT SEND ME:

  • cheating storylines
  • casts with all allocishet white characters
  • marginalised characters being used to further plots/arcs of non-marginalised characters
  • any mystery where a character being gay is treated as a “plot twist”

FAVES
Some books I love are:

  • From Twinkle, With Love
  • Saints and Misfits
  • The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
  • We Are Okay
  • Everything Leads To You
  • A Very Large Expanse Of Sea
  • Simon Vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda
  • To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before
  • Kissing Ted Callahan
  • Little Monsters
  • Piecing Me Together
  • Eliza and Her Monsters
  • The Hate U Give
  • If I Was Your Girl
  • Gone Girl
  • Crazy Rich Asians
  • The Miseducation of Cameron Post

Some movies I love:

  • Ten Things I Hate About You
  • Clueless
  • Searching
  • Get Out
  • Dumplin’
  • Legally Blonde
  • Moana
  • 3 Idiots
  • Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Ghum

Some TV shows I love:

  • Jane The Virgin
  • Gilmore Girls
  • Pretty Little Liars
  • Orphan Black
  • How To Get Away With Murder