Mentor Naz Kutub

by | Jan 20, 2020 | Mentors (R7) | 0 comments

www.nazkutub.com
@nazkutub

AGENT
Natalie Lakosil

WRITES
Magical Realism, Fantasy, SciFi, Contemporary

DEBUT
On Submission

BIO
I was born and raised in Singapore but am making Los Angeles home (for now).

PUBLISHING BACKGROUND
I started off writing screenplays more than a decade ago, but made the switch to novels, finding it a less restrictive form of story-telling. It took several books and many years, but I finally found my wonderful agent through a Twitter pitch contest.

EXPERIENCE
This is my second time mentoring for AMM. But having been a CP and beta for many of my writing friends, I’ve learned that it I won’t just be looking at your craft but also at marketability and how attractive it might look to an agent.

OVERVIEW
I’ve been fortunate to receive a ton of help along the way, and this is my way of giving back. This journey is not an easy one, and you’ve got a long way to go, so let me help you.

Make me FEEL – cry or laugh or cringe – and for that I will give you the world. Give me your unputdownable voice, the one that’ll make me stay up till late, and when I’m done reading, I’ll know I’ll be your champion.

I’m looking for VOICE VOICE VOICE! Give me that wonderful voice you’ve developed over the years of being a writer. Something that tells me how unique you are when put up against someone else. Give me your 3-Dimensional characters with lots of grays in their motivation. Eg. Don’t just give me a villain who wants to kill everyone, and that’s it. And send me all your pageturners, but make me care enough for your characters to want to turn the page.

  • Contemporary
  • Fantasy
  • Sci-Fi, Mystery/Thriller
  • Magical Realism/Fabulism
  • #ownvoices
  • LGBTQIA
  • Urban/Contemporary Fantasy
  • Horror

NO: Kill the gays, Kill the POC, Violence against women/girls/animals, toxic masculinity

YES: Girl power, boys who aren’t toxically masculine

I WILL PROVIDE:

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

WORKING STYLE
I will give you as much guidance as you need, right up until the day you send your first query.

 

IDEAL MENTEE
You won’t/can’t/mustn’t give up. You will look at our notes, and take a deep breath, put it aside, then look at it again, then figure out how to make it work. We will talk about revision. A lot. It might all be daunting.

But I’ll be there for you.

Publishing is a long journey, and admitting defeat at this super-early point in the race doesn’t bode well for the marathon we will be training towards.

SEND ME:

  • Give me all your diversity and #ownvoices – any way you want to tell it – and feel free to teach me something.
  • Funny is good – I can’t remember the last time I read a truly laugh-out-loud YA
  • All kinds of fantasy and sci-fi – ESPECIALLY if you can take me to another world.
  • Horror – If you can write a YA horror that’ll make me stay up at night, then you’ve already won.
  • Contemporary: Make me cry. Please. I want you to.
  • BONUS: Genre mashups! Give me fantasy+horror (like Dark Souls)!

DO NOT SEND ME:

  • sports
  • paranormal
  • historical
  • military

FAVES
TV: Fantasy, Crime, Dragon Prince
Movies: Animated, Silence of the Lambs (I know right?)
Games: Final Fantasy, Dark Souls
Anime: Attack on Titan, Death Note, My Hero Academia
Books: Holes, The Book Thief,