Why Middle Grade Books Got Too Long For Kids To Read (Encore with Vicki Weber)

A few weeks ago, three pieces of publishing news landed in quick succession: Roaring Brook shut down, Dial Books for Young Readers closed, and Simon & Schuster laid off editors across nearly every imprint. For literary agent Vicki Weber, it was the last straw that turned private conversations into a public Substack post — one that, in her words, "opened up so many great conversations" she decided to come back on Writers with Wrinkles and dig even deeper. Since it's one of our most-referenced episodes, we're bringing it back this week as an encore (we had a new guest lined up, but a family emergency pushed that conversation to a later date).

The Harry Potter theory

Vicki didn't come up with this one herself — she heard it from an editor at a Big Five imprint — but she explains it better than anyone. Harry Potter was, at the time, a little long for middle grade. But it was a massive fantasy hit, and publishers spent years trying to replicate that success. Each imitator got a little longer, a little older, chasing the same magic. Eventually, "middle grade" books were creeping toward 250,000 words with increasingly mature protagonists — books that, paired with declining literacy scores, kids simply couldn't read anymore.

That's also where the industry term "uneditable" comes from: authors who've become so commercially successful that they stop taking notes from their editors, because — as Vicki puts it — "they're bringing in the big bucks and can kind of do what they want." It's part of why agents get nervous when a debut author comps their book to a mega-bestseller. Nobody can plan to replicate lightning in a bottle.

Loving a book isn't the same as buying it

One of the biggest misconceptions Vicki sees from newer authors: assuming that if an editor loves the manuscript, the deal is basically done. In reality, acquisitions is its own pressure cooker. Editors have to build a case that clears financial, market, and internal approval hurdles that have nothing to do with how much they personally love a book. "I can only provide the opportunity," Vicki says. "I can't make a publisher buy."

"Write another book" is the real query advice

If there's one takeaway to walk away with, it's this: querying is not a straight line from finished manuscript to book deal. Vicki describes it as "much more of a squiggle." Her top tip for authors in the query trenches is deceptively simple — write the next book. Every manuscript sharpens your craft, teaches you what kind of author career you actually want, and opens doors with agents who weren't the right fit for your last project but might be perfect for this one.

Vicki speaks from experience. After parting ways with her first agent, she pulled out her entire portfolio, panicked ("I'm trash, why did she rep me?"), then methodically prepped query packages for every manuscript that felt submission-ready — and researched agents beyond their stated genre wish lists, looking for the specific books, tone, and themes they'd responded to before. The result: her first offer of representation came in 24 hours, and by the end of the week she had three offers on three different manuscripts.

Stop looking for your "dream agent"

Co-host Lisa Schmid raises a pet peeve: writers who talk about "my dream agent" passing on their book. Vicki agrees it's a trap — and compares querying to dating, "right down to the rejection." A crush doesn't mean compatibility. The better question isn't "who do I admire most," but "who will actually advocate for this specific project, and who do I trust with my intellectual property?"

Self-publishing, sales tracks, and building an audience from zero

The conversation also covers when self-publishing makes sense (do it because it's right for the book, not as a backdoor into traditional deals), how to reframe a modest sales record when pitching yourself, and Vicki's low-cost playbook for building an email list before you're even published — including a $30 Facebook ad experiment that generated 500 subscribers.

Vicki closes out with her current manuscript wishlist: commercial, horror-tinged fiction with real social commentary — think feminist rage wrapped in something spooky and psychological.

There's a lot more in this one, including Vicki's most unforgettable query letters (three million words, anyone?). Hit play to catch the full conversation.