Ah, that makes sense.

Thanks Jane!

This is a really good point, but it makes me want to clarify. When I say don't whisper, I don't mean the first pages have to have a lot of action, either. They just really need to pull you in, whether by action or voice. I firmly believe in the set up, but you've got to do that in a way that isn't boring!

I can't advise you on whether your style isn't popular, but if you have good feedback from beta readers, then you're doing something right regardless of the "in" thing. If your beta readers uniformly say "the first chapter...something's not right," then you know you should amp up the grab.

I'm surprised about it too, Laura, but remember this isn't the query slush pile, this is the requested manuscript pile. I assume the query slush has a lot of fails.

Hi Alexandra, it definitely is important to make the reader care! I don't have the answers there, but I can tell you that everything goes hand in hand in a successful ms. If the plot works, then the characters must work, and the dialog must work, and the empathy must work. Each thing must flow into the other. It's HARD, isn't it??