Susan Hawk has joined the Bent Agency as an agent. Hawk, who was most recently marketing director at Henry Holt Books for Young Readers, will be representing young adult and middle grade authors and is actively acquiring nonfiction and fiction (especially literary fiction), as well as fantasy, science-fiction, historical fiction and mystery.The announcementGuide to Literary... Continue Reading →
Ah! No need to obsess over query details
Michael Bourret, the Dystel & Goderich agent soon to set up shop in Los Angeles, has a nice post on the agency blog about queries--and how to make yours stand out without tearing your hair out.What I’m looking for is a unique idea and good writing. I’m looking for an authentic, interesting voice--yes, voice in... Continue Reading →
What Elana Roth wants
In lieu of anything profound, I'm just going to put the call out today for a list of things I would like. A wish list, shall we say? Here goes.1.Middle-grade novels. I have been reading a ton of awesome MG novels lately. When You Reach Me is perfect. I am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil... Continue Reading →
Submitting without an agent
This Nathan Bransford post is a few days old, but perennially useful--especially when we are permitted to submit to an editor who attends one of our conferences.Here's the top:So I thought I'd tackle the topic of submitting to editors without an agent. And I'll start by saying something you might not expect to hear from... Continue Reading →
Betsy Lerner on bad business lunches
I read Lerner's THE FOREST FOR THE TREES years ago and enjoyed it (an editing guide). But I might like this roundup of worst-ever business lunches even more. Here's a taste: “Hm, oh god, worse lunch date ever, but there are so many to choose from! Probably my first one. I was a baby editor... Continue Reading →
Targeting an agent
Christina at MiG writers (a blog by mid-grade authors) has some good advice on organizing your agent search: make a spreadsheet; read the books the agent has worked on; collect tidbits on Twitter and elsewhere that give you a better picture.To read the whole thing, click here.
New agent seeks author/illustrators
Chuck at GuidetoLiteraryAgents.com has this lead: Teresa Kietlinski joined Prospect Agency in 2009 after thirteen happy years of working in the publishing industry at Disney-Hyperion, Dial Books for Young Readers, Viking Children's Books, William Morrow and Company, and St. Martin's Press. Teresa has designed and art directed hundreds of children's books of all sizes and... Continue Reading →
New agent alert: Mary Kole
She's a new associate agent at Andrea Brown Literary, and here's what she's seeking:At this time, Mary is only considering young adult and middle grade novels and truly exceptional picturebooks. She's seeking fresh, unique voices and idiosyncratic characters who, by book's end, she knows like a friend. Her favorite stories are character-driven but well-plotted... a... Continue Reading →
Chuck at the Guide to Literary Agents blog reports a new agent on the loose at Barry Goldblatt Literary (do bookmark Chuck's blog if you're looking for an agent--so useful).Beth Fleisher is a former editor, working for The Berkeley Publishing Group. Her passions are science fiction, fantasy and graphic novels, though she handles all kinds... Continue Reading →
How to submit to Elana Roth
Elana tweeted this morning that she was receiving lots of queries without sample pages. In case that's people from our region doing that, here are the submission guidelines from the Caren Johnson Literary Agency blog.It's smart to check submission guidelines--and recheck them--with each agent you query. There is no one-size-fits-all rule and agents create guidelines... Continue Reading →