Agentopia: Alyssa Jenette

Welcome to the August edition of Agentopia. This month we have Alyssa Jenette in the spotlight.

About Alyssa

Alyssa joined Stonesong Literary in May 2015 after interning at the Sarah Jane Freymann Literary Agency. She has a background in art and trained as an illustrator before she joined publishing, and therefore have unique insight and expertise when it comes to design-heavy or illustrated works. She is a very editorial agent, and she finds a lot of joy in shaping stories alongside the author.
She recently enjoyed I’LL GIVE YOU THE SUN, THE GHOST NETWORK, WHY WE CAME TO THE CITY, SLADE HOUSE, and WHITE CAT. Some of her favorite authors are Jasper Fforde, Terry Pratchett, and Holly Black.

What is currently on your wishlist?

These are very specific requests, but I would love a picture book about logic concepts, YA/MG about supportive found families, a Craigslist Missed Connection rom-com, and a YA epistolary novel told through chats, emails, and texts about the decline of a best-friendship (or about getting Catfished!). A great place to check my interests is on my Manuscript Wishlist profile or my #MSWL hashtag on Twitter.

Overall I find myself drawn to literary voices, strong plotting, and cleverness. Make me laugh or sigh or get excited and you're well on your way to winning my heart!

What's a personal turn-off in a query which is guaranteed to get the author rejected?

Queries that are too long or ill-researched are pretty much always a no. Authors who are serious about getting published MUST do the work required to show agents that they're committed, thoughtful, and making the effort. That means brief queries targeted at the agents that are actually interested in and represent your genre. That means you've IDENTIFIED your genre. That means you've read up on agents and aren't going to send them things that they don't represent or aren't interested in. I still get queries for romance novels when I explicitly state across multiple platforms that I don't represent romance. Don't be that author! 99% of the time you aren't going to be the exception that changes an agents mind about a genre or a premise, so I would say stick to the agents who already want to see what you do.

Do you google authors and if yes, what are you looking for?

Sometimes I google authors! But most of the time I'm too busy keeping up with my queries to think about the author's personal life. I do tend to get curious and google when the book is either REALLY out there or, of course, a book that I'm super-enjoying. I'm not looking for anything specific when I google--I've never *not* signed someone whose work I love because of something I saw while googling. That being said, it's always a good thing to see what comes up when you google your name--you want to put your best foot forward in case an agent gets the itch to search.


Alyssa is closed to queries during August but submission guidelines for September can be found on the Stonesong website.

Alyssa's wishlist: MSWL
Twitter @alyssajenette

Agentopia: Joanna MacKenzie

Welcome to the July edition of Agentopia! This month Joanna MacKenzie from Nelson Literary Agency is in the spotlight.

About Joanna:

As a Chicago-based agent, I am excited to join the Nelson Literary Agency team and to expand my list in both adult and YA. I’m looking for the epic read that, at its center, beats with a universal heart.  In particular, I’m drawn to smart and timely women’s fiction, as well as absorbing, character-driven mysteries and thrillers – both, ideally, with a little edge.  I have a weird obsession with, what I call, “child in jeopardy lit” and can’t get enough kick-ass mom heroines.  On the YA side, I’m interested in coming of age stories that possess a confident voice and characters I can’t stop thinking about.
Originally from Poland, and by way of Canada, I’m all about narratives that deal with the themes of identity and the immigrant experience as well as those that delve into all aspects of the relationships that make us who we are – parents, siblings, best friends, and first love.

What is on your wishlist?

Oh, man, I’m going to try and keep this answer short and succinct.  I’ve always been drawn to stories about the relationships that make us who we are - they don’t have to be positive or long lasting, but rather transformative.  I’m thinking about stories like I’ll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson or Looking for Alaska by John Green.  I’d love to find a “stay up all night reading” sister story.  As someone who was born in one country, moved to another, and now makes her home in the US I’m into anything that deals with the immigrant experience and to that end I’d love to find the YA version of The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri.  I’m also a huge Veronica Mars fan, so anything with a gritty sleuth is a must for me.  Also on my #mswl is the YA version of Dark Matter by Blake Crouch.
 
 

What is a personal turn-off in a query which is guaranteed to get the author rejected?

It’s always hard for me to read that the author believes their work is 100% unique - so much so that they can’t come up for a comp title.   
 
 

Do you google authors and if so, what are you looking for?

I do google authors!  I’m looking for someone who is engaged and professional.  I realize that sounds broad, but I like going to someone’s feed and seeing that they’re talking about what they’re reading, for example, as opposed to criticizing other authors.  I’m a firm believer in the importance of building a community online - one that is positive and constructive and helps to build readers.  I’m always looking to work with authors who want to be partners in their success and who are aware that how they present themselves online is part of that. 

For more info on how to query Joanna, check out her submission guidelines.
Follow Joanna @joannamackenzie 

Agentopia: Patricia Nelson

Welcome to the May edition of Agentopia! This month we have Patricia Nelson from Marsal Lyon Literary Agency in the spotlight.

About Patricia:

Patricia Nelson joined Marsal Lyon Literary Agency in 2014. She represents adult, young adult, and middle grade fiction, and is actively building her list.

In general, Patricia looks for stories that hook her with a unique plot, fantastic writing and complex characters that jump off the page. On the adult side, she is seeking women’s fiction both upmarket and commercial, historical fiction set in the 20th century, and compelling plot-driven literary fiction. She’s also looking for sexy, smart adult contemporary and historical single title romance. On the children’s side, Patricia is open to a wide range of genres of YA and MG, with particular interest in contemporary/realistic, magical realism, mystery, science fiction and fantasy. She is interested in seeing diverse stories and characters, including LGBTQ, in all genres that she represents.

What is currently on your wish list?

Diverse books and #ownvoices stories is my #1 wish list item -- like many others who work in the publishing industry, I think it's SO important to expand the voices and stories we're hearing in kidlit. Beyond that, I would love to find a haunting YA contemporary fantasy with gorgeous, literary writing. I'm always looking for page-turning YA fantasy or sci-fi with a compelling heroine and a premise and setting that feels truly unique. I also like YA contemporary, but generally tend toward the upper-YA or more literary side with a very strong sense of place and characters who are complicated (and might even be a bit tough to love) -- I often use AMERICAN GIRLS by Allison Umminger, in which a teen girl spends the summer in LA with her sister and becomes fascinated by the Manson murders, as an example of the kind of contemporary YA I tend to fall for. And I'd love to take on a contemporary YA with a teen girl protagonist who reminds me of the amazing young women who write for ROOKIE and TEEN VOGUE: smart, socially and politically engaged, explicitly feminist, fighting to resist and to build a better world. I think a lot of teens are more interested in social justice than adults give them credit for, especially now, and it would be great to see that trait in more YA characters.

What's a personal turn-off in a query which is guaranteed to get the author rejected?

It drives me crazy when the querier frames themselves as the savior of YA! You'd be surprised how often people say things like: "Unlike all the vampires and dystopias being published in YA now, my book has substance." Not only is this an inaccurate characterization of the publishing landscape, it's patronizing and dismissive of all the other brilliant writers out there working in this genre -- and it makes me think you won't be a positive member of the writing/publishing community, which is not a great sign for career longevity. When a query starts with a comment like this, I'm almost definitely going to send a pass.

Do you google authors and if yes, what are you looking for?

I only look up authors after I've read the query and pages and I'm interested, but if I like the writing, yes, I do turn to google. Mostly, I want to see that you've at least dipped your toe into being a person on the internet, because that will be a necessity once you have a book to promote. For me, I hope to find that a querying writer has at least one of: a twitter account, an instagram account, a tumblr, or at least a simple website with an "about me". It doesn't matter to me how many followers you have, though!

If you're on social media, I do tend to scroll back and look at posts to get a sense of your personality and whether I think we'd get along. It's not make-or-break, but I do view it positively when I see that authors are posting about what they're reading and/or the writing process, and when they're engaging with other writers online, which tends to be a good sign that you're engaged in your genre and starting to build a community. The big red flag is trash-talking the industry or the querying process, or a general tone of persistent negativity.

To submit to Patricia,  send a query letter with the first ten pages of the manuscript with the word QUERY in the email’s subject line to: Patricia@MarsalLyonLiteraryAgency.com.

Further submission guidelines can be found here.

Follow Patricia on Twitter at @patricianels

From the Ashes

Being an author is hard. The publishing industry is tricky to navigate at the best of times, and with the current climate in small publishing, it can feel utterly impossible to succeed.

I check in with my author groups, and another friend has lost their publisher. A small press has closed, and their whole catalogue of books needs new homes. Less than a month ago, an online book distributor closed and offered to settle all their accounts for ten cents on the dollar.

Those heartbreaks and setbacks can seem insurmountable. Great writers pack it in and choose not to publish anymore because they can’t stand the heartache and seemingly futile struggle. And honestly I can’t blame them. One of my books will soon have been through three publishers. Three times I’ve gleefully accepted a contract; three times I’ve had my heart broken. Part of me wishes I had the temperament to be able to quit. But I don’t. I’m too stubborn. So I’ll push forward and find another way to have that series out there and be grateful I have other projects with other publishers available to keep me from feeling like a complete imposter.

The theme on the blog this month is meant to be “new beginnings.” And I am starting right back from the beginning. I’m not trying to be depressing or to discourage anyone from following her dream of publishing, because it’s not depressing. It’s just the reality in which we find ourselves. It’s culling the herd. Those of us who are left—the ones who have fought through publishers closing, missing royalties, and a seemingly impenetrable market—are phoenixes. We rise from the ashes again and again. Fighting for the next contract and even the next sale with everything we have. And when the world caves in and our dreams again crumble to ash, we rebuild, hoping for something bigger, hoping for something more lasting and productive.

I wish I could say that I think the days of authors being shirked of their royalties and of publishers closing with little more than a Facebook post are over. That I won’t find anymore author friends heartbroken over their newly-homeless books, but I doubt that’s true. Give it a month, and someone else will be fighting their way back up from the bottom.  Some will quit, some will press on, starting from the beginning. Rewriting their blurbs and sending them out with nothing more than hope to keep them moving forward.

The new beginning has been forced upon us, but from the ashes we will continue to rise. Chasing a dream we can’t help but to follow.