Laura Zats

@LZats

Literary Agent

Headwater Literary Management

Founder & Agent @HeadwaterLit. Host of the award-winning @printrunpodcast. Publishers Weekly industry MVP. She/her & Ms/Mx. Open to queries!

querytracker.net/agent.php?agent=5659

manuscriptwishlist.com/mswl-post/laura-zats

· 14 Sep 2015

Mary Malhotra @MCMalhotra

@LZats Thanks! I was afraid of that. :)

@MCMalhotra Big lesson in why you should be as ready as possible to move forward! #askagent

· 14 Sep 2015

@LoriPollJohn Ooh. There's no magic number. Ideally, a few thousand? #askagent

· 14 Sep 2015

Mary Malhotra @MCMalhotra

@LZats Many agents say it's OK to requery a revised MS. Is it OK to resubmit an unchanged MS with a significantly improved query?#askagent

@MCMalhotra Nope. One and done. #askagent.

· 14 Sep 2015

@The_Junky_Gods Yes! In fact, it's a bit dickish not to. #askagent

· 14 Sep 2015

Katie @msynergy

@LZats So lower end around 80k?

@msynergy For SF, yeah #askagent

· 14 Sep 2015

Katie @msynergy

@LZats What word count do you expect for speculative NA? Same as Adult or closer to YA?

@msynergy shorter adult. 100k at most, although it's not a huge deal if it's not. #askagent

· 14 Sep 2015

Matt Perkins 💪🎅👍 @mrperki

@LZats Should I have paper copies of the first 10-20 pages of my MS? I'm guessing they'll just ask me to email it if they're interested.

@mrperki nope. Email all the way #askagent

· 14 Sep 2015

Mayken Brünings 🏊 @MaykenAlanna

@LZats Do you have any tips on how best to personalise a query, beyond addressing the agent by name (spelled correctly)? #askagent
Thanks!

@MaykenAlanna mention #MSWLs, tweets, existing projects, hobbies, etc. #askagent

· 14 Sep 2015

Annette Christie @MsAnnetteMC

@LZats if an agent has had a full/partial ms for ages and you're biting your nails, is it appropriate to send a follow-up email?

@MsAnnetteMC after 4 months, yes. #askagent

· 14 Sep 2015

JCRimell @jc_rimell

@LZats Have you or would you ever consider taking on a self published author?

@jc_rimell I have authors who have self-pubbed, but I can't take on a book that's already pubbed. #askagent

· 14 Sep 2015

Kristin Kisska @KKMHOO

@LZats Which agent(S) in @RedSofaLiterary would be most open to suspense/thriller? Thanks.

@KKMHOO @RedSofaLiterary none :( #askagent

· 14 Sep 2015

Kaitlin Hillerich @ink_and_quills

@LZats If you don't mind I have one more--do agents want to see stand alones or is there a strong preference toward series?

@ink_and_quills personally, I just want a good book. No preference otherwise! #askagent

· 14 Sep 2015

Larry Mannino @LarryMannino

@LZats Hi - self published my first book, but would like to find an agent for the second (in final edits) - is that problematic? Thoughts?

@LarryMannino Nope! As long as it's not in the same series #askagent

· 14 Sep 2015

Wendy Qualls @wendyqualls

@LZats What was your favorite book when you were a kid?

@wendyqualls Alanna! #askagent

· 14 Sep 2015

Matt Perkins 💪🎅👍 @mrperki

@LZats I'm attending #siwc15 where I'll be meeting agents in person. What's an agent looking for in an in-person pitch session?

@mrperki a conversation! Don't read your query letter. #askagent

· 14 Sep 2015

Mary Dunbar @MaryCDunbar

@LZats When agents request fulls or partials, is there a (relatively) standard time that they usually reply within? #askagent

@MaryCDunbar Each should have their timeline listed on website/twitter. But if they're really busy, it could go 6+ months (sorry) #askagent

· 14 Sep 2015

Kaitlin Hillerich @ink_and_quills

@LZats is there a preference on the word count of a YA novel for a debut author?

@ink_and_quills YA should be between 60-85K #askagent

· 27 Aug 2015

May B. Bridges 💋 @MayBBridges

@LZats if Romeo and Juliet were written today, what genre would you put it in? I'm assuming querying something as a tragedy won't work.

@MayBbooks well, ignoring the fact that they're 14 and it's a play, plain fiction (with a more specific subgenre) #askagent

· 27 Aug 2015

May B. Bridges 💋 @MayBBridges

@LZats would you say a happy ending is required to call it romance? #askagent

@MayBbooks yes. #askagent

· 27 Aug 2015

Joey Tovar @Joweeezy

@LZats Thank you! How do you feel about self-publishing? #askagent

@Joweeezy all for it! But you can't do both for the same book. I rep many authors who also self pub. #askagent