Laura Zats
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!
Literary Agent
Literary Agent
Keith Yatsuhashi ⛩ @KeithYatsuhashi
@LZats last one: querying is hard On authors. What's the hardest part for agents?saying no! Most of our nos are not because the book is bad. it's because we're not a great fit #askagent
Literary Agent
Mike Douton @mikedouton
@LZats legit question... I share a name with a felon who hosed my Google results bad. Pen name unavoidable or can I save with middle initialI'd use a pen name if you're a little worried about it, TBH. it's better to be confident! Use first+middle initial? #askagent
Literary Agent
Keith Yatsuhashi ⛩ @KeithYatsuhashi
@LZats Question: have you gotten a query from a genre you don't rep, but the book sounded SO good. What did you do?Request! But tell them I might not be the best person to sell it necessarily! #askagent
Literary Agent
Od_ette_ @od_ette_
@LZats Milk or no milk? Ha. My question is: after revising a rejected MS, how long can one wait to read query an agent?NO MILK! Don't requery the same agent with the revised MS. But a few months! #askagent
Literary Agent
nope! We get busy, plus things do get lost. Only a no response is a no if they say it is on their site #askagent
Literary Agent
Diana Hicks Author @diana_hicks
@LZats If you offer an R&R on a full, what are you looking for in the finished MS, and what would make you pass on the project?mostly that 1—the author has done what I asked & 2—it gives me the feels I thought it would. no = 1 & 2 not fulfilled #askagent
Literary Agent
Literary Agent
Literary Agent
Jeff Hagkull @jhagkull
@LZats Classification question: realistic YA set in the 1980s --> historical fiction? Contemporary fiction? Just YA?? #askagentit's terrifying that the 80s is history. Just say YA set in the 80s. Look at Eleanor & Park and Althea & Oliver as ex #askagent
Literary Agent
🐉 Lee A. Everett 🖋 @LeeA_Everett
@thought_stained @LZats Follow up! If an agent passes on query, then ms is heavily heavily revised/altered, kosher to re-query 1.5 yr later?yes IF AND ONLY IF it's changed enough so that the query is very different #askagent
Literary Agent
Traci Spice Latte📖✏ @traciannecan
@LZats what advice would you give on crafting a query letterwrite for skimming eyes. Follow the formula (it's online) and don't deviate. Show me stakes! #askagent
Literary Agent
Krystle Matar @KrystleMatar
@LZats If you submit a MS and agent says "I liked but X doesn't work for me", is it safe to resubmit if you fix X or is that just pesty?not unless they specifically ask for a revise and resubmit #askagent
Literary Agent
Kaitlyn Johnson @kaitylynne13
@LZats synopsis question. Are you looking for main details of whole ms or more looking for character/plot arcs?remember those elementary school book reports where you basically just paraphrase everything? That, in 2 pages. #askagent
Literary Agent
Kim @_KimChance
@LZats if an agent has your full and you'd like to send them a revised version, does that bump you down in the reading queue? #AskagentYessss. Please don't do this unless you absolutely have to #askagent
Literary Agent
Morgan the Magician Rhodimer @mrhodimer
@LZats if your book is 2 genres spliced together how do you know who to query?query someone who does both! & think of what your book is MORE of. Historical romance is more romance than hist w/ rom #askagent
Literary Agent
Nicole Evans @thought_stained
@LZats Thank you! Is it considered a negative thing to query an agent who passed on previous work with new work? #askagentNot at all! But if you're at 3 or 4 Mss with form rejects, you're likely just not a good fit #askagent
Literary Agent
Anne Nerison @AnneRasset
@LZats Not sure if this is exactly what #askagent is for, but any advice for someone who might be looking to get into that side of things?read a ton. Develop your own taste and know WHY you like what you do. Pay attention to why things are successful! #askagent
Literary Agent
Neicole Crepeau 👁️ You watching me? 👁️ @neicolec
@LZats How often do you read queries on your phone and do you prefer less paragraphs or more when reading on your phone?never. Unless I'm at a con or something. HOWEVER, we ALWAYS skim, so keep the paras short #askagent
Literary Agent
Kaelan Rhywiol-Disillusioned Autistic @KaelanRhy
@LZats What types of diversity are actually selling to the big 5? Ethnicity? M/m? Something else?ALL THE KINDS. diversity isn't a trend. It's a fact of the world and editors finally have leave to buy it #askagent