Kelly Peterson
Literary Agent
Rees Literary Agency
Literary Agent at @reesagency . Twitter Valkyrie. Philadelphian. Pisces. She/her. Multitasks #LikeABoss . Gandalf of #TheFellowship . Tweets are my own.✌🏻
Literary Agent
The Celestial Thread @celestialthread
@LitAgentKelly I'm sure you get this one all the time, but we have heard mixed opinions - do you want a ms to be professionally edited before you receive it or is it something you prefer to do in-house?Professionally edited is preferred, as agents aren’t there to professionally edit your manuscripts, but we also can’t tell you what to do. :)
Literary Agent
Kurt Von @kkurtvon
@LitAgentKelly I've hired a freelance editor for the first 10k words to send to an agent. Should I have the entire manuscript edited as well. Or do agent's work with us on the rest?I can’t tell you what to do, but agents aren’t here to do the work of editors. We simply try to give you the best chances of selling to an editor/publishing house. :)
Literary Agent
Kristen Howe @Kristen_Howe
@LitAgentKelly Thanks Kelly. So anything over 85K is too high?I’d just try to stay under 90-95k! Once you get above that, it’s way too high!
Literary Agent
Gabrielle Vizcaino @ellieviz91
@LitAgentKelly okay, how do you personally as an agent decide what to take on when sifting through queries and such? #askagentWhen I have a vision for a manuscript! If I know how to make it stronger, what to fix, what needs work, etc., and generally have a vision for where I can take it, I know it’s a good fit for me! Especially if I get excited and get along with the author too!
Literary Agent
Ava Tusek @ava_tusek
@LitAgentKelly Do you think it’s better to start a query with your manuscript’s hook or down to earth facts like genre, word count, “I’m querying you based on your interest in...” etc.?You could do either! If the genetics like genre, word count, etc., aren’t at the top, then they should be after the query and easily distinguishable so that we can pick it out. :)
Literary Agent
Kelly 📚 @LitAgentKelly
@LVanBrakle Khadijah, you don’t need to justify anything about yourself to anyone. If you know it and believe you can say it’s an own voices story, then call it an own voices story. State what you’re comfortable with on why it’s an own voices story, and let your writing do the rest. If theyHave questions or would like clarity, then they can ask you and you only need to tell them what you’re comfortable with. If it feels like an own voices story to you for one reason rather than three, then you have a right to say that it’s an own voices story.
Literary Agent
Khadijah L. VanBrakle 🇨🇦 @LVanBrakle
@LitAgentKelly As a marginalized author, do I have to share every marginalization of my MCs?My MCs are #AA #LGBT #Muslim. Can I justify the #own designation if I don't share all three?
#askagent
Khadijah, you don’t need to justify anything about yourself to anyone. If you know it and believe you can say it’s an own voices story, then call it an own voices story. State what you’re comfortable with on why it’s an own voices story, and let your writing do the rest. If they
Literary Agent
Kelly 📚 @LitAgentKelly
@kelivice I’d just let it go, in all honesty. I do know sometimes it takes that long to get back to full requests of agents are buried because we have to actually read through all of our submissions, which takes time. But if they do end up going through your manuscript in a few weeks andEnd up loving it, then they’ll contact you. They wouldn’t be able to contact you if you withdraw it. So it sucks, but I’d just let it go and move on. 😕
Literary Agent
Keli Vice @kelivice
@LitAgentKelly #askagent If I responded to a “full” request from an agent and have followed up several times but received no reply, when should I consider it rejected? It’s been nearly a year. Should I withdraw the submission or just let it go?I’d just let it go, in all honesty. I do know sometimes it takes that long to get back to full requests of agents are buried because we have to actually read through all of our submissions, which takes time. But if they do end up going through your manuscript in a few weeks and
Literary Agent
Kelly 📚 @LitAgentKelly
@AllenVCheesman Enables writing to not be such a lonely process too. You have someone in your corner! But you need to make sure you do your research and actually get a good feeling/get along with your agent. Make sure they rep all of the genres and age ranges you write, or are open to it. AndJust make sure that if you want an agent, they’re the right fit for you and what you need for your career. Communication, editing, equality, and connections are the big arguments for agents, and are the biggest things to assess when finding the right one.
Literary Agent
Kelly 📚 @LitAgentKelly
@AllenVCheesman Oof, this is a large question. The biggest benefits is that agents are needed for the most part in order to be traditionally published. They’re your biggest champions and if you find the right one, will fight for you and negotiate for you so that you can focus on writing. And itEnables writing to not be such a lonely process too. You have someone in your corner! But you need to make sure you do your research and actually get a good feeling/get along with your agent. Make sure they rep all of the genres and age ranges you write, or are open to it. And
Literary Agent
Allen V. Cheesman @AllenVCheesman
Questions for authors with a literary agent or for literary agents:Pros / Cons of securing an agent?
Value added benefit? Y / N and why?
Lessons learned?
Advice?
#writingcommunity
#amwriting
#PublishingQuestion
#SaturdayThoughts
#literaryagent pic.twitter.com/VgbZKpIWGM
Oof, this is a large question. The biggest benefits is that agents are needed for the most part in order to be traditionally published. They’re your biggest champions and if you find the right one, will fight for you and negotiate for you so that you can focus on writing. And it
Literary Agent
CallistaCox @callista_cox
@LitAgentKelly How frequently do agents request that writers submit a fiction proposal? Is it something that all writers must have, or is it only requested by certain agents?Fiction proposals would probably be rare and only by certain agents. Usually nonfiction requires proposals, and fiction utilizes queries in order to acquire agents. I sometimes utilize fiction proposals to help sell my current clients, though. :)
Literary Agent
Amy Lange Kawamura @AmyLangeKawmura
@LitAgentKelly What do you think will be popular in the upcoming year(s)? Not popular? I'm not writing to the trends, I'm wanting to know if what I've already written is--publishable. Thank you so very much, Kelly, I do appreciate your taking time to answer our questions.I actually think sci-fi and historical are making a comeback. I’m expecting western to phase out in romance, and am seeing an uptick in witches, paranormal, and creatures in fantasies.
Literary Agent
L. R. Evans 🐚🌊 ❄ @LLynnevans
@LitAgentKelly Can you give me examples of books with great voice? 💚Oh wow, okay. What type of genres are you looking for? Right off the top of my head, Laini Taylor, Victoria Schwab, Jenny Han. I’m actually going to put this out to the Twitter-verse and let them help!
Literary Agent
Hope N. Griffin @HopeNGriffin
@LitAgentKelly Is a query to an agent different from a query to a publisher? Or are they both written the same?They’re slightly different, but the basis of them is the same. I usually write the pitches to editors, rather than my authors. I do have them help me edit it though. 😉
Literary Agent
Kelly 📚 @LitAgentKelly
@LGKelso It can help to change your pen name if you had some really poor sales before, but usually if you appeal to the agents you’re querying just saying that you realized it wasn’t the best way to go into the industry and are hoping to change into traditional publishing and are open toLearning the traditional industry, agents will be open to it.
Literary Agent
LG Kelso @LGKelso
@LitAgentKelly How do you feel about previously self-pubbed authors? Do you prefer they have a different pen name?It can help to change your pen name if you had some really poor sales before, but usually if you appeal to the agents you’re querying just saying that you realized it wasn’t the best way to go into the industry and are hoping to change into traditional publishing and are open to
Literary Agent
Kelly 📚 @LitAgentKelly
@LAMDA_AM Haha, boring, simple, and repetitive sentences! Most people think they can just “tell” their entire synopsis, and that’s not the case. The best advice I can give is to write it as if you’re still writing it from your MC’s POV so that you’re showing more than telling! And if youCan include voice into your synopsis, it’s golden! I use @JaneFriedman, @WritersDigest, and @stdennard as my favorite people for all things writing advice. :) Check then out!
Literary Agent
Alexander Morris @LAMDA_AM
@LitAgentKelly Appreciate the offer, duly accepted!So, synopses are crazy and infuriating to write. What are your key turn-offs for a synopsis and could you recommend any go-to guides, gold-standard examples, or best practices?
Ta!
Haha, boring, simple, and repetitive sentences! Most people think they can just “tell” their entire synopsis, and that’s not the case. The best advice I can give is to write it as if you’re still writing it from your MC’s POV so that you’re showing more than telling! And if you