Megan Manzano
Literary Agent
Steven Literary
Agent @StevenLiterary • #RevPit Editor • Mentor @BreakthroughWBC • (She/They) • Latinx 🇵🇷 Opinions are my own.
Literary Agent
Vartul @VartulSri
@Megan_Manzano What kind of profanity is considered acceptable in YA? Are words like sh*t and cr*p okay? What about f*ck? Are agents/publishers reluctant to take on YA novels with profanity?Personally I don't mind swearing in YA. Some teens curse. I know I did and still do ALOT. 😂
As long as it's not overwhelming in the story, I think dropping a curse here and there is fine.
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Literary Agent
𝒜𝓃𝓉𝑜𝒾𝓃𝑒𝓉𝓉𝑒 𝒱.𝒮 •𝕿𝖍𝖊_𝕮𝖗𝖊𝖆𝖙𝖔𝖗• @The1_Creator
@Megan_Manzano What would you say publishers - or agents are looking to sell right now in the market? What’s trending or likely to be accepted? ( Assuming the query is good of course ) #askagent pic.twitter.com/NjwdmLVTMvI'll speak for kidlit specifically but I've seen calls for rom-coms or lighter middle grade right now.
Fantasy is harder, but contemporary fantasy is creeping up or just books with speculative elements.
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Literary Agent
Molly Ippolito @MollyIppolito
@Megan_Manzano @kissedbyink What's an appropriate time frame to follow up with an agent after they've requested more work? (Without looking desperate or pushy but also showing that you're excited & interested in their thoughts)2 months is the standard unless otherwise specified by the agent's guidelines or the agency's guidelines.
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Literary Agent
Nat Graves 🏳️🌈 @graves_nat
@Megan_Manzano What level of "this still needs work" do you still offer to? What parts do you want nailed down, and what parts are you willing to support the writer with through revisions?For me personally, I've done significant development edits with my clients.
The biggest thing that factors into me signing a client despite revisions is being able to see how the pieces can be rearranged and knowing the right ways to fix it.
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Literary Agent
LivMacy @MacyLiv
@Megan_Manzano @JessShaut What exactly is significant revisions? Or what qualifies as?Overhauling the plot or altering how the plot is set up, changing character arcs, significant word count changes due to improvement of pacing, etc.
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Literary Agent
Andi @andi_art15
@Megan_Manzano @AnneTibbets How does someone know if they are ready to start querying?#askagent
I've actually filmed a video about how to know when you're ready to query with the wonderful @MegLaTorre ! It goes over ten things to consider.
youtube.com/watch?v=O89f-b…
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Literary Agent
Pınar Yaşar // Ez Kurdim @pinaryasar_
@Megan_Manzano are you likely to consider a query from a previously unpublished author that—while a standalone manuscript—has trilogy potential/is the first book in a trilogy? do you have any advice re: how to successfully query in this situation?You usually always query a potential series as "standalone with series potential." I've signed clients with these kinds of stories.
As long as the first book can stand on its own, you should be fine querying wise.
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Literary Agent
Jessica Shaut @JessShaut
@Megan_Manzano If you already queried a little (got some partial and full requests who all ultimately passed), then proceeded to do a full gut job/re-write of the story, can you go back and re-query agents? Or is it safer to assume that it's still a pass and move on?If you've done significant revisions, you can query again. Just make sure to put in your query that you heavily revised.
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Literary Agent
C.J. Listro 🖤 reading A SONG BELOW WATER @sarcasmlemons
@Megan_Manzano What questions do you recommend asking an agent when they make an offer? #askagent- What's their communication / editing style?
- What did they love about your book?
- Can I see a draft of the agency contract?
- Can I speak to some of your clients?
- Foreign / sub rights?
- Is my MS sub ready or do we need to revise?
- Next steps if I sign?
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Literary Agent
Melissa See is querying 💖🎻 @melissasee
@Megan_Manzano What makes you request a full? #askagentMost of the time character voice.
Other times if I really love a premise and want to see how the story builds.
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Literary Agent
Zoe 💫 @peterparcours
@Megan_Manzano can an author still query agents in the US if they live in europe?Yup! Just mention that in your bio.
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Literary Agent
Toyin Adek @ToyinAdekola1
@Megan_Manzano Nudging Etiquette!If an agent asks to be nudged in 4 weeks but doesn’t respond to the nudge, how long would you wait again before nudging? Thank you.
I'd wait another 4 weeks and try again since the standard nudge time tends to be 2-3 months anyways.
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Literary Agent
🐕🌈🌈 **Revising the synopsis** @Kathleen_Writes
@Megan_Manzano What do you say in a query when you had an agent before but the agent wasn't the best (but the agency itself had stellar sales)?Say you parted ways with your previous agent.
If you were to have a call, an agent will likely ask why and that's when you can elaborate.
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Literary Agent
Lynn Lovegreen @lynnlovegreen
@Megan_Manzano Do most agents consider themselves career agents, interested in more than one book for an author?I'd say so; we want to work with an author for their career.
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Literary Agent
Aprajita Agnihotri @AprajitaAgniho2
@Megan_Manzano When can you re query a manuscript? Is that ok?I'd only requery a manuscript if you made significant revisions. If you send it to the same agent, include in the query that you revised.
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Literary Agent
K.R. Garcia @katerpillar43
@Megan_Manzano How long would a YA sci-fi have to be for you to reject it outright? Also, when choosing comp titles, should they all be from the past 3-5 years, or could some be older?For me personally, I wouldn't want anything over 100k.
For comps, you should stick with comps within the last 2-3 years. If you use an old comp, make sure to mix it with a more recent comp to show you know the market.
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Literary Agent
Sharon Lynn @SharonLWrites
@Megan_Manzano Should I continue to query my debut novel during the virus? All the articles in NY Times are saying publishing is shutting down. Are agents still looking? Thanks!If an agent is open to queries, you can query them. We're still looking for projects and deals are still being made.
We're all just navigating the changes in the industry.
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Literary Agent
Adam Breckenridge @agbreckenridge
@Megan_Manzano How much stock do you put in previous short story publications? Do they matter? Does anyone care?Getting short stories published is awesome and you can mention most recent pubs in your bio while querying.
However, agents are looking to sell novels.
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Literary Agent
Carol Lucas @callydcfc
@Megan_Manzano Hi Megan, what does it mean when an agent doesn't like your voice?It could mean several things:
1. An agent wasn't pulled in by the character
2. The voice isn't as engaging/we're not close enough to the character to form a connection.
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Literary Agent
Briana Morgan ✨ BUY LIVINGSTON GIRLS! @brimorganbooks
@Megan_Manzano does it hurt if an author has self-published? I'll be querying something new, but I've heard mixed things about this one.Self-publishing matters more when writers try to query that book. It's fine, IMO, if you've self pubbed and query a new book.
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