Robbie Guillory
Literary Agent
Underline Literary Agency
Agent at Underline Literary Agency 'Really knows his onions. Pretty clued up on books and stuff too.' Neil Lancaster
Literary Agent
E.S. Alexander @ESAlexander4
#askagent Given the opportunity to choose between signing with a Big 5 house or a well-respected, award-winning Indie publisher, what would be your advice to such a lucky author - especially with regards to promotional support & sales potential? #amquerying #WritingCommunityWhen presenting an author with multiple offers, we look at how they would fit on the list, what sort of marketing spend has been promised, how the imprint intends to market the book. There are a lot of factors to consider, not just the money! #AskAgent
Literary Agent
Jrussellwriter @jrussellwriter
#askagent what does the standout pitch have that the slush pile pitches don't?What are the must mentions in the pitch, and does the style/the way the pitch is presented have catch your attention in order for you to read the MS and Synopsis? Is the pitch make or break?
TIA!
Because we read so many submissions, we really like it when the author has clearly read our submissions guidelines and done a bit of research into the agency. I usually go straight to the sample. #AskAgent
Literary Agent
Leah @Leah_B_H
Possibly an odd question for #AskAgent - I would (eventually) like to be published by an indie/small press so imagine this wouldn't make me a good prospect for an agent (i.e. small/no advance) - would I be best not wasting agents time querying & just go it alone? Thank you!I would think about the book after this one - where do you want your career to go? If you want someone to help you achieve longterm goals, and who can keep an eye out for your legal rights, then snag an agent! #AskAgent
Literary Agent
Mahrukh McDonald @MahrukhMcDonald
@julietpickering @mushenska @katenashagent @RobbieGuillory Would it prejudice an author seeking representation by an agent if he/she lives in a different country to the UK for most of the year? #askagentNot at all! We represent a number of authors who live overseas. #AskAgent
Literary Agent
Linda @lindcai
@julietpickering @mushenska @katenashagent @RobbieGuillory Afternoon all, thank you again for doing this :) Out of curiosity, have you ever signed/reached out to writers after reading their work in literary magazines, competitions, blogs etc? #AskAgentYes! It can be a great way to find new talent from outside my bubble. #AskAgent
Literary Agent
Asha Hick 🇪🇺 @AshaHick
What should you do if you have finished the first draft of a novel but an established author has announced the publication of a similar story in the near future: plough on with yours regardless or start something new? #askagentRemember that, once you have a deal, publication could be 12-18 months away. So that is quite a lot of clear water between you and that author. I wouldn't be disheartened by it. #askagent
Literary Agent
suzan collins @suzancollins
"During the recent #pitmad an American publisher liked my pitch. I haven't sent her my ms yet. How can I tell if this publisher is trade or vanity? #askagentHave a look at their website's submissions page. If it mentions payment by the author of any sort, that should ring alarm bells. Also googling for author experiences is often useful. #askagent
Literary Agent
Joanna Considine @joannconsidine1
What are your thoughts on using 'modern women's literature' as a classification for genre? Is plain old 'modern fiction' preferable? #askagentI hate it, but sadly it is still used a lot. Also cf women's fiction. I hope we can progress on to 'modern fiction' soon. #askagent
Literary Agent
Michael Lynes @michaell61
#askagent is there any better of the time of the year to submit an MS to an agent?Not really, though we're always at our quietest in the summertime. #askagent
Literary Agent
Jrussellwriter @jrussellwriter
#askagent I've got an edited draft of my MS. It's a contemporary take on Adult Fairytale, with more whimsical gore/satire elements. It's predominantly a Bildungsroman love story - Think Patrick DeWitt meets David Nicholls in a Brothers Grimm setting!Is this too niche? Or mktble?
It sounds interesting! Folklore is certainly a popular theme in books right now. #askagent
Literary Agent
Christopher Byford @Morningstaruk
Sorry, this is a weird one. If the author has been previously published and that publisher has managed that title badly, is it within an agents capacity to negotiate the reversion of rights to seek a better fitting publisher? Or is this frowned upon? #askagentOnly insofar as the contract can be proven to be broken. Though sometimes rights can be after reasoned discussion. #askagent
Literary Agent
Gagatha Christie @ChristinaMcMc
#askagent If someone’s had an approach from a publisher saying that they’d like to read a person’s WIP, what’s the best way to go about it? And how likely is it that the publisher will pick it up?Hard to say how likely it is that they'll pick it up, but remember that if they offer you a deal you can get representation for it before accepting! #askagent
Literary Agent
Daphne @daphlt
Do things like shortlisting in contests/awards for unagented writers help distinguish someone when they submit to an agent? #askagentFor me it is something that will get your submission read sooner. #AskAgent
Literary Agent
suzan collins @suzancollins
Thank you for doing this. Is it important to say in the query letter that you are active on social media? And if it is how many of one’s links should the writer include? #askagentI think it is interesting to see, but doesn't really come into my decision making process tbh #askagent
Literary Agent
Alexandra Wilson @amwilson_opera
#askagent How common is it for an agent to recommend an author change their proposed novel title? Do you have very strong feelings about titles that work/don't work and/or any tips?This does happen on occasion, and often publishers will want to change a title. It depends on so many factors - genre being one of the more common ones. #AskAgent
Literary Agent
Mark, The Forever Struggling Writer @StrugglingMJ
How commercial is literary fiction and is it a popular genre taken up by agents?#askagentIt is a pretty popular genre, but very competitive. @KNLitAgency has some bestseller stats pinned. #AskAgent
Literary Agent
Lis J @todayiseena
#askagent Hypothetically, if there was an editor who was interested in your MS but wanted you to approach via an agent, and you'd had FMRs but no agent offers, would you revise the MS before sending out to more agents in hope of finding one who loves it? Or keep the faith?Being able to let an agent know about editorial interest can be a good thing to do. At the end of the day, it depends on the feedback you've been getting from the agents - if they are saying the same thing, then perhaps you need to revise it. #AskAgent
Literary Agent
Annabel Tellis @AnnabelTellis
Some agencies have a database of all the books that have ever been submitted built into their submissions portal and send an immediate response saying they saw this eg. 2 years ago. Isn’t there room for development though? Or should I just keep adjusting the title? ! #askagentWe've got such a limited amount of reading time that we can only give each novel one shot, unless we've explicitly said that we'd read again after changes. #AskAgent
Literary Agent
Iain Houston @Iain_Houston
#askagent If you have a standalone story that can also be part of a longer series, what level of plot outline for the series is helpful?I would say that just a line to say that you've thought about series potential would be fine. #askagent
Literary Agent
Helen the Heretic @Scribberlings
@RobbieGuillory Thank you! Previous ms's have come in at about 75 - 80,000. I'm amazed how harder the extra 20,000 odd words makes editing! Pulling the whole thing together for coherence has been exhausting.sometimes filling with extra space does more harm than good. If your story is told at 75k, then don't feel you have to push it! #askagent