Sarah N Fisk
Literary Agent
Tobias Literary Agency
Agent @TheTobiasAgency as Sarah N. Fisk. YA Author as Sarah Nicolas. @qqqpodcast host, event planner, programs lead @disabilityinpub ๐๐ค๐๐ค
Literary Agent
Katie Lewis @kathryndlewis
@Sarah_Nicolas Hi Sarah! How much importance, if any, do you place on a writer's social media following? Is it cool if we just focus on our writing and not on creating a community around it yet?not much. suzanne collins doesn't have a social media presence so...
Literary Agent
A. L. Truell @a_truell
@Sarah_Nicolas Hi and thank you for offering your time to answer questions. Would a historical novel set in a culture that is not the author's stand a chance at being represented and published, considering it went through a sensitivity read?i can't say one way or another, because everyone has different opinions on this. some people would consider it a no-go. obviously books like this do get published, but i do feel like publishing is leaning towards these stories being told by people in their own culture
Literary Agent
Karin is writing a Roswell book ๐ธ @BiggsWrites
@Sarah_Nicolas Know of any editors on the hunt for Historical UFO fiction? ๐ ๐ธ๐ต๏ธ Iโm debating if this is an MS worth querying or just sub to small press as it may just be for a niche audience?There is always a market for well-written books!
Literary Agent
Literary Agent
Joseph Lawler @JosephL07681338
@Sarah_Nicolas Is there an industry standard for formatting chapters? Is format something that would make or break you?i have a document on formatting a manuscript here: docs.google.com/document/d/1Stโฆ
Literary Agent
Salman ๐ฆ @daretorant
@Sarah_Nicolas If my manuscript is for a shorter book (collection of fables, 20-25K), would you recommend going straight to small presses? Iโm finding that most agents I discover are not looking for shorter books or collections, but am unsure if thatโs broadly the caseyou're correct that most agents aren't open to shorter books or collections. if you also write novels, you could hold off on the collection and try to get an agent with a novel, then ask them about the collection. or you could go ahead and pursue small press for the collection
Literary Agent
Ka-Yan ๅณๅฎถๆฎท @writerkayan
@Sarah_Nicolas At what point during the reading of a full do you feel you have enough info to know whether it's a rejection or an offer?If I offer, I've read the full. I read until I become aware that I don't want to rep it. I'm finding a lot of books turn on me at about 60%.
Literary Agent
Jan Dering #Querying @AskJan
@Sarah_Nicolas What in a query really piques your interest?Good writing, intriguing characters, compelling concepts
Literary Agent
Katie Harp ~#alwayswriting~ @katieharp12
@Sarah_Nicolas How personalized should/shouldnโt a query to an agent be?It's ok if it's not personalized, imo. But if there's something specific on their wishlist that's in your book, definitely mention it because it makes us take notice. By specific I mean "small town setting" not "you represent young adult"
Literary Agent
Jennifer O'Brien @Asteria_JTO
@Sarah_Nicolas Any advice for querying YA Sci-fi? As I've heard it's a hard sell.Everything is hard to sell haha! But really it's just make it the best book you can make it. That's all you can do.
Literary Agent
Crystal Ramos @starlaofnight
@Sarah_Nicolas What is a question you wished someone had asked you but no one did?Idk I try to be open because I want to assuage writers anxieties. Though my new gospel is "as long as your synopsis tells the major plot points in the story, it's fine and you don't need to worry about it"
Literary Agent
Glenn J. Devlin @gjdevlin
@Sarah_Nicolas Have you ever represented deaf-blind writers and how would you overcome challenges of representing and communicating?I just started in October and I have not. With all my clients, I ask them how they want to be communicated to. I think it's my responsibility to adjust to their needs. So I would ask them for their needs and preferences and commit to meeting them
Literary Agent
Ka-Yan ๅณๅฎถๆฎท @writerkayan
@Sarah_Nicolas What pushes a book from "a good book" to "a good book I wanna rep"?I know it's a frustrating answer, but this is so hard to answer. It's some kind-of x factor like an enchanting world, or a character you want to spend time with, or writing that just sings
Literary Agent
FC Chavez @by_FC_Chavez
@Sarah_Nicolas Hello and thank you for answering questions! I'm late to the #askagent session but I'd love to know if agents still consider New Adult viable. Should manuscripts typically within that label be queried as a different genre?There are so few editors acquiring new adult that it is an extremely hard sell. Most books that should be na are sold as adult right now. I wrote an article about this bookriot.com/history-and-fuโฆ
Literary Agent
Ka-Yan ๅณๅฎถๆฎท @writerkayan
@Sarah_Nicolas What are the most common 3 reasons an agent rejects a full?In any given order:
-i don't think I can sell this
-this is good but I'm not the right agent for it
- this isn't quite ready for publication
(It's not usually one clear reason like "the plot was too slow" but a nebulous sort of cloud of reasons. I think if it this way:
Literary Agent
Karen Csoff @KarenCsoff
@Sarah_Nicolas The Query Manager form requests a query letter but also, in additional sections, comp titles, a bio, synopsis โฆ seems repetitive. Should the query letter still be complete on its own?Yes. Also, the synopsis is not the same as the description in the query
Literary Agent
Kathryn @kittibarnett3
@Sarah_Nicolas Third person omnipresent vs third person limited what are agents current preference on this?This is a personal preference, person by person
Literary Agent
Mark Green @MGreenWriting
@Sarah_Nicolas I'm very late to this, but here goes. I keep reading conflicting advice on how to send samples to agents via email. I've been told attachments are not the way to go and I should copy my work into the body of the email. Is this the general case or does it vary from agent to agent?Never send an attachment unless an agent specifically says to do so in their submission guidelines
Literary Agent
Literary Agent
Nick Shah - The Author Trader @BeingNick1
@Sarah_Nicolas I am from India and have written a non-fiction in business (Stock markets). Can I approach agents in U.S to look at my work and publish it internationally? The book is written keeping the Indian stock market in mind, but can be published internationally. #askagentQuery agents who sell books in the market(s) you'd like to primarily publish in. So if you want to be published in the US, query agents who sell in the us. A us agent will sell in the US market first, then try for "foreign" sales