Jennifer Laughran

Today I wrote an answer on the #askagent tumblr that was basically, “we’re all just trying our best” 😅 — then this excellent article on querying by @ericsmithrocks showed up in my news feed:

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Somebody on the #AskAgent Tumblr asked if it was true that some editors PURPOSELY ignore agents to "push back" against nudges on submissions. I mean - I don't think so? Am I naive? We're all trying our best here, friends.

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A discouraged writer asked, just how dire IS the state of publishing, is this REALLY the worst time in history to send things out, is there even any point to submitting material?

My answer: tumblr.com/blog/view/lite… #askagent

Somebody asked on the #AskAgent Tumblr, 'Is it still possible for a writer to be able to "quit their day job" or are advances too low now?' -- my answer:

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Because of this question, I updated my #AskAgent FAQ - so now the "encouragement" section is "encouragement / reality checks" :-) If you have a question about publishing, it may just be answered here:

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Somebody on #AskAgent asked if it is true what they read on Twitter, that Traditional Publishing is in its death throes and everyone should just stop bothering to query and self-publish instead. My answer:

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Lately the #AskAgent tumblr has been popping off with the weirdest and most random research questions, like I am google — today I got asked about military hats!?? lmao

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I spent the bulk of my morning going through the #AskAgent tumblr and answering old questions and new - and there were still like 100 questions. Some VERY old, many repeats. So... I took the nuclear option and deleted all of them. Starting a clean slate! literaticat.tumblr.com

There are SO MANY pen-name questions in the #AskAgent

Authors: Publish under *whatever name you want*! You just have to tell your agent your legal name so they can PAY YOU. (A lot of people asking if it's OK to... lie about their identity to their agent? Um...no??? What? No!)

Lots of times people ask "why do chapter books seem to always be series" so I wrote down everything I know on the topic! #chapterbooks #askagent

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Yet another "do authors need a website" question. Honestly, the meteor can't come fast enough. #AskAgent

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Over on the #AskAgent Tumblr, I've enlisted the help of my friend Editor @mmanlove to get through some of these questions. She is smarter and more eloquent than me! Yay!

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Ask and you shall receive! there's a new pinned post on the #AskAgent Tumblr that has some good tips, such as, how to do a keyword search in the blog, how to get notified about new posts, as well as best practices for asking questions. Woohoo!

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Query Inbox statistics, broken down bird-by-bird:
#AskAgent

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There are some WILD questions on the #AskAgent Tumblr today and I live for it.

By the way I have a fair backlog of questions, but it's always fine to ask. I'm much more likely to answer questions that haven't been asked 300 times before! :-)

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Meanwhile, my #AskAgent Tumblr today is full of Thought Experiments. What if Stephen King called me up and demanded I be his agent? What if Jo Rowling asked me to sell HP books 8-14, but I couldn't tell anyone? What if I went back in time? WHAT IF...

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An #AskAgent about dark themes in YA books! Please note: I read this question before bed and I had nightmares about it. If your book is about MUTILATION, please for the love of god do NOT send it to me, I will cry! I AM A SCAREDY-CAT!!!

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Somebody on le Tumblr #AskAgent asked me how agents and editors are doing RIGHT NOW - like, taking the temperature of publishing as it were - this is my rambling response. Spoiler: there's good news and bad news.

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a lot of people in the #askagent inbox ask if it’s ok if the main characters in their YA books are not young adults and I have a very nuanced answer that should really get to the heart of it:

NO

I'm about to go on an #AskAgent question answering spree. So if you have questions, provided they are not ridiculous, hit up the tumblr. Please for the love of god no word count questions thx love you xo

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