Juliet Mushens
Literary Agent
Mushens Entertainment
Literary agent at @MushensEnt, sartorialist and cat wrangler. Wartime consigliere. Pollyanna-ish. Generally heard before I'm seen. Bend and SNAP.
Literary Agent
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Lilith Antoinette (not related to Mary) @justlilytbh
#askagent could an author use the sales and statistics of a previous self published work to display their ability to attract sales and an audience? Are self published authors given a fair chance compared to traditionally published author?Yes for sure - some of my clients started out self pub or still self pub #askagent
Literary Agent
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Valerie Griffin @griffin399
#AskAgent is it too pushy to follow up on a query letter to an agent? I understand they might not be interested but could there be a chance they never received it? Thank you.I’d wait until their submission response time has passed and then send a follow up #askagent
Literary Agent
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Asjad Nazir @asjadnazir
@julietpickering @mushenska @katenashagent @RobbieGuillory @Writers_Artists Thank you. Motivating some to be brave enough to send submissions has been an unexpected challenge. Keep up the amazing work you all are doing. Too many times people don't realise there are helping hands out there. #askagentOur hopes in doing this is to try and make the process feel more open to unpublished writers and to demystify a little - thank you for the excellent work you are doing too! #askagent
Literary Agent
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E.S. Alexander @ESAlexander4
#askagent Maybe others have had different experiences, but I don't think I'm alone in wondering why mainstream publishers are so poor at promoting authors' books, unless they're already BIG names! This is something many of us can't fathom -- why pub a book & not get behind it?Ha ha some publishers are not great at breaking out debuts for sure but I don’t think that is unique to big publishers - and some do brilliant jobs of developing new voices eg Picador with the Miniaturist or Bonnier with The Familiars #askagent
Literary Agent
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Tanja Goossens @TanjaGoossens
@julietpickering @mushenska @katenashagent @RobbieGuillory I hope you don't mind me asking, as it's not regarding a manuscript, but how many authors (number or percentage) in your list have you all met through a creative writing course? I would love to include this in my dissertation research for my MA Publishing ☺️ #AskAgentFor me none. That’s not to say some didn’t do creative writing courses but that’s not how I met them #askagent
Literary Agent
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Linda @lindcai
Are famous comps useful or just arrogant? #AskAgentI think largely useful but obv depends eg Harry Potter not that useful as it is an outlier #askagent
Literary Agent
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Daria Lucrezia Peruffo @darialucrezia
@mushenska What is the difference (if there is any) market wise between contemporary fantasy and urban fantasy? #askagentThey tend to have a reasonably separate readership - or at least the research we did into it about 12 years ago when I worked at a publisher said so! #askagent
Literary Agent
Literary Agent
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Thush @wonderor
#askagent What is the demand like right now for grandparent-grandchild stories? Because I've heard they are popular, but I don't see many agents asking for them.Oh I never think of them as a genre in and of themselves! I always say I never quite know what I want until I see it #askagent
Literary Agent
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Jrussellwriter @jrussellwriter
@mushenska Ah, okay, so THAT would be the Elevator Pitch, then a little more elab further down the pitch, i.e. genre and setting (for example mine is predominantly an adventure story aimed at adults, but encompasses fairytale, gothic elements, however it's throughline is a love story...Yes for sure, I actually wrote a blog post about this if you check my website! #askagent
Literary Agent
Literary Agent
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Linda @lindcai
@julietpickering @mushenska @katenashagent @RobbieGuillory How important is the elevator pitch? Would like to write character driven novel exploring racial identity centred around a bipolar Chinese woman set in the modern day, but I worry the elevator pitch will sound boring compared to, for example, Harry Potter. Many thanks. #AskAgentHa ha ha everything sounds boring compared to Harry Potter. I think your pitch there is strong (you have character and context already!) and I don’t expect conflict to always mean saving the world - can mean finding themselves, finding love, etc #askagent
Literary Agent
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Leah @Leah_B_H
@mushenska I've heard a number of authors say they feel they got lost in the system in the big 5 with an emphasis on star authors/celebrity names. Indies seem to have a more inclusive and supportive community, I like the idea of smaller/personal teams rather than shiny and intimidating!I do think it depends on the publisher - absolutely agree that can be the experience at big houses, but equally there can be a very personal touch there too with a good editor and team. I‘d still hope to be able to sell your other rights as well as U.K. tho #askagent
Literary Agent
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Christa Larwood @clarwood
@julietpickering @mushenska @katenashagent @RobbieGuillory You've mentioned knowing where to place your book in the market, but what if your work involves quite a big crossover, for instance 'American Gods meets the Da Vinci Code' or something like that? I'm not sure exactly where that goes in the bookshop! #askagentA tricky one - it can be hard to find a publisher and an audience for genre mash-ups (not impossible but challenging). I’d focus on where it most sits - fantasy with real world elements or a real world novel with a splash of genre #askagent
Literary Agent
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Emma Steele @EmmaSteele85
@julietpickering @mushenska @katenashagent @RobbieGuillory On the topic of book group fiction as per question above, what exactly do you feel makes it that genre? #askagentUpmarket writing/page turning plot/big meaty themes to discuss afterwards. Room, We Need To Talk About Kevin are good examples #askagent
Literary Agent
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Asjad Nazir @asjadnazir
@julietpickering @mushenska @katenashagent @RobbieGuillory I mentor a lot of talented writers and many are completing their novels, short story collections & screenplays. What is the best way for them to find the right agent for their work? (also feel brave enough to put their work out there) #askagentThis is exciting! I would say there are lots of great online resources to enable them to research agents - to look at who represents books they like/are similar to their work and try them as a first port of call #askagent
Literary Agent
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Stacey Jane @StubbsStacey
Hi. I've had read so many times that 'those pesky-ly words' should be edited out of manuscripts. What are your personal feelings towards them? I'm wondering if they would they put you off a submission completely? #askagentTreat them as seasoning - a little goes a long way #askagent
Literary Agent
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Intoxicatink @intoxicatink
@julietpickering @mushenska @katenashagent @RobbieGuillory Thank you all for taking the time to do this!1) Spikey, flawed heroines: yay or nay?
2) Which do you each read first: a pitch, a sample, or a synopsis?
#AskAgent
I love them! And I read cover letter first #askagent
Literary Agent
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Ben Edge @bnedge
#AskAgent When you’ve already got an agent, but you’ve written a second (non-sequel) book, do you submit it to your agent in the same format, or would it be a more casual conversion between yourself and the agent about wether they’d take it on?Much more of a casual conversation #askagent
Literary Agent
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Mire Marke @FatmireMarke
@julietpickering @mushenska @katenashagent @RobbieGuillory #askagent I have a selfpub novella that I am NOT nor have ever tried to query. But I am proud of it and it sold well and still does. But - when I query my new WIP, should I not have that out in the world? Will it hurt my chances?It shouldn’t hurt your chances #askagent