We need to hire and RETAIN people of color in every level of the industry, and we need to prioritize the publication of marginalized creators.

Because Publishing upholds racist systems, and employs and publishes white people in vast majority. It is not right, but it is real. There are real access barriers to working in publishing and POC in the industry are often pushed out due to low salaries and high costs of living.

If you get multiple offers, the best thing you can do is speak to each of them, ask a lot of questions, be honest with yourself about what your needs are, and go with your gut.

It is difficult, just in terms of numbers. I get hundreds of queries a month and only make a dozen requests. Of those request I maybe offer on one or two, if that. But that doesn’t make it impossible. It just means that you have to go out with your best work, and do your research

I think there is always room for retellings from diverse perspectives (nonwhite, queer, disabled, and more). Otherwise, yes, the market might be a little saturated. But what goes around comes around. The market is ever changing, so write the book you want to write.

If you don’t trust that person, if you don’t feel comfortable with the communication style, if you don’t feel like you are in control of your career, that person is not a good fit for you.

A good fit is a person you trust and feel comfortable with. You must ALWAYS feel secure in being able to say no to your agent. No, I don’t agree with that edit. No, I don’t want to accept that deal. No, I don’t want to work with that person. An agent works for *you*

-What is your turn around time for edits?

-What is your turn around time for edits?

-What do you consider to be your role in my career?
-What if I want to write in other genres or categories?
-What happens if we disagree on an editing issue? A contract issue?

YES! (Also hi!) Good questions to ask are:

-How frequently and through what channels do you prefer to communicate?
-What will happen if this book doesn’t sell?
-How involved will I be in the submission process?
-Are you an editorial agent/what is your editing style like?

This is tough for me to answer, as I don’t personally rep category romance! I would assume that it would be ok to query a category romance to agents who list plain “romance” in their submission guidelines, but I am not ideally suited to give an answer to this question.

There is talk of expanding the ceiling for the age of YA MCs but I do think 24 is pushing it...

I’d say 21 is probably the current max on average (I’m sure here are exceptions, and who knows how this will evolve) but most YA is still 14-18.

I don’t rep short story collections as debuts (would certainly do so if my clients wished to write them) and so can’t answer this one, as it’s beyond my scope!

Memoir specific first (even an agent who wants LGBTQIA projects can’t help you if what they want is fiction and what you have is nonfiction). But yes, definitely research in combination!

You can write whatever you want! Do speak w/ your agent regarding what projects they will represent & which projects you should seek other representation for. Some agents will handle everything. Some will specialize and advise you to seek additional representation. Talk about it!

Yeah, I can’t help you with the nitty gritty because I haven’t read your book! Choose comps that are clear & appropriate. If people have to work to figure out how the comp related to your book, that’s a problem. But if the connection is clear, you’re good, no matter the category

I missed that this was fantasy. So yeah fantasy has a lot of crossover.

Also, query agents that rep adult fantasy!

I don’t list NA as a category I rep, but I’ll sometimes consider it if it comes in. Depending.