Literary Agent
Nick Stefan @nick_stefan_
@UweStenderPhD @kianangu How important are prior publishing credits (published short stories in mags or anthologies) when evaluating a query?For me, in fiction, unimportant. To me the work you query stands on its own.
Literary Agent
Amery ✨🐉 @AmeryGWong
@UweStenderPhD Hi, Uwe, thank you for doing this. If an editor shows interest during a pitch event, do we touch base/say thanks, or wait until we have rep? Their pinned tweet for the event specified agented subs only.I would take note of who the person is, and then once you have agent representation you should tell the agent who the editors were who liked it. That way you and your agent can make adjustments to the ultimate submission strategy.
Literary Agent
I’m answering more #askagent questions tomorrow. (Yes I still think mermaids are creepy). I’ll put a link up in IG stories. instagram.com/p/CDAdWrmA77V/…
Literary Agent
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!)
Literary Agent
Terena Bell @TerenaBell
@Megan_Manzano @DMandzz Is a no from one agent a no from the whole agency, or does this also vary, thanks? #askagentThis is something that's often on an agency's website!
#askagent
Literary Agent
Shayna Lambert @ShaynerdTheMac
@Megan_Manzano Thank you for answering so many questions, Megan! I had a question about own voices. If the book is about eating disorders and I have a history with that, would that be considered own voices? Or is that meant more for writers of color and neurodivergent writers? Thanks!You can use it for eating disorders.
#askagent
Literary Agent
Jan Campana @jan_campana
@Megan_Manzano Many QueryManager forms ask for a bio. But mine is in the query letter. Should it be the same bio in both places?You can paste the same bio or if you wanted to add something else, that's fine.
I don't have a preference.
#askagent
Literary Agent
Michelle M 📚 @MMichelleAZ
@Megan_Manzano Thank you! That thread is so helpful! 🥰I notice MG has a large range. Is there a sweet spot for Upper MG Contemporary? I wrapped up a 1st draft of my middle school robotics story at 53,000 words and I'm wondering if I need to dedicate extra time in my edits to cutting it down.
Upper MG tends to be a bit broader in word count range. But I'd say 53k is fine for contemporary!
#askagent
Literary Agent
🏔Mandy #amquerying 🌲🍁🍂🍃🌸🦅 @DMandzz
@Megan_Manzano Btw THANK YOU for being so accessible. Do agents have the freedom to offer on whatever clicks for them or do they need approval/input from more senior agents?It's my pleasure!
Some agencies you just let senior agents / the head of the agency know you're offering, some require approval, some you can offer without letting anyone know.
This more often impacts younger agents slowly growing their list vs senior agents.
#askagent
Literary Agent
Tesse Struve @StruveTesse
@Megan_Manzano Hi! Thank you so much for doing this! What are some industry trends that you are seeing? What are publishers gravitating to currently?For kidlit at the moment:
-Shorter MG
-Rom Coms
-Contemporary fantasy or stories with light speculative elements
-Stories with a large escapism element
#askagent
Literary Agent
🏔Mandy #amquerying 🌲🍁🍂🍃🌸🦅 @DMandzz
@Megan_Manzano Do you see an uptick in agents showing interest in nuerodiversity? I've seen it on a few #MSWL, but not many.I have, yes, but we definitely need bigger calls for these stories and more of these stories being published.
#askagent
Literary Agent
Caitlin Cross @caitlincross
@Megan_Manzano Hey Megan! Do you know if it’s okay to extensively reference a musical in a book? My WIP is centered around a high school production of a musical, so I’m including lyrics to songs, names of the characters from the musical etc. Before I get in too deep, I thought I’d check in lolYou can reference a play / names in your story but lyrics are a no go since you need permission for them. Even 1 line is risky.
More info can be found here!
#askagent
janefriedman.com/sample-permiss….
Literary Agent
Literary Agent
Sonya Singh @sonyaksingh
@Megan_Manzano Im interested in also looking at TV and movie options for my book - will a lit agent be eager to help with this too?Depending on the agency, they could have in house tv and subrights agents who will do that for you. If not, it's something to discuss with your agent and how that will be handled.
#askagent
Literary Agent
Laura Genn 🐉 | 21.5k ✨ @LauraGenn
@Megan_Manzano Should you mention the previous query when sending the new one? Thank you for replying!I would yes, especially since not all agents use query manager where we can see you previously queried us.
#askagent
Literary Agent
C. A. Crisóstomo📚🏳️🌈☂️ @CACrisostomo5
@Megan_Manzano Hey Megan! Thanks for hosting #askagent today!Do you think it's okay to say you're a Latin writer even if you are not writing a Latin story?
Moreover, if your book is the first of two, does it hurt the changes of getting picked? (In literary fiction for example)
Thanks xx
I think it's 100% okay. To me, this falls into more of how comfortable you are with identifying yourself to someone you don't know / you don't need to write an ethnicity story despite being a certain ethnicity.
It shouldn't hurt your chances for getting picked.
#askagent
Literary Agent
Laura Genn 🐉 | 21.5k ✨ @LauraGenn
@Megan_Manzano How do you know if an agent allows you to re-query the same MS after significant revisions? Is it usually listed on the agency website somewhere, or would it be best to ask the agent directly before querying again? #askagentI feel like it's kind of an overarching rule that you're allowed to requery if you make significant changes, but it can't hurt to ask!
#askagent
Literary Agent
K.A. Van Sumrall @k_sumrall
@Megan_Manzano I’ve heard from a few writers on Twitter that agents seriously consider a writer’s online following before offering rep. One writer claimed that an agent told her to submit again “when you have at least 2,000 more followers.” Any truth in this, or just WritingCommunity legend?Platform only matters for nonfiction work since agents want to see you have an authority about what you're writing about.
Having a huge following to get signed by an agent for a fiction book seems very sketchy to me.
#askagent
Literary Agent
Kelly is using Query Manager now! @LitAgentKelly
Y'ALL.WE NEED TO HAVE A CHAT...
...about word counts, because I'm starting to think I'm just getting spammed.
So listen up! Word counts are IMPORTANT when querying, so let's make sure you're in the correct range for your genre and age range, and not get you auto-rejected.
This is a really good thread that breaks all of this down for you!
#askagent
twitter.com/LitAgentKelly/…
Literary Agent
MattiOGreen🐝 @mattiOgreen
@Megan_Manzano Thank you for doing this, it's so helpful! How do I best structure a synopsis with dual POV's that take place 175 years apart, and the historical POV makes several large jumps in time?This is tricky. You can kind of do an overview of the world as the opening and then alternate the big points of each arc, with the final paragraphs of the synopsis linking the two POVs.
It'll take some tweaking for sure!
#askagent