I give my authors my main focus at all times. I average 40 hours a month on queries which is broken up over the month. I look at all of my own queries. I do not have an assistant. I also read all requested materials on my own.

I personally sign authors the people and if they have a pen name great, but to me these aren't two separate things. How other agents do their business I can't say.

No. Unfortunately, that isn't how it works.

I don't think agents say things they don't mean. So I would take it at face value. They liked it but it wasn't a good fit which could mean they have something similar already. Keep moving forward!

Nope age and location don't matter--unless it shows you know about the location the book is set then it could help. Just tell us what you want us to know about you. I love getting a little of the author's personality in the bio.

You shouldn't share anything you aren't comfortable in sharing, and no one should make you. If you want to say what you just said here that would be fine (again only if you want)... there are pieces of me and my experiences in this story... and then you don't have to pinpoint

So book three comes first? Not sure I understand, but if the books stand alone then you should be okay. I would hesitate to finish all the books in that world in case it doesn't sell though. Spreading out your eggs instead of having them all in one basket isn't always a bad thing

Just say how they are a comp. For example, the family dynamics of X Title, is a way to explain how the book you've chosen makes it a great comp. Make sense?

If that is something you want to share. But it's not required for any author to self disclose anything they aren't comfortable sharing.

It doesn't make a difference to me.

I don't see many editors actively seeking this right now, which is why agents might not be open to it. That doesn't mean if it is done well it won't find it's home though, so don't be discouraged.

I don't think you need to be that specific

Not at all. The trick sometimes is finding an agent that does all those genres. Sometimes that also means having multiple agents. But it's not impossible.

How so? A book in any genre will adhere to those conventions--romances have a HEA or HFN, a mystery will always have, well, a mystery to solve etc. So how is it different from all the other books it would sit next to on the shelf? It can't sit on it's very own shelf.

I don't think so. It's about bandwidth more than anything. Sometimes they really WANT to read it but they just haven't had the time. I wouldn't let length of time indicate excitement about a project. We all only have so many hours a day, and we are doing our best.

This is always challenging for sure. All I can say is that if it's something I rep, I always look at pages because I know how hard that query is. I would only not read pages if it is clearly something I've stated I do not rep--screen plays, memoir, picture books...

I'm totally open to it. I love novels in verse.

Aside from fantasy all starting with some kind of chase scene (or running) recently, I can't think of any trends.
Yes, I think crossover can mean both ways. YA to adult or vice versa.

It just means you aren't necessarily a "debut" anymore is all. So it just means a different approach will be needed.

Like you said there are pros and cons to both. The best thing is to find the right person for you and your book. Sometimes that is a new eager agent where you get to be the big fish in their small pond. Sometimes that's a bigger agent and you are a little fish.