Anna Sproul-Latimer
@annasproul
Literary Agent
Founding Partner, Neon Literary. Get in, loser, we’re making it art. neonliterary.com
28 MSWL
95 Tips

Today's #pubtip thread: A common question prospective clients ask me--and which I believe various agent-interview sites encourage one to ask--is how many clients I have. The wisdom seems to be that you want someone in the middle: s/o experienced but focused.

Bridget Smith
@bredalot
Literary Agent
aka Breda. Literary agent at JABberwocky. Co-host of @ShipAndHandling publishing podcast. Plays with swords in free time. Way too long-winded for Twitte
77 MSWL
21 Tips

Take care with your work! Try to show me your best side! Treat me with basic professional courtesy! But don't worry too much if you make a small human error - I know it happens and have done it myself. #pubtip

Bridget Smith
@bredalot
Literary Agent
aka Breda. Literary agent at JABberwocky. Co-host of @ShipAndHandling publishing podcast. Plays with swords in free time. Way too long-winded for Twitte
77 MSWL
21 Tips

Look, the kind of faux pas that will lead to an auto-reject on a query are like "this person seems like an absolute nightmare to work with" and "didn't even bother to run spellcheck," not "copy-paste error" or "introduced typo in last-minute tweak." #pubtip

Lynn Jones Johnston
@lynnjohnstonlit
Literary Agent
#LiteraryAgent repping journalists, teachers, healers, thought leaders, fire breathers & all-around good people. Board @aalitagents . She/Her
26 MSWL
118 Tips
Anna Sproul-Latimer
@annasproul
Literary Agent
Founding Partner, Neon Literary. Get in, loser, we’re making it art. neonliterary.com
28 MSWL
95 Tips

A #pubtip for y'all searching for your own authority today: those people who seem so much more certain & on the ball? Most simply don't have the socialization, self-knowledge, or innate intelligence required to recognize complexity and consider conflicting concepts simultaneously

Greyhaus Literary Agency
@greyhausagency
Literary Agency
Literary Agent with the Greyhaus Literary Agency in the Puget Sound Area. Representing exlusively romance and women's fiction!
67 MSWL
83 Tips

#pubtip Just a hint. If you decide to send something other than what an agent or editor wants in a submission, you should probably expect a rejection due to either your lack of literacy skills or your refusal to follow directions.

Lynn Jones Johnston
@lynnjohnstonlit
Literary Agent
#LiteraryAgent repping journalists, teachers, healers, thought leaders, fire breathers & all-around good people. Board @aalitagents . She/Her
26 MSWL
118 Tips

3) The real key is patience & persistence. This client & I have been at this for a year+. She's put together TOCs & couple of intros. We could have pulled the trigger earlier but none felt right until today.

Lynn Jones Johnston
@lynnjohnstonlit
Literary Agent
#LiteraryAgent repping journalists, teachers, healers, thought leaders, fire breathers & all-around good people. Board @aalitagents . She/Her
26 MSWL
118 Tips

2) We stumbled on the exact right comp book. The comp isn't on the same topic but we can make a strong case our book will attract the same readership. The other author has a similar (academic) profile & book sold well - both important for a good comp.

Lynn Jones Johnston
@lynnjohnstonlit
Literary Agent
#LiteraryAgent repping journalists, teachers, healers, thought leaders, fire breathers & all-around good people. Board @aalitagents . She/Her
26 MSWL
118 Tips

1) We both kept an open mind. We started with the premise she had valuable knowledge. The challenge was how to turn it into a commercial book. No one dictated or got defensive. It took both of us to solve this.

Lynn Jones Johnston
@lynnjohnstonlit
Literary Agent
#LiteraryAgent repping journalists, teachers, healers, thought leaders, fire breathers & all-around good people. Board @aalitagents . She/Her
26 MSWL
118 Tips

I started a call with a client today with "I don't think this idea is going to fly" & by the end of the call, I was like "OMG this is so good." I'm excited about the book concept & can't wait to pitch it to publishers. What happened? #pubtip #amwriting

Anna Sproul-Latimer
@annasproul
Literary Agent
Founding Partner, Neon Literary. Get in, loser, we’re making it art. neonliterary.com
28 MSWL
95 Tips

Agent #pubtip soapbox time! Today's unsolicited lecture for authors is on COMPARING YOUR EXPERIENCE TO OTHER AUTHORS', something I need to gently discourage one or more of my clients from doing every day. I am subtweeting all of you. And myself. It's so tempting.

Lynn Jones Johnston
@lynnjohnstonlit
Literary Agent
#LiteraryAgent repping journalists, teachers, healers, thought leaders, fire breathers & all-around good people. Board @aalitagents . She/Her
26 MSWL
118 Tips
Dara Kaye
@DaraKaye
Literary Agent
Literary Agent at @RossYoon . @smithcollege , @UCL , & @FulbrightPrgrm alum. Mom to a two-year-old chaos muppet.
33 MSWL
11 Tips

Dara Kaye @DaraKaye

Just got a query pitching a book described as both "a true story" and "creatively written nonfiction", but lists only novels as comps and notes it's adapted from a story that won a "Best Fiction" prize pic.twitter.com/0mkeGFKyLO

#pubtip -- I don't have a ton of time to evaluate and respond to submissions --you want me spending that time reading and responding, not trying to puzzle out what the heck I'm looking at.

Double check you understand the distinctions between genres & your query makes it clear!

Lynnette Novak
@Lynnette_Novak
Literary Agent
Literary agent at The Seymour Agency. See my pinned tweet for deets. (she/her)
195 MSWL
68 Tips

Hey, peeps. Just a reminder to please read our guidelines before submitting to us. I've been getting quite a few queries without sample pages, when I'd really like to see the first five pages too (pasted, NOT attached). #amquerying #pubtip #writingcommunity

Nephele Tempest
@NepheleTempest
Literary Agent
Literary agent @KnightAgency , writer, and unapologetic bookworm. Opinions are my own, and I've got a lot of them. CURRENTLY CLOSED TO QUERIES. She/Her
9 MSWL
28 AskAgent
10 Tips

PSA for writers: Use an email address with your name for all business communications. Doesn't need to be for biz only, but it should NOT be an email you share with spouse or family w/ multiple names in the header. Be professional from the start. #pubtip

Anna Sproul-Latimer
@annasproul
Literary Agent
Founding Partner, Neon Literary. Get in, loser, we’re making it art. neonliterary.com
28 MSWL
95 Tips

Today’s #pubtip wisdom comes from an unrelated post on @RachelJSimmons’s excellent Insta. Selling and publishing a book can be, ah, intense reminders of how little control you have over other people’s opinions and purchases.

Zabé Ellor
@ZREllor
Literary Agent
Bestselling author of MAY THE BEST MAN WIN🏈| SILK FIRE🐉| ACTING THE PART (12/7/22)🎥| assoc. agent @JDLitAgency | rep @RedPenKaitlyn | opinions mine | he/they
224 MSWL
3 AskAgent
29 Tips
Bridget Smith
@bredalot
Literary Agent
aka Breda. Literary agent at JABberwocky. Co-host of @ShipAndHandling publishing podcast. Plays with swords in free time. Way too long-winded for Twitte
77 MSWL
21 Tips

Bridget Smith @bredalot

Sometimes this is because they're only three sentences long, but just as often it's because I don't know how the events described are connected, or I don't know what the stakes are for anything, or I don't understand why this matters for the MC.

Remember to share your query with someone who hasn't read the manuscript before sending it out! Since you know what happens in the book, you're usually too close to see what's confusing to the rest of us. #pubtip

Bridget Smith
@bredalot
Literary Agent
aka Breda. Literary agent at JABberwocky. Co-host of @ShipAndHandling publishing podcast. Plays with swords in free time. Way too long-winded for Twitte
77 MSWL
21 Tips

Ok, having now read 100+ of the queries that came in since I opened: the most common problem I'm seeing is that they don't actually make it clear what the book is ABOUT. #pubtip

Marlene Stringer
@MarleneStringer
Literary Agent
Literary Agent, pop culture follower, Opera lover, birder, early am beach walker, knitter, & my best work: Mom of four
19 MSWL
103 Tips

Villains can be cliches, too. When a villain in a story is too familiar, the threat dissipates, i.e.,evil genius, bad drug corporation, developer, etc. That bad guy has to be shaken up to be newly intriguing. Think of how many Qs agents see. Surprise us. #pubtip