Agent Spotlight: Joyce Sweeney Interview and Query Critique Giveaway

Today I’m thrilled to have agent Joyce Sweeney here. She is a literary agent at The Seymour Agency.

Hi­ Joyce! Thanks so much for joining us.

About Joyce:

1. Tell us how you became an agent, how long you’ve been one, and what you’ve been doing as an agent.

I’ve been an agent exactly one year. I have been a client of The Seymour Agency for years and I was having lunch with Nicole Resciniti and she offered me the job. It was nothing I had ever even thought about but the minute I did think about it, my heart lit up.

About the Agency:

2. Share a bit about your agency and what it offers to its authors.

    

The Seymour Agency covers a wide range of genres and styles, adult and children’s authors. I think what it offers the most are a group of truly supportive agents. We all help each other and we commit to our authors and their dreams.

What She’s Looking For:

3. What age groups do you represent—picture books, MG, and/or YA? What genres do you represent and what are you looking for in submissions for these genres?

I represent picture books, both fiction and non-fiction, and middle grade fiction. I have a wide range of interests and am always looking for under represented voices. I love STEM, lyrical and outrageously funny picture books. In MG I also gravitate toward humor, but I will look at fantasy, sci-fi and adventure as well.

4.  Is there anything you would be especially excited to seeing in the genres you are interested in?

I would like to see more LGBTQ projects and some great mysteries.

What She Isn’t Looking For:

5. What types of submissions are you not interested in?

Even when I think they are lovely, I tend to not get excited about super quiet books, especially with rural settings, small towns, etc. I’m usually not the right agent for historicals either, but the right one can break that rule.

I don’t rep YA or graphic novels. Or anything adult. And I am not a huge fan of bathroom and poop stories.

Agent Philosophy:

6. What is your philosophy as an agent both in terms of the authors you want to work with and the books you want to represent?

We have joked among me and my clients that I like optimists. I like clients who understand this is a difficult task but who know how to be resilient and hopeful.  I like a lot of communication and collaboration. I am a sucker for a great voice or anything that stirs the emotions.   

Editorial Agent:

7. Are you an editorial agent? If so, what is your process like when you’re working with your authors before submitting to editors?

I am very editorial because I was a developmental editor and writing teacher for 25 years. I am super picky and usually a book has to go several rounds with me before it is ‘ready’ to submit.  This applies to everything, including PB’s. Sometimes it takes a lot of drafts to get those words perfect. 

Query Methods and Submission Guidelines: (Always verify before submitting)

8. How should authors query you and what do you want to see with the query letter?

Our requirements for The Seymour Agency are on the website: a query email, and paste in the entire PB or first five pages of a fiction manuscript. Periodically, like now, I close to submissions so I can work on existing clients intensely. I usually announce on Twitter if I am open or closed. In the query I want to see a great pitch and signs that the author has been working hard on their craft for a while and didn’t just dash off their first idea. 

9.  Do you have any specific dislikes in query letters or the first pages submitted to you?

Sending me things I don’t represent. That just wastes everyone’s time. Hyperbole about the book’s amazing sales potential. Just give me a simple pitch and I can see what will work for me and what won’t. 

Response Time:

10. What’s your response time to queries and requests for more pages of a manuscript?

I respond to queries very fast. Requested manuscripts take longer because I am reading my clients’ work first and then I get to the requested list. But it is always fine for requested authors to check in and certainly to update me if another agent is showing interest.  If a manuscript is urgent, I will take it out of order. 

Self-Published and Small Press Authors:

11.  Are you open to representing authors who have self-published or been published by smaller presses? What advice do you have for them if they want to try to find an agent to represent them?

I do not represent authors who have self-published. I have several clients who have published at small presses. I know that handicaps them in moving up to larger ones, but I take that as a challenge!

12. With all the changes in publishing—self-publishing, hybrid authors, more small publishers—do you see the role of agents changing at all? Why?

I don’t think self-publishing affects us that much. It has its own lane and we have ours.

When I began, I did not sub to the smaller houses, but I have since learned some of them are terrific and many clients are happier in a small home than a larger one.

Clients:

13. Who are some of the authors you represent? 

Gabriele Davis, Peggy Robbins Janousky, Aixa Perez-Prado, Katie Venit, and Lori Dubbin to name a few.

Interviews and Guest Posts:

14. Please share the links to any interviews and guest posts you think would be helpful to writers interested in querying you.

https://fromthemixedupfiles.com/new-agent-spotlight-joyce-sweeney-of-the-seymour-agency/

Links and Contact Info:

15. Please share how writers should contact you to submit a query and your links on the Web.

My website is joycesweeney.com

Query: joyce@theseymouragency.com  I’m on Facebook, Twitter @JoyceGrackle and Instagram Sweeney1217.

Additional Advice:

16. Is there any other advice you’d like to share with aspiring authors that we haven’t covered?

Keep querying! Because of the sheer numbers of queries, I have to turn down great work every single day. Keep going till you find the agent who can’t resist you.

Thanks for sharing all your advice, Joyce.

Joyce is generously offering a query critique to one lucky winner. To enter, all you need to do is be a follower (via the follower gadget, email, or bloglovin’ on the right sidebar) and leave a comment through May 22nd. If your e-mail is not on your Google Profile, you must leave it in the comments to enter the contest. If you do not want to enter the contest, that's okay. Just let me know in the comments.

If you mention this contest on Twitter, Facebook, or your blog, mention this in the comments and I'll give you an extra entry. This is an international giveaway.

Have any experience with this agent? See something that needs updating? Please leave a comment or e-mail me at natalieiaguirre7@gmail.com

Note: These agent profiles and interviews presently focus on agents who accept children's fiction. Please take the time to verify anything you might use here before querying an agent. The information found here is subject to change.